Michael Lifshitz

Michael Lifshitz is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at McGill University, working at the intersection of contemplative practice, neuroscience, and anthropology. He studies practices that aim to transform subjective experience—from meditation and hypnosis to placebos, prayer, and psychedelics. He did his PhD in Neuroscience at McGill and then a postdoc in Anthropology at Stanford. Drawing on this interdisciplinary background, his research explores how experience, neurobiology, and cultural context interact to shape the process and outcomes of spiritual practice.