Deborah Carmen Mash is an American professor of neurology and of molecular and cellular pharmacology at the Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, and director of the Brain Endowment Bank at the University of Miami.[2][1] She is also the Chief Executive Officer and founder of DemeRx.[3]

Deborah Carmen Mash
Born1952
NationalityAmerican
OccupationProfessor
Known forIbogaine research
Academic background
Alma materLeonard M. Miller School of Medicine
Influences
  • Karen Berkley
  • Marsel Mesulam[1]
Academic work
Discipline
Sub-disciplinemolecular and cellular pharmacology
InstitutionsMiller School of Medicine
Main interests
Websitehttp://uhealthsystem.com/researchers/profile/2675

Early research edit

Mash became fascinated with the human brain while she was an undergraduate student at Florida State University.[1] After completing a Bachelor of Arts degree there, she completed a Ph.D. program at the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami, and did a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School's Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.[2] In 1986 she joined the faculty of her alma mater, the University of Miami.[2][4]

Ibogaine edit

In 1994, the Food and Drug Administration of the United States granted Mash an Investigational New Drug license, to permit her to research the addiction-stopping capabilities of ibogaine (an oneirogen that occurs in some plants).[5][6] A lack of funding and other barriers prevented the research from proceeding.[5][7] Mash and her colleagues had previously discovered that ibogaine is a prodrug that metabolizes into a psychoactive called 12-hydroxyibogamine (or, noribogaine).[4] In the late 1990s she provided some assistance to Healing Transitions Institute for Addiction, a drug detoxification clinic in Cancún where physicians oversaw patients' ibogaine treatments.[8]

TASER International edit

On eight occasions between 2005 and 2009, she served as an expert witness for the defense in wrongful death claims filed against electroshock weapon manufacturer TASER International. Mash was paid by the company to testify on its behalf, prompting some criticism of a conflict of interest.[9] The company's official position was that the cause of death in Taser fatalities was excited delirium.[10] Excited delirium, a syndrome not recognized by many medical associations including World Health Organization, American Psychiatric Association, and American Medical Association is not included in the International Classification of Diseases or the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.[11][12] Mash performed post-mortem examinations of the brains of people who were allegedly victims of excited delirium, and reported that most of them showed signs of drug abuse—most frequently cocaine or amphetamine.[10]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Mash, Deborah. "Interesting People: Dr. Deborah Mash" (Interview). The Herbert W. Hoover Foundation. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "Deborah Mash". uhealthsystem.com. University of Miami Health System. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  3. ^ Price, Stephanie (June 12, 2020). "Could ibogaine offer a revolutionary long-term solution to addiction?". Health Europa. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Uncovering Ibogaine: The Deborah Mash Interview". Let Them Talk (Interview). Interviewed by Paul De Rienzo. New York. July 1996. Archived from the original on March 11, 2016. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  5. ^ a b "Ibogaine: Treatment Outcomes and Observations" (PDF). 13 (2). Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies. 2003: 16. Retrieved November 23, 2017. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. ^ Obembe, Samuel B. (2012). Practical Skills and Clinical Management of Alcoholism and Drug Addiction. Elsevier. p. 90. ISBN 978-0-12-398518-7. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  7. ^ Mash, Deborah (May 3, 2010). "Clean, Ibogaine Clean". The Gnostic Media Podcast (Interview). Interviewed by Jan Irvin. Gnostic Media.
  8. ^ Humberto, Fernandez; Libby, Therissa A. (May 17, 2011). Heroin: Its History, Pharmacology & Treatment. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-59285-990-0. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  9. ^ Szep, Jason; Reid, Tim; Eisler, Peter (August 24, 2017). "How Taser inserts itself into investigations involving its own weapons". Reuters Investigates. Reuters. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  10. ^ a b Miletich, John J.; Lindstrom, Tia Laura (2010). An Introduction to the Work of a Medical Examiner: From Death Scene to Autopsy Suite. Praeger. p. 32. ISBN 9780275995089. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  11. ^ Position Statement on Concerns About Use of the Term "Excited Delirium" and Appropriate Medical Management in Out-of-Hospital Contexts (PDF) (Report). American Psychiatric Association. November 2020. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  12. ^ Vilke GM, Payne-James JJ (2016). Current Practice in Forensic Medicine. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. pp. 97–117. doi:10.1002/9781118456026.ch6. ISBN 9781118456026.

Further reading edit

External links edit