Website:

http://alto-das-estrelas.blogspot.com/

Profile:

Beatriz Caiuby Labate or Bia Labate was born in São Paulo in 1971. She earned a bachelor’s degree in social science from the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in 1996. In 2000 she obtained a master’s degree in social anthropology from the same university, receiving the Prize for Best Master’s Thesis from the National Association for Graduate Studies in Social Science (ANPOCS). Her doctoral research in social anthropology at UNICAMP focuses on the internationalization of Peruvian ayahuasca “vegetalismo.” She is co-editor of the books O uso ritual da ayahuasca (Mercado de Letras 2002) and O uso ritual das plantas de poder (Mercado de Letras, 2005) and author of the book A reinvenção do uso da ayahuasca nos centros urbanos (Mercado de Letras, 2004). She is a researcher with the Nucleus for Interdisciplinary Studies of Psychoactives (NEIP). In February 2005 she founded Alto das Estrelas, a private institute which promotes political activism, anthropological research and public events, in addition to researching the cultivation and preparation of vegetal species.

Posts by Bia Labate:

• Ayahuasca y Salud (Ayahuasca and Health)
• Important new research project about ayahuasca in the USA
• Bia Labate site and newsletter
• Short Glossary of the Terms Used in the União do Vegetal
• The Wine of the Souls – Pilgrimage into the Heart of Santo Daime & Amazon Forest
• Drugs and Culture: New Perspectives
• New Book on Brazilian Ayahuasca Religions
• Documentary “The Lord of the Forest” (O senhor da Floresta) about Mestre Irineu by Mivan Gedeon
• Effects of ayahuasca on psychometric measures of anxiety, panic-like and hopelessness in Santo Daime members.