��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge students launch campaign aimed at improving mental health — the natural way

caroline.zentner — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 21:27:36 +0000

Four enterprising ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge students have launched the #MycosMentalHealth campaign to increase awareness of mental health and natural remedies that can help.

The student entrepreneurs have been working behind the scenes to launch their initiative to coincide with Mental Illness Awareness Week, which goes from Oct. 1 to 7 and they plan to run the campaign until Mental Health Awareness Month in May. The students have taken a chalkboard around campus and asked people what their natural mental health remedy is. They write their answer on the chalkboard and take a photo that’s then posted to Instagram. So far, people’s solutions have included going for a walk, working out, standing barefoot in the grass, getting some fresh air and listening to music.

From left to right are Gregory Robinson, Jaxon Doram and Cole Childrey.

“We can talk about mental health, and we can bring awareness to it,” says Gregory Robinson, ULethbridge PhD candidate and founder of Mycos. “But what’s much more important is actually talking about how we can improve our mental health. That’s why we decided to go the natural remedies route. Let’s talk about ways that you can actually improve your own mental health and share that with everybody instead of just talking about mental health.”

Robinson, along with Jaxon Doram and Cole Childrey, founders of UrbanDropout, an activewear online store, and Bailey Porter, who started the Litty Love candle company, developed the campaign in response to the growing problem of mental health concerns, especially among young people.

“We’re at that age where it is most prevalent,” says Doram. “A lot of us are out on our own for the first time, we’re away from our families and may not have any of our friends from high school here.”

“The whole campaign is talking about what you can do as a natural remedy to help with your mental health,” says Childrey.

They all know the stresses and struggles students face so they want to engage students in the campaign. When students repost the Instagram posts, they’ll be automatically entered into a monthly draw for the chance to win a prize from each of the companies. On top of that, Robinson donated $500 to start a scholarship fund and is seeking further funding from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, undergraduate and graduate student administrations, as well as applying for funding through the NeuroSpark Innovation Grants program through Campus Alberta Neuroscience. The scholarships would be awarded to the students who raise the most awareness.

They are encouraging the public to get involved too, by following the companies on social media and posting their own photos or videos about their natural remedies for mental health.

“Anyone can join in the campaign,” says Robinson. “People outside universities and colleges, and even high school and elementary school students suffer from mental health illnesses, as well as people who are older.”

“We want to promote a healthy mindset and being healthy mentally no matter the age group,” says Childrey.

Anyone interested can use the hashtag #MycosMentalHealth and follow their Instagram accounts:
Urban Dropout — @urbandropout_apparel
Mycos — @mycosshrooms
Litty Love — @littylove_

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge grad student sees a world of possibilities in mushrooms

caroline.zentner — Tue, 11 Apr 2023 15:45:40 +0000

With burgeoning research into both psychedelic, or so-called magic mushrooms, and non-psychedelic mushrooms, Gregory Robinson, a PhD candidate at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and entrepreneur, is poised to take advantage of the surge in interest in mushrooms.

He launched his psychedelic pharmaceutical research and development company, Mycos Biotech, a year ago after seeing much promise in developing techniques to make extracts from mushrooms. After finishing his master’s at Western ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, Robinson came to ULethbridge to work with Dr. Igor Kovalchuk in the Department of Biological Sciences. He soon began concentrating his research on the study of fungi, a field known as mycology.

“A lot of research has gone into understanding the properties of mushrooms and their benefits,” says Robinson. “There are many known benefits to mushrooms, but you usually cannot get the benefits of mushrooms by just eating them. You actually have to extract a lot of the chemicals.”

Mushroom extracts can be helpful in fighting inflammation, maintaining cardiovascular health, promoting sleep and regulating blood glucose levels. One of the difficulties, whether it’s psychedelic or non-psychedelic mushrooms, is that there’s enormous variability in the amount of active compounds between and within mushroom species. That’s where Robinson focuses his research.

“We want to make sure that we, in any mushroom that we produce, know the exact amount of metabolites present, such as psilocybin in the case of psychedelic mushrooms,” says Robinson. “We want to make it consistent and, at the same time, ensure that we have the highest amount of those metabolites.”

Robinson is looking to develop processes and techniques that provide both consistency and a high quantity of metabolites in mushrooms and then sell those techniques to mushroom producers.

Thanks to grants from Mitacs, Agility, Technology Alberta and Venture for Canada, Robinson has been able to continue his research and nine students have been hired on a part-time basis. He’s also collaborating with local companies involved in the growing field of mycology, including Pharmapsil and Herbal Apothecary.

“There’s a lot of research and work that’s going on in psychedelics here in Lethbridge and there’s a bunch more in Calgary,” says Robinson. “I would argue that Alberta and even Lethbridge is like a psychedelic hub for research and development.”

In March, Robinson started a second corporation called Mycos, which is working with a dozen different non-psychedelic mushrooms. They are combining various extracts into different formulations to create supplements that are targeted to specific problems. Robinson, who’s also completing a master’s in business administration through the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, is participating in a pitch competition through Washington ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in St. Louis, Missouri. Mycos made it into the top 20 finalists for a chance to win $50,000 US in funding. See Robinson’s video pitch.

“The benefits of these edible mushroom extracts just go on and on,” says Robinson.

UNews - Gregory Robinson

��Ѹ�����Դ���߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge students launch campaign aimed at improving mental health — the natural way

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��Ѹ�����Դ���߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge grad student sees a world of possibilities in mushrooms

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��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge students launch campaign aimed at improving mental health — the natural way

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge grad student sees a world of possibilities in mushrooms