Heidi Allen, MSW, PhD

Heidi Allen, MSW, PhD is an Associate Professor at Columbia University in the School of Social Work and Mailman School of Public Health, Department of Health Policy and Management. She has a certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies and Research from the California Institute of Integral Studies (2023) and completed the MDMA Therapy Training Program offered by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) in 2022. In partnership with faculty from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Dr. Allen is developing curriculum for psychedelic assisted therapy (PAT) specific to within- degree training programs for social workers and nurses. Columbia School of Social Work is welcoming the inaugural cohort of students for the Psychedelic Assisted Therapy Training Program (PTTP) in fall 2024.

Dr. Allen serves on the Clinical Advisory Board at the Usona Institute, which is in Phase 3 clinical trials of psilocybin for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Dr. Allen was a speaker at Horizons New York, and Psychedelic Science 2023. She studies access and affordability of health care in America, particularly for under-served populations. Her research has been published in prestigious journals such as Science, New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA and Health Affairs. Dr. Allen is a Commissioner on the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, a non-partisan government agency that advises Congress and the Secretary of Health and Human Services on issues related to Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program.