Elias Dakwar

Associate Professor, Clinical Psychiatry, Columbia University

Elias Dakwar, MD is an Associate Professor at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and a board-certified addiction and general psychiatrist. He has been researching novel treatments for addictions for over a decade, with the support of several grants from the National Institutes of Health. A special focus of his research has been evaluating sub-anesthetic ketamine infusions for cocaine use disorders in both laboratory and clinical settings, as well as investigating ketamine infusions as an adjunct to mindfulness-based treatment, mind/body practices, motivational interviewing, and other behavioral frameworks for alcohol, cannabis, and opioid use disorders. He has a more general interest in the impact of contemplative and non-ordinary experiences, and of the interventions that might occasion them, in the cultivation of well-being.

Participant In These Roundtable Discussions

Sat
Mar 12th
2022
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Psychedelics

This roundtable explores psychedelics and neuroplasticity, examining how mind-altering substances can influence perception, consciousness, and emotional states. It considers their historical, cultural, and emerging clinical roles in treating mental health conditions and expanding our understanding of the mind.
Sat
Oct 15th
2022
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Coding and the New Human Phenotype

This conference explores the concept of life, knowledge, and experience through the lens of “code,” examining how meaning is encoded, transmitted, and transformed across biological, digital, and cultural systems. Through five roundtables, it investigates how we reconstruct the past, navigate authenticity in a digital world, interpret fiction and ideas, engage with AI-generated language, and consider the possibility that reality itself may be fundamentally computational—together asking what is gained, and what may be lost, as code increasingly mediates our understanding of the world.
Sat
Feb 11th
2023
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The Body and Psychosis

This roundtable explores 4E Cognition—how thought is shaped by the body, environment, social interaction, and extended tools—and what this means for consciousness and shared reality. It examines these ideas through philosophy, psychology, and cases like psychosis, considering how our experience of the world is constructed and maintained.