Dr. Craig Hudson

I’m an Ontario-based psychiatrist who provides practical solutions to mental health concerns in both my practice and through clinical research.

I attended the University of Waterloo, graduating with a B.Sc. (Hons) in 1984. During my training, I was supervised by renowned neuropsychologist Dr. Philip Bryden, who instilled me with high standards of excellence.

I was then accepted into the University of Toronto Medical School. Here, I was supervised by Professor Philip Seeman, a Canadian icon of neuroscience research and neuropharmacology who was nominated for a Nobel Prize during my time as his student. My time at U of T sparked my interest in phospholipid metabolism.

On graduating in 1988, I was awarded the Medical Research Clinician Scientist Award, allowing me to continue my post-doctoral research in molecular genetics.

In the late 1990s, I co-founded a biotech company, Biosential, Inc., alongside my wife, Susan Hudson. We focused on manufacturing market-ready products with published clinical trials based on cutting edge medical research that addressed common neurological conditions such as insomnia, anxiety, and cognitive impairment.

We’ve extensively explored the practical applications of tryptophan, an amino acid most famous for making you sleepy after eating turkey. It’s found in many other foods, and it’s essential for producing melatonin and serotonin, which help to regulate the sleep-wake cycle and improve moods and appetites. There are many challenges to metabolizing tryptophan, however, and the product we developed overcomes these while being composed of food ingredients as opposed to chemicals.

We determined that the pumpkin seeds contained the highest natural source of tryptophan available, and were then able to extract tryptophan in a mild form from them and combine it with novel ingredients allowing it to pass through the blood-brain barrier, allowing the tryptophan to metabolize efficiently and effectively to natural serotonin and melatonin.

We’ve recently developed a sublingual treatment containing both tryptophan and melatonin, inducing improved sleep within minutes and providing a time-released element to eliminate those wakeful moments in the night. We are developing sublingual products for anxiety and cognitive impairment as well.

Alongside these ventures, I remain passionate about clinical practice and enjoy my work as a psychiatrist treating forensic patients, as well as my hospital work with those dealing with serious mental illness.