Leah Mayo | Top 40 Under 40 2025

Age: 38

Occupation: Parker Research Chair in Psychedelics and Assistant Professor, University of Calgary

Born and raised on the L’Anse Reservation of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community in rural Michigan, Leah Mayo was the first of her extended family to attend university.

“Our community has a long history of trauma, both systemic and interpersonal, because of where we’re located,” says Mayo, adding that there are many communities like hers that are either remote or disproportionately affected by trauma and substance use disorders.

Fascinated by how drugs impact human behaviour, Mayo studied neuroscience. She moved to Calgary in 2022 from Sweden, after holding a post-doctoral position at the Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience at Linköping University.

At UCalgary, Mayo is the inaugural Parker Research Chair in Psychedelics. She directs the Psychedelic and Cannabinoid Therapeutics (PaCT) lab, which seeks to improve the treatment of addictions and mental health disorders. In 2023, Mayo received a $1 million grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to fund a large clinical trial exploring the efficacy of psilocybin in helping reduce alcohol consumption in individuals with alcohol-use disorders.

Her lab was also awarded a CIHR grant to examine use of psilocybin for post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from intimate-partner violence. The treatments combine with psychological therapy, and the research explores whether psilocybin enhances potential neuroplasticity to amplify the effects of the therapy.

Mayo also leads the development of a national, Indigenous-led network for exploring and advancing psychedelic-based therapies in Indigenous contexts. She notes that key concerns for communities involved in the project include accessibility to holistic health care with a focus on trauma and addiction recovery.

“We have this [mentality] that this is a good drug and this is a bad drug, because this one we prescribe as a medication, but this one people take for fun and they shouldn’t. I was always interested in that duality, because they’re just things that act on receptors in our body,” says Mayo.

Thank yous
“My MVP, Jonathan; our wonderful children; and the family, friends, and colleagues that have supported and facilitated my growth as a person and scientist.”