Matthew J. Baggott

Matthew John Baggott is an American neuroscientist who studies entactogens, hallucinogens, and other psychoactive drugs. He is considered to be an expert on MDMA and other entactogens and is an influential figure in the psychedelic medicine movement.

Baggott is co-founder and CEO of Tactogen, a public benefit corporation started in 2020 that is developing novel MDMA-like drugs as medicines. Baggott had previously worked with the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) studying and developing MDMA as a potential medicine. He had also formerly worked in a research lab at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) affiliated with Alexander Shulgin and Peyton Jacob III, and became well-acquainted with Shulgin while in the lab. Baggott was involved in the first Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved clinical studies of MDMA and MDA. He has been active in scientific research since the 1980s and has been studying MDMA since that time. Baggott was also previously a data scientist and then director of data science and engineering at Genentech. He earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago and his doctorate degree in neuroscience from UCSF.

In January 14, 2022, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) proposed moving five unscheduled and relatively obscure psychedelic tryptamines, including 4-OH-DiPT, 5-MeO-AMT, 5-MeO-MiPT, 5-MeO-DET, and DiPT, into the Schedule I controlled substances category in the United States. Baggott and Tactogen, as well as a large number of other individuals and organizations, publicly challenged and opposed the proposal. In July 22, 2022, under significant pressure, the DEA withdrew the proposal. Provided by Wikipedia