People

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Olivia Marcus, PhD, MPH
NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing - Postdoctoral Fellow
Email: oliviamarcus@nyu.edu
Education
PhD, Medical Anthropology, University of Connecticut
MPH, Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University
BA, Anthropology, University of New Hampshire
Research Interests
Peruvian Amazon, traditional healing, mental health, substance use, psychedelics, shamanism, infectious disease, qualitative methods, mixed-methods
BIO
Olivia Marcus received her MPH in sociomedical sciences with a focus on health promotion and disease prevention, and a PhD in anthropology with a focus on social science and medicine. Before beginning her doctorate, she worked on several projects concerning anthropological insights into the prevention of HIV/AIDS transmission, pre-ART retention in care in sub-Saharan Africa, and HIV prevention among juvenile justice youth in upstate New York. She conducted fieldwork in the upper Peruvian Amazon examining perceptions of health and healing among foreign clients and local practitioners who use the psychoactive plant ayahuasca for spiritual and healing purposes. As a postdoctoral fellow in BST at NYU, she is working on three projects that examine treatment outcomes for people with substance use disorders who attend a structured community-based psychedelic-assisted therapeutic program to address mental health and problematic substance use.
Publications

Recent

Giovannetti C, Loizaga-Velder A, Gomez RC, Jaime GRO, Valenzuela TC, Sanchez G, Marcus O, Agin-Liebes G, Rush B (2025).
Preliminary results from a community-based ayahuasca-assisted mental health program among a Yaqui Indigenous population in Sonora, Mexico
Journal of Psychedelic Studies [Epub 2025 Jan 25]. doi: 10.1556/2054.2024.00401.

Rush B, Marcus O, Garcia S, Loizaga-Velder A, Spitalier A, Mendive F (2024).
Ayahuasca Treatment Outcome Project (ATOP): One year results from Takiwasi Center and implications for psychedelic science
Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 85 (5), 607-618. doi: 10.15288/jsad.23-00005. PMCID: PMC11533928.

Marcus O, Dakwar E (2024).
Paradigm lost: Towards an evidence-based ontology in psychedelic medicine
International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 22, 951-964. doi: 10.1007/s11469-023-01157-0.

Rush B, Marcus O, Shore R, Cunningham L, Thomson N, Rideout K (2022).
Psychedelic medicine: A rapid review of therapeutic applications and implications for future research.
Guelph, Ontario, Canada: Homewood Research Institute.

Rush B, Marcus O, Garcia S, Loizaga-Velder A, Loewinger G, Spitalier A, Mendive F (2021).
Protocol for outcome evaluation of Ayahuasca-assisted addiction treatment: The case of Takiwasi Center
Frontiers in Pharmacology, 12, 659644. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2021.659644. PMCID: PMC8170098.

Dr. Marcus' Research Gate Profile