Research & Projects
Preliminary data suggests that ayahuasca has potential to treat a range of conditions, problems, and ailments transdiagnostically.
Onaya Science explores the effects of ayahuasca and Amazonian plant medicines using epigenetic, neuroimaging, physiological and psychological measures. The team shares all findings through scientific journals, conferences, podcasts and other media efforts.
Research in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest
Based in the heart of the Allpahuayo-Mishana National Reserve near Iquitos in Peru, the Ayahuasca Foundation’s Riosbo Research Center is Onaya Science’s main research hub.
The team works alongside the Indigenous healers to design and conduct studies into ceremonial ayahuasca, involving them at every stage of the research.
Current Projects
Onaya Science is currently collaborating with the Heroic Hearts Project and the University of Melbourne to investigate the impact of ayahuasca retreats for military veterans who have experienced trauma.
In this study, participants attend retreats in the Peruvian Amazon for specially designed research programmes. The team is looking at psychometrics, brainwaves, gut microbiome, and epigenetic change to quantify potential effects.
This work builds on previous research which found that ayahuasca, when taken in traditional ceremonial practices, leaves epigenetic marks on genes associated with trauma. This study aims to explore further these findings in an effort to clarify the biological networks that ceremonial ayahuasca may be impacting.
