Psychedelic researcher with leading expertise in the formal documentation and classification of altered states of consciousness.

At Mindstate Design Labs, I work as a software engineer on AI-assisted phenomenology for clinical-stage drug development. This builds on a decade of work founding projects such as the Subjective Effect Index, Psychedelic Replications, and PsychonautWiki, which turned ineffable experiences into structured, studiable data.

Software engineering
Systems engineering
Data science
Database design
LLM training & benchmarking
UX & product design
Taxonomy design
Subjective effect documentation

Resume

Current Work

Mindstate Design Labs

Software EngineerPhenomenologistAI Performance Specialist

2021 - Present

Mindstate's first full-time hire, initially leading subjective effect documentation for Osmanthus, the company's AI neuroengineering platform. I extended my Subjective Effect Index taxonomy into a catalogue of 600+ distinct effects derived from over 70,000 experience reports and correlated with receptor-level pharmacology. This work contributed directly to MSD-001, the platform's first compound, completing a first-in-human Phase 1 clinical trial in 2025: safe, well tolerated, and the first clinical validation of designed psychoactive effects. I now serve as a software engineer, building the internal tooling and data systems that power the platform as MSD-001-based fixed-dose combinations progress toward the next phase of clinical development.

Phase 1 topline results ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06702332

Mindstate Design Labs

Software EngineerPhenomenologistAI Performance Specialist

2021 - Present

Mindstate's first full-time hire, initially leading subjective effect documentation for Osmanthus, the company's AI neuroengineering platform. I extended my Subjective Effect Index taxonomy into a catalogue of 600+ distinct effects derived from over 70,000 experience reports and correlated with receptor-level pharmacology. This work contributed directly to MSD-001, the platform's first compound, completing a first-in-human Phase 1 clinical trial in 2025: safe, well tolerated, and the first clinical validation of designed psychoactive effects. I now serve as a software engineer, building the internal tooling and data systems that power the platform as MSD-001-based fixed-dose combinations progress toward the next phase of clinical development.

Phase 1 topline results ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06702332

Mindscape Collective

Board MemberDirector of Product Design

NOV 2024 - Present

A non-profit organization dedicated to providing researchers with an accessible and comprehensive database of published academic papers on psychedelic science, consciousness, and altered states. Brought on as a consultant by founder Mike Elliot, I quickly took on a leading role in shaping the platform's full user experience while providing strategic guidance on both frontend and backend architecture.

Mindscape Collective

Board MemberDirector of Product Design

NOV 2024 - Present

A non-profit organization dedicated to providing researchers with an accessible and comprehensive database of published academic papers on psychedelic science, consciousness, and altered states. Brought on as a consultant by founder Mike Elliot, I quickly took on a leading role in shaping the platform's full user experience while providing strategic guidance on both frontend and backend architecture.

Subjective Effect Documentation

The field I founded dedicated to formally documenting and classifying the subjective effects of psychoactive substances and other altered states of consciousness, capturing experiences as both structured taxonomy and recreated sensory media.

Subjective Effect Index

Founder

May 2011 - Present

Serving as a core feature of a variety of my different projects, the SEI is the first comprehensive catalog and reference for the full range of subjective effects that may occur under the influence of psychoactive substances and other psychonautic techniques. It consists of over 200 individual subjective effects with accompanying descriptions, subcomponents, categories, levelling systems, and image/video replications. Its aim is to enable the field of psychedelic research to achieve its full potential by creating a granular taxonomy of the subjective psychedelic experience. The SEI became the direct foundation for the effect classification system I went on to develop at Mindstate.

Wikipedia article the full index on EffectIndex.com

Subjective Effect Index

Founder

May 2011 - Present

Serving as a core feature of a variety of my different projects, the SEI is the first comprehensive catalog and reference for the full range of subjective effects that may occur under the influence of psychoactive substances and other psychonautic techniques. It consists of over 200 individual subjective effects with accompanying descriptions, subcomponents, categories, levelling systems, and image/video replications. Its aim is to enable the field of psychedelic research to achieve its full potential by creating a granular taxonomy of the subjective psychedelic experience. The SEI became the direct foundation for the effect classification system I went on to develop at Mindstate.

Wikipedia article the full index on EffectIndex.com

Psychedelic Replication

Founder

Oct 2015 - Present

The practice of recreating the sensory effects of hallucinogens in image, video, and audio form as accurately as possible. Where traditional psychedelic art draws inspiration from these experiences, replication aims to faithfully document them. I coined the term "replication" and founded the field in 2015 alongside the Subjective Effect Index, as it was immediately obvious that visual experiences should also be conveyed through a visual medium. This founding led directly to the creation of the /r/Replications subreddit, which now exceeds 143,000 members and remains its central hub. The field has kickstarted the careers of professional replicators like Symmetric Vision and Loka Vision, and its techniques now inform VR-based therapeutic research.

Community replication compilations

DMT Breakthroughs (4K)Psychedelic Visuals Psychedelic Geometry (4K)Deliriants

Psychedelic Replication

Founder

Oct 2015 - Present

The practice of recreating the sensory effects of hallucinogens in image, video, and audio form as accurately as possible. Where traditional psychedelic art draws inspiration from these experiences, replication aims to faithfully document them. I coined the term "replication" and founded the field in 2015 alongside the Subjective Effect Index, as it was immediately obvious that visual experiences should also be conveyed through a visual medium. This founding led directly to the creation of the /r/Replications subreddit, which now exceeds 143,000 members and remains its central hub. The field has kickstarted the careers of professional replicators like Symmetric Vision and Loka Vision, and its techniques now inform VR-based therapeutic research.

Community replication compilations

DMT Breakthroughs (4K)Psychedelic Visuals Psychedelic Geometry (4K)Deliriants

EffectIndex.com

Founder

2017 - Present

A community-driven resource dedicated to establishing the field of formalized Subjective Effect Documentation. It serves as a central and dedicated online platform for showcasing the Subjective Effect Index (SEI).

EffectIndex.com

Founder

2017 - Present

A community-driven resource dedicated to establishing the field of formalized Subjective Effect Documentation. It serves as a central and dedicated online platform for showcasing the Subjective Effect Index (SEI).

Other Founded Projects

PsychonautWiki

Founder

May 2013 - May 2017

An academic, open source, and comprehensive encyclopedia on the topic of altered states of consciousness, psychoactive substances, and harm reduction information. It includes over 2000 articles and is one of the most prominent informational resources of its kind, peaking in traffic at around 1 million unique visitors a month.

Personal archived mirror Wikipedia article

Note: I am no longer associated with this website and cannot in good faith recommend using its present day iteration. The links above point to my personal archived mirror of the site as it existed during my tenure.

PsychonautWiki

Founder

May 2013 - May 2017

An academic, open source, and comprehensive encyclopedia on the topic of altered states of consciousness, psychoactive substances, and harm reduction information. It includes over 2000 articles and is one of the most prominent informational resources of its kind, peaking in traffic at around 1 million unique visitors a month.

Personal archived mirror Wikipedia article

Note: I am no longer associated with this website and cannot in good faith recommend using its present day iteration. The links above point to my personal archived mirror of the site as it existed during my tenure.

The Josie Kins Youtube Channel

Creator

May 2020 - Present

A science communication channel dedicated to subjective effect documentation, featuring effect explainers and some of the most accurate publicly available replications of psychedelic visuals. Over 120,000 subscribers and an average of 600,000 views a month, with videos covered by outlets including Nautilus and UNILAD.

The Josie Kins Youtube Channel

Creator

May 2020 - Present

A science communication channel dedicated to subjective effect documentation, featuring effect explainers and some of the most accurate publicly available replications of psychedelic visuals. Over 120,000 subscribers and an average of 600,000 views a month, with videos covered by outlets including Nautilus and UNILAD.

Disregard Every Thing I Say

Creator

May 2011 - 2016

The unlikely initial start of my career, this blog is where I first founded the Subjective Effect Index project and generally established my lifelong passion for studying the psychedelic experience.

Disregard Every Thing I Say

Creator

May 2011 - 2016

The unlikely initial start of my career, this blog is where I first founded the Subjective Effect Index project and generally established my lifelong passion for studying the psychedelic experience.