Psychedelics & Infection-Associated Chronic Illness (IACI): Research and Emerging Insights

Albert Garcia-Romeu, PhD
Court Wing
MaryAnn Welke Lesage
Lukas Bobak, MD
Magalí Brecke, LAc MTCM

Thursday 25 September, 2025 8PM CET (7PM BST, 2PM EST, 11AM PST)

Online via Zoom

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Long-COVID and post-treatment Lyme disease share overlapping symptom profiles, with many individuals grappling with chronic fatigue, cognitive impairment, pain, and emotional distress. These symptoms often resist conventional treatment, leaving many clinicians puzzled and patients searching for answers. Recent research and patient reports suggest that psychedelic medicines may offer new ways of addressing these conditions, raising important scientific and clinical questions. Could psilocybin help ease the joint pain or fatigue of Lyme disease, or relieve the physical and mental malaise of long-COVID?

In this free online event, we weave together a panel of researchers and lived-experience experts to explore this timely topic. Dr. Albert Garcia-Romeu of Johns Hopkins University will share insights from his clinical work investigating psilocybin for post-treatment Lyme disease. Lukas Bobak, resident at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, will discuss his research into how people are informally using psilocybin to address long-COVID neuropsychiatric symptoms. MaryAnn Welke will offer a first-person account of using psilocybin and MDMA to recover from debilitating long-COVID. Court Wing, co-founder & research lead at the Psychedelics & Pain Association and founder of REMAP Therapeutics, will discuss the potential mechanisms of action and their practical implications, both in clinical settings and informal use.

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ABOUT THE SPEAKERs

Albert Garcia-Romeu, PhD. is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His research examines the effects of psychedelics in humans, with a focus on psilocybin as an aid in the treatment of addiction. Dr. Garcia-Romeu has authored numerous peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and commentaries on psychopharmacology and mental health, and has been interviewed widely in popular media. He is a founding member and Associate Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research. He serves as an Associate Editor for the journal Psychedelic Medicine.

A former chronic pain sufferer, Court Wing is the founder and CEO of REMAP Therapeutics and a co-founder of the Psychedelics & Pain Association. REMAP Therapeutics is devoted to the development of formal psychedelic rehabilitation sessions and cohesive best practices for many treatment-resistant chronic pain conditions. Court is an accomplished performance and pain professional with over 14 years of formal Ki-Aikido study and 30 years of experience in maximizing the athletic performance of his clients, helping countless individuals overcome injury to return to competition and daily life. He is a certified Z-Health Master Trainer and was co-founder of CrossFit NYC.

In 2020, Court was a study participant in NYU’s clinical trial of Psilocybin for Major Depressive Disorder. By the end of his “dosing” day in the trial, he was in full remission, no longer qualifying for the diagnosis of depression. More astounding were the lateral benefits; he was also no longer suffering from low-to-moderate chronic pain and related neurological issues from previous injuries. Court’s commitment to further investigate the healing potential of psychedelics stems from his direct experience as a participant in this psilocybin trial. With his extensive experience in applied neurophysiology for pain & performance, he immediately realized psychedelics were going to completely change the way we are able to treat chronic pain.

MaryAnn Welke Lesage is a Long-COVID survivor turned aspiring psychonaut and student of psychedelics and entheogens. She works and studies at the University of Ottawa where she’s a director in IT, and also pursuing dual master’s degrees in Psychedelics and Consciousness Studies, and Digital Transformation and Innovation. She lives in Ottawa, Canada with her husband and 2 children.

Lukas Bobak, MD is a psychiatry resident at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Morningside/West with a strong interest in trauma, addiction, and psychedelic medicine. His journey with psychedelics began in medical school, when he worked on several projects with a mentor at the Cleveland Clinic, analyzing individuals’ personal narratives of naturalistic psychedelic use on social media platforms. Recognizing a lack of educational resources for medical students interested in psychedelics, he designed and led a psychedelic medicine elective at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Similarly, together with several psychiatry residents, he helped lead the Cleveland Psychedelic Science Group, a community for individuals in the greater Cleveland area to learn about psychedelics. Since starting my clinical residency in New York, he has continued working on psychedelic research and hope to incorporate it into his longterm career.

For more than 10 years, Magali Brecke, LAc MTCM has worked in the fields of Functional and Traditional Chinese Medicine, supporting those living with chronic disease to improve quality of life through diet, lifestyle, and behavior interventions. In working with the chronic Lyme disease community, Magali became aware of the potential role for psychedelics in catalyzing positive change and accelerating healing in even the most complex cases. Her training in both traditional and allopathic medicine positions her as a bridge between holistic healthcare and psychedelics, contributing to solutions for individuals seeking respite from protracted suffering. In 2021, she joined the Riverstyx Foundation and began contributing to the psychedelic field through her holistic health lens. In 2023, she was part of the founding team at the Psychedelics & Pain Association, where she now serves full time.