Visionary Researcher, Beckley Foundation Founder, and Psychedelic Pioneer
The MAPS community mourns the passing of Amanda Feilding — a towering figure in psychedelics, an unwavering advocate for cognitive liberty, and a dear friend to MAPS and our founder, Rick Doblin.
Amanda was many things: a researcher, policy reformer, and artist; a countess who once ran for Parliament on a platform of consciousness expansion; a woman whose intellect and determination carved space for psychedelic research in a world that wasn’t ready for it — and helped change that world.
Long before mainstream acceptance, Amanda founded the Beckley Foundation in 1998 to promote research into psychedelics and consciousness. Under her leadership, the foundation became a hub for cutting-edge research and drug policy reform, pioneering studies on psilocybin, LSD, MDMA, and DMT with institutions like Imperial College London and Johns Hopkins. She helped co-author more than 50 peer-reviewed papers — many of them groundbreaking — at a time when simply speaking the word “psychedelics” in a policy context was a revolutionary act.
As one of the few women in a male-dominated field, Amanda held her own with grace, brilliance, and unshakable vision. She was both a trailblazer and a connector — weaving together scientists, politicians, artists, and activists in service of a more conscious and compassionate world. She made it possible for others to step into this work — especially other women — with courage and conviction.
Amanda was also a steadfast ally to MAPS. She spoke at the very first Psychedelic Science conference in 2010 and subsequent conferences to follow. Her voice has long echoed through the pages of the MAPS Bulletin, where she authored numerous articles and periodic updates from the Beckley Foundation. Her writing and presence helped knit together the global psychedelic research community in its early days.
Founder and President Rick Doblin, who considered Amanda a close collaborator and friend, shared
Amanda was courageous, idealistic, and wise. She was both a major inspiration through her work at the Beckley Foundation and a key ally of mine and MAPS. Amanda worked on both scientific research with psychedelics and on drug policy reform, as did MAPS. Amanda partnered with MAPS on the last several Psychedelic Science conferences since she was comfortable being aligned with drug policy reformers as well as scientists and therapists. Amanda demonstrated the highest scientific integrity when, after decades, she was able to sponsor a study of the impact of LSD on cerebral blood flow. Amanda wanted to prove that LSD would increase cerebral blood flow, but the results demonstrated the opposite, in that LSD actually reduced blood flow in the Default Mode Network. Despite the scientific research demonstrating the opposite of what she believed to be the case, she chose to publicize the findings due to her belief in being true to the facts. Amanda was outspoken about the benefits she received over a lifetime from her own personal use of LSD and other psychedelics and marijuana, choosing honesty over obfuscation. She realized that her being public about her own experiences helped to destigmatize the use of psychedelics. Amanda also had the profound pleasure of seeing her two sons, Cosmo and Rock, decide to work with her on psychedelic companies. Amanda made an enormous contribution to turning Albert Hofmann’s “Problem Child”, LSD, into the wonder child Albert knew it could be.
Amanda leaves behind children Rock and Cosmo, grandchildren Tiber, Kiki, Sonny, and Raphael, and a legacy that will continue to shape the field of psychedelic research for generations to come. She believed, deeply and unapologetically, in the power of altered states to heal, reveal, and transform. And she dedicated her life to bringing that vision to life.