Who We Are | Brainwaving

Amanda Feilding is the co-founder of Brainwaving.com and Director of The Beckley Foundation, a charitable trust that was set up to investigate consciousness and its changing states from a multidisciplinary perspective. Through its Science Programme the Foundation initiates, develops and conducts world-class research that will improve not only our scientific understanding of consciousness, but also provide practical information to help optimize health and well being. The Foundation is working at the frontiers of the renaissance of psychedelic research. It is also undertaking pioneering research into cerebral circulation and its impact on the aging process, including possible ways to counteract some of its debilitating effects. Collaborative work initiated by the Foundation has brought about not only the first research into LSD with human participants since prohibition, but also the first explanation of the physiology underlying the beneficial effects of the ancient procedure of trepanation.

In addition to the Science Programme, the Beckley Foundation conducts a Drug Policy Programme which is dedicated to providing a rigorous, independent review of global drug policy. The Foundation’s overarching aim is to reduce the harms associated with both the misuse of drugs and the policies that aim to control them. To this end, the Foundation commissions reports, alongside organising international seminars which promote informed debate among leading experts from around the world on the many issues surrounding drugs. The intention of the Foundation is to help develop policies that are evidence-based and rational, rather than those that are ineffectual, due to being rooted in unsubstantiated ideology.

Amanda’s son, Cosmo, is responsible for the day to day running and editing of Brainwaving.com. He graduated from Oxford University in 2008 with a Double First-Class Degree in Classics, having majored in Philosophy and Ancient History. He has since worked as a researcher for the Beckley Foundation, focusing on the communications and public relations side of policy reform. These interests resulted in his co-founding, designing, and running Brainwaving.com, and he hopes to compliment this work by getting involved in documentary filmmaking.

David Luke, PhD is co-editor of Brainwaving.com, paying special attention to the Extended Mind section. Dave is a lecturer, writer and researcher. He has a special interest in the psychology of altered states of consciousness and ostensibly paranormal phenomena, and he is the current President of the Parapsychological Association, the professional scientific body for parapsychologists. He has studied techniques of consciousness alteration from South America to India, from the perspective of scientists, shamans and shivaites. He lives life on the edge…of Hackney in London.

Mike Jay has written widely on the history of science, medicine, drugs and consciousness. He is currently working on High Society, an illustrated history of mind-altering drugs to accompany a major exhibition at Wellcome Collection in London in November 2010. He is a trustee of the Transform Drug Policy Foundation (www.tdpf.org.uk) and his website is http://mikejay.net

Since graduating from UCL in 2007 Joe Murray has worked in the US film business, British TV journalism and online publishing. As co-editor of Brainwaving.com Joe scours the web for the most interesting and exciting technology news and features, focusing particularly on the future of robotics, the internet and web-based technologies. Joe also hopes to bring increased activity to Brainwaving by encouraging you to comment on what you read and to use the comments section below articles as a forum for debate.