Gregory Jones
Assistant Professor
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Department of Psychiatry
I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. My lab studies psychedelics, including psilocybin, 5-MeO-DMT, and related compounds, for their uniquely potent and rapid neuroplastic effects, with the goal of translating this biology into fundamental mechanistic understanding and real improvements in patients' quality of life.
Our research centers on two connected questions: how do psychedelics protect and rewire the nervous system, and how do they shape anti-tumor immunity? We're investigating their potential to mitigate neurotoxicity from chemotherapy, radiation, adoptive cellular therapy, and immunotherapy, and to treat mood disorders, pain, and addiction in cancer patients. We're also exploring how psychedelics modulate anti-tumor immunity both directly via neuroprotection in the tumor microenvironment and indirectly through immune and stress-pathway modulation. Finally, we are interested in how the window of psychedelic-induced metaplasticity might be leveraged with combination therapies that build lasting resilience, particularly against chemo brain.
To do this, we draw on a broad toolkit: single-cell and bulk transcriptomics, fMRI, flow cytometry, electrophysiology (EEG/MEA), patient-derived blood samples, and public/institutional molecular and clinical datasets applied across in vitro models (iPSC-derived neurons, organoids) and in vivo systems.
We currently have three active psilocybin clinical trials at MD Anderson, with several more in various stages of development, giving students in the lab direct exposure to translational and clinical-adjacent research alongside mechanistic bench work.
Education & Training
MD, McGovern Medical School, 2019