Matthew John Baggott is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

neuroscientist A neuroscientist (or neurobiologist) is a scientist specializing in neuroscience that deals with the anatomy and function of neurons, Biological neural network, neural circuits, and glia, and their Behavior, behavioral, biological, and psycholo ...

who studies

entactogen Entactogens, also known as empathogens or connectogens, are a class of psychoactive drugs that induce the production of experiences of emotional communion, oneness, connectedness, emotional openness—that is, empathy—as particularly observe ...

hallucinogen Hallucinogens, also known as psychedelics, entheogens, or historically as psychotomimetics, are a large and diverse class of psychoactive drugs that can produce altered states of consciousness characterized by major alterations in thought, mo ...

s, and other

psychoactive drug A psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical, mind-altering drug, consciousness-altering drug, psychoactive substance, or psychotropic substance is a chemical substance that alters psychological functioning by modulating central nervous system acti ...

s. He is considered to be an expert on

MDMA 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), commonly known as ecstasy (tablet form), and molly (crystal form), is an empathogen–entactogenic drug with stimulant and minor Psychedelic drug, psychedelic properties. In studies, it has been used ...

and other entactogens and is an influential figure in the

psychedelic medicine ''Psychedelic Medicine'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed medical journal on the use of serotonergic psychedelics as therapeutic agents in medicine. Its editors-in-chief are Peter Hendricks (University of Alabama at Birmingham) and Charles D. Nich ...

movement. Baggott is co-founder and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Tactogen Tactogen is a public benefit corporation and start-up pharmaceutical company based in Palo Alto, California that is developing novel MDMA-like entactogens and psychedelics as medicines. Its stated goal is to develop new MDMA-like drugs with impr ...

, a public benefit corporation started in 2020 that is developing novel MDMA-like

drug A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via insufflation (medicine), inhalation, drug i ...

s as

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

s. Baggott had previously worked with the

Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) is an American nonprofit organization working to raise awareness and understanding of psychedelic substances. MAPS was founded in 1986 by Rick Doblin and is now based in San Jose, C ...

(MAPS) studying and developing MDMA as a potential medicine. He had also formerly worked in a

research lab A research institute, research centre, or research organization is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often implies natural sc ...

at the

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of California system and is dedic ...

(UCSF) affiliated with

Alexander Shulgin Alexander Theodore "Sasha" Shulgin (June 17, 1925 – June 2, 2014) was an American biochemist, broad researcher of synthetic psychoactive compounds, and author of works regarding these, who independently explored the organic chemistry and ph ...

and Peyton Jacob III, and became well-acquainted with Shulgin while in the lab. Baggott was involved in the first

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respo ...

(FDA)-approved

clinical studies Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel vaccines, drugs, dietar ...

of MDMA and MDA. He has been active in

scientific research The scientific method is an empirical method for acquiring knowledge that has been referred to while doing science since at least the 17th century. Historically, it was developed through the centuries from the ancient and medieval world. The ...

since the 1980s and has been studying MDMA since that time. Baggott was also previously a

data scientist Data science is an interdisciplinary academic field that uses statistics, scientific computing, scientific methods, processing, scientific visualization, algorithms and systems to extract or extrapolate knowledge from potentially noisy, struct ...

and then director of data science and engineering at

Genentech Genentech, Inc. is an American biotechnology corporation headquartered in South San Francisco, California. It operates as an independent subsidiary of holding company Roche. Genentech Research and Early Development operates as an independent cent ...

. He earned his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

and his

doctorate degree A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions, and its disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, ...

from UCSF. In January 14, 2022, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) proposed moving five unscheduled and relatively obscure psychedelic

tryptamine Tryptamine is an indolamine metabolite of the essential amino acid tryptophan. The chemical structure is defined by an indole—a fused benzene and pyrrole ring, and a 2-aminoethyl group at the second carbon (third aromatic atom, with the firs ...

s, including

4-OH-DiPT 4-HO-DiPT, also known as 4-hydroxy-''N'',''N''-diisopropyltryptamine or as iprocin, is a synthetic compound, synthetic psychedelic drug of the substituted tryptamine, tryptamine family. It is a higher homologous series, homologue of psilocin and ...

5-MeO-AMT 5-MeO-αMT, also known as 5-methoxy-α-methyltryptamine or as α,''O''-dimethylserotonin (α,''O''-DMS or Alpha-O), is a serotonergic psychedelic of the tryptamine, α-alkyltryptamine, and 5-methoxytryptamine families. It is a derivative of α ...

5-MeO-MiPT 5-MeO-MiPT is a psychedelic and hallucinogen of the tryptamine family. It used by some as an entheogen. It has structural and pharmacodynamic properties similar to the drugs 5-MeO-DiPT, DiPT, and MiPT. It is commonly used as a "substitute" for ...

, 5-MeO-DET, and

DiPT Diisopropyltryptamine (DiPT), also known as ''N'',''N''-diisopropyltryptamine, is a Psychedelic drug, psychedelic Psychedelics, dissociatives and deliriants, hallucinogenic drug of the substituted tryptamine, tryptamine family that has a unique ...

, into the Schedule I

controlled substance A controlled substance is generally a drug or chemical whose manufacture, possession and use is regulated by a government, such as illicitly used drugs or prescription medications that are designated by law. Some treaties, notably the Sing ...

s category in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Baggott and Tactogen, as well as a large number of other individuals and organizations, publicly challenged and opposed the proposal. In July 22, 2022, under significant pressure, the DEA withdrew the proposal.

Selected publications

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References

External links

Matthew Baggott - Google Scholar

Matthew Baggott - Google Patents

Psychedelic Research - Matthew Baggott
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baggott, Matthew John American data scientists American neuroscientists American pharmacologists Chief executives in the pharmaceutical industry Living people Psychedelic drug researchers University of California, San Francisco alumni University of Chicago alumni