Emma Hapke, University of Toronto

Research

Advanced Cancer Death-Related Distress Depression End-Of-Life Distress Existential Distress Palliative Care Psilocybin Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy

Latest papers

Psilocybin for Fear of Cancer Recurrence.
Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026
Psilocybin-assisted Existential, Attachment and RelationaL (PEARL) therapy for patients with advanced cancer: protocol for a multi-method feasibility trial.
Pilot and feasibility studies · 2025
MDMA-Assisted Therapy for Severe PTSD: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Phase 3 Study.
Focus (American Psychiatric Publishing) · 2023

All 7 publications

Latest funding

Psilocybin-assisted Existential, Attachment and RelationaL (PEARL) Therapy for Patients with Advanced Cancer: A Randomized Controlled Trial
CIHR · 2022 · Principal investigator
$928,643

All 1 grants and awards

7 publications.

01

Psilocybin for Fear of Cancer Recurrence.

Cho M, Rosenbaum D, Hapke E, Hales S

Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer2026

DOI: 10.1007/s00520-026-11065-3 PMID: 42541603

02

Psilocybin-assisted Existential, Attachment and RelationaL (PEARL) therapy for patients with advanced cancer: protocol for a multi-method feasibility trial.

Richardson C, Chan C, Macgregor E, Hare C, Hannon B, Black S, Schneider E, Buchman D, Wang S, Rac V, Abrahamyan L, Huszti E, Nissim R, Li M, Zimmermann C, Hapke E, Rosenbaum D, Hales S

Pilot and feasibility studies2025

DOI: 10.1186/s40814-025-01706-5 PMID: 41152967

03

MDMA-Assisted Therapy for Severe PTSD: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Phase 3 Study.

Mitchell JM, Bogenschutz M, Lilienstein A, Harrison C, Kleiman S, Parker-Guilbert K, Ot'alora G M, Garas W, Paleos C, Gorman I, Nicholas C, Mithoefer M, Carlin S, Poulter B, Mithoefer A, Quevedo S, Wells G, Klaire SS, van der Kolk B, Tzarfaty K, Amiaz R, Worthy R, Shannon S, Woolley JD, Marta C, Gelfand Y, Hapke E, Amar S, Wallach Y, Brown R, Hamilton S, Wang JB, Coker A, Matthews R, de Boer A, Yazar-Klosinski B, Emerson A, Doblin R

Focus (American Psychiatric Publishing)2023

DOI: 10.1176/appi.focus.23021011 PMID: 37404971

04

MDMA-assisted therapy for severe PTSD: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 study.

Mitchell JM, Bogenschutz M, Lilienstein A, Harrison C, Kleiman S, Parker-Guilbert K, Ot'alora G M, Garas W, Paleos C, Gorman I, Nicholas C, Mithoefer M, Carlin S, Poulter B, Mithoefer A, Quevedo S, Wells G, Klaire SS, van der Kolk B, Tzarfaty K, Amiaz R, Worthy R, Shannon S, Woolley JD, Marta C, Gelfand Y, Hapke E, Amar S, Wallach Y, Brown R, Hamilton S, Wang JB, Coker A, Matthews R, de Boer A, Yazar-Klosinski B, Emerson A, Doblin R

Nature medicine2021

DOI: 10.1038/s41591-021-01336-3 PMID: 33972795

05

Microdosing psychedelics: Demographics, practices, and psychiatric comorbidities.

Rosenbaum D, Weissman C, Anderson T, Petranker R, Dinh-Williams LA, Hui K, Hapke E

Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England)2020Senior author

DOI: 10.1177/0269881120908004 PMID: 32108529

06

Psychedelic microdosing benefits and challenges: an empirical codebook.

Anderson T, Petranker R, Christopher A, Rosenbaum D, Weissman C, Dinh-Williams LA, Hui K, Hapke E

Harm reduction journal2019Senior author

DOI: 10.1186/s12954-019-0308-4 PMID: 31288862

07

Microdosing psychedelics: personality, mental health, and creativity differences in microdosers.

Anderson T, Petranker R, Rosenbaum D, Weissman CR, Dinh-Williams LA, Hui K, Hapke E, Farb NAS

Psychopharmacology2019

DOI: 10.1007/s00213-018-5106-2 PMID: 30604183

Psilocybin-assisted Existential, Attachment and RelationaL (PEARL) Therapy for Patients with Advanced Cancer: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Principal investigatorCIHR2022Op Gr.: PAP- End-of-life psycho. distress in patients with advanced-stage cancer

Principal investigators: Hales, Sarah A; Abbey, Susan E; Hapke, Emma; Rosenbaum, Daniel

Keywords: Advanced Cancer; Death-Related Distress; Depression; End-Of-Life Distress; Existential Distress; Palliative Care; Psilocybin; Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy; Psychosocial Oncology; Randomized Controlled Trial

$928,643

From CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions: CIHR since 2008, NSERC since 1991 and SSHRC since 1998, including their latest published competition results.

Frequent collaborators

Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care
Department of Psychiatry
Psychiatry
Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation
Other

Applying for

Paper to mentionMention their CIHR grant from 2022

Subject: Prospective PhD student: Advanced Cancer Dear Professor Hapke, My name is [your name], and I am a [your current degree or role] at [your institution]. I am applying for a PhD position starting in [term and year]. I read your paper "Psilocybin for Fear of Cancer Recurrence." (2026), and it connects closely to my own work on [your research topic]. [One or two sentences on what you did and what you learned.] I also saw your CIHR-funded project "Psilocybin-assisted Existential, Attachment and RelationaL (PEARL) Therapy for Patients with Advanced Cancer: A Randomized Controlled Trial" (2022), and I would be glad to contribute to work in that direction. Are you accepting new PhD students for [term and year]? I have attached my CV and transcripts, and I would be glad to talk at a time that suits you. Thank you for your time. Kind regards, [your name]