Christopher Pittenger obtained his PhD from Columbia University in 2002. He is currently a professor at the Yale University School of Medicine and is the co-founder of the Yale Psychedelic Science Project, which aims to understand how molecules such as psilocybin and LSD can contribute to the study of the brain and human behavior and how they can lead to new treatments for various neuropsychiatric pathologies. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Pittenger was named Director of the Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit and Neuroscience Research Training Program at the Connecticut Center for Mental Health.