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Announcing the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research
We are pleased to share with you that earlier this fall, the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research was founded at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Its inauguration signifies a historic leap in psychedelic research, as the Center is the first of its kind in the United States, and the largest in the world. The Center will focus on how psychedelics affect behavior, brain function, learning and memory, the brain’s biology, and mood. Future studies will explore psilocybin’s effectiveness as a new therapy for opioid addiction, Alzheimer's disease, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (formerly known as chronic Lyme disease), anorexia nervosa, and alcohol use in people with major depression. This exciting announcement is made possible by $17 million in private funding, providing support for a team of six faculty neuroscientists, experimental psychologists, and clinicians with expertise in psychedelic science, as well as five postdoctoral scientists. Above all, we would like to thank our funders, all current and past participants, passionate supporters, and the dedicated and hardworking staff at Johns Hopkins.
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60 Minutes recently featured a spotlight on the work being done at the Center, and outlined psilocybin’s capacity to treat addiction, anxiety, and depression. |
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The Today Show featured a segment on the Center, and interviewed Mary Cosimano and Dr. Griffiths. The segment discussed cortical regions affected by psychedelics, and showed the session rooms used at the Center. |
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The New York Times wrote about the opening of the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, and discussed the positive implications surrounding psychedelics in therapy. |
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The Washington Post recently highlighted the founding of the Center, and included statements from Roland Griffiths and Matthew Johnson. |
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Forbes recently covered the opening of the center, and included a statement from Alexandra Cohen, President of the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation and a center-funder. |
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NPR recently interviewed Dr. Johnson about his work with cigarette addiction and psychedelics. The interview features a patient’s testimony after receiving treatment at the Center. |
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Fox Business recently interviewed Dr. Griffiths regarding the opening of the center. He spoke on the enduring effects of psychedelics, as well as their potential to treat a range of disorders. |
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The Independent Recently underscored psychedelic’s potential for cross-drug efficacy, as well as the implications this has on addiction research. |
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The Journal of the American Medical Association recently interviewed Dr. Griffiths about the opening of the Center. The interview focuses on what the Center hopes to accomplish, and the inspiration leading to its founding. |
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Scientific American recently outlined the legal implications surrounding psychedelic medicine. The article argues for the implementation of nuanced risk assessment strategies for handling psychedelics in medicine, and predicts an expansion of psychedelic substances into mainstream medicine. |
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Medium recently featured a piece on the treatment of Anorexia at the center. Dr. Natalie Gukasyan was featured, and speaks to the potential benefit of using psilocybin as therapy for those suffering from anorexia. |
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Dr. Garcia-Romeu was recently interviewed by Plantmedicine.org. He discusses the biochemical effects of psilocybin, and their potential to enduringly cure addiction. |
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Dr. Bill Richards was interviewed in a podcast by wbur. He talks about the brain’s capacity to heal itself during a psychedelic intervention, and what this means for the future of psychiatry. |
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Dr. Matthew Johnson was recently interviewed by WAMU, and spoke about the progress leading up to the Center’s founding. |
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Dr. Barrett was recently featured in the RawTalk podcast, a graduate student-run biomedical podcast at the University of Toronto. He discusses the effects of psychedelics on brain function, and comments on their potential for therapy. |
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Dr. Johnson recently spoke about microdosing and its affects on creativity. |
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Participate in Our StudiesWe are currently recruiting for three studies involving psychedelic research. Click on a link below to find out more regarding the application process.
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Upcoming Events
November 21, 2019
Dr. Griffiths and Dr. Johnson will be speaking at Analgesic, Anesthetic, and Addiction Clinical Trial Translations, Innovations, Opportunities, and Networks conference in Washington DC. Dr. Griffiths will be providing background on psilocybin, and Dr. Johnson will be presenting on recommendations for leveraging psilocybin treatment of opioid addiction. December 3, 2019 Dr. Griffiths will be presenting "Psilocybin: History, Neuropharmacology, and Implications for Therapeutics" at the NIMH Director's Innovation Speaker Series. December 4, 2019 Dr. Johnson will be presenting “Psilocybin in the treatment of mental illness” at the University of Utah Department of Psychiatry Grand Rounds. Dr. Griffiths and Mary Cosimano will be discussants at a public screening of the movie Fantastic Fungi at the Charles Theater in Baltimore. December 6, 2019 Dr. Johnson will be a featured speaker at the 14th Annual Johns Hopkins Bayview Research Symposium. His talk will focus on psychedelics and their potential as behavior change agents. December 8-11, 2019 Dr. Griffiths, Dr. Johnson, Dr. Barrett, and Dr. Manoj Doss will all be speaking at the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology’s annual meeting in Orlando, Florida. Dr. Griffiths will make a Hot Topic presentation and will give a poster presentation on "Psilocybin Assisted Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder." Dr. Johnson will be presenting “Should MDMA and Psilocybin be Used for the Treatment of PTSD?” Dr. Barrett will be presenting "In patients with major depressive disorder, psilocybin administration is associated with reduced amygdala response to negative affective stimuli and normalization of cortical glutamate one week after psilocybin, and improved cognitive flexibility one and four weeks after psilocybin." Finally, Dr. Manoj Doss will be presenting "The Acute Effects of Inhaled Salvinorin A on Resting State Functional Connectivity in Humans." December 17, 2019 Dr. Johnson will be presenting “Psychedelics and behavior change” at the Harvard/McLean Hospital's Neuroscience Seminar Series. February 18, 2020 Dr. Griffiths will give Grand Rounds to the Department of Medicine at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Campus, Grossi Auditorium. February 28, 2020 Dr. Johnson will be presenting “Therapeutics effects of the psychedelic 5-HT2A receptor agonist psilocybin” at the Center for Neuroscience Initiative at Auburn University. February 29, 2020 Dr. Griffiths will give an invited presentation on "Psilocybin as a Treatment for Addictive Disorders" at the annual meeting Behavior, Biology, and Chemistry: Translational Research in Addiction, San Antonio Texas. March 2-4, 2020 Dr. Fred Barrett will be speaker at TEDMED 2020. He will be sharing his work on psychedelics and their effect on neural circuits, as well as their acute and long term effects on emotions, cognition, and the brain. March 21, 2020 Dr. Griffiths will give a keynote address on "Research with Psilocybin: History, Neuropharmacology, and Potential Clinical Applications" at Pushing the Envelope in Psychiatry Treatment conference. Stanford, California. April 7, 2020 Dr. Johnson will presenting “Psilocybin in the treatment of anxiety and depression in cancer patients” at Houston Methodist Cancer Center’s Oncology Grand Rounds. April 24-29, 2020 Dr. Johnson will be presenting “Psychedelics as Behavior Change Agents” at the Interdisciplinary Conference on Psychedelic Research. Haarlem, The Netherlands. Dr. Griffiths and Dr. Johnson will make presentations about "Treating Substance Use Disorders with Classic Psychedelics" at the meeting of the American Psychiatric Association in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. May 23, 2020 Dr. Johnson will be presenting at the Association for Behavior Analysis International annual convention, as he is a recipient of the Society for the Advancement of Behavior Analysis Award for Effective Presentation of Behavior Analysis in the Mass Media, Washington DC. The award is in part based on his media appearances regarding psychedelic research. May 29, 2020 Dr. Griffiths will give a presentation on "The Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research" as the keynote speaker for the Johns Hopkins Medicine Reunion Symposium in Baltimore Maryland June 2020 Dr. Johnson will be presenting “Behavioral science of addiction, decision making, and psilocybin” at the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR). June 20-24, 2020 Dr. Johnson will be speaking on a forum at The College on Problems of Drug Dependence Conference in Hollywood, FL July 26-27, 2020 Dr. Johnson will be presenting “Psilocybin in the treatment of tobacco use disorder” at the International Society for Serotonin Research. November 2020 Next November, Mind Medicine Australia is hosting the International Summit on Psychedelic Therapies for Mental Illness. World experts on psychedelic science, including Dr. Matt Johnson, will be speaking at the event. Updates Dr. Johnson is one of the three guest editors for a soon-to-be published special issue of the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry, titled: Hallucinogens and Entactogens: Establishing a New Class of Psychotherapeutic Drugs? Starting in January 2020, Dr. Johnson will start his term as President of the International Society for Research on Psychedelics. In December 2019 he will conclude his year as President of the Psychopharmacology and Substance Abuse Division of the American Psychological Association, and move into the Past-President position.
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Recent PublicationsDavis, A.K., Barrett, F.S., & Griffiths, R.R. (2019). Psychological flexibility mediates the relations between acute psychedelic effects and subjective decreases in depression and anxiety. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science. Accepted manuscript in press.
Garcia-Romeu, A. Davis, A.K., Erowid, F., Erowid, E., Griffiths, R.R., & Johnson, M.W. (2019). Cessation and reduction in alcohol consumption and misuse after psychedelic use. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 33(9), 1088-1101.
Griffiths, R.R., Hurwitz, E.S., Davis, A.K., Johnson, M.W., & Jesse, R. (2019). Survey of subjective “God encounter experiences”: Comparisons among naturally occurring experiences and those occasioned by the classic psychedelics psilocybin, LSD, ayahuasca, or DMT. PLoS ONE, 14(4), e0214377.
Davis, A.K., So, S., Lancelotta, R., Barsuglia, J.P., & Griffiths, R.R. (2019). 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) used in a naturalistic group setting is associated with unintended improvements in depression and anxiety. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 1-16.
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Get Involved in Psychedelic Science
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Mind Medicine Australia is seeking to establish safe and effective psychedelic-assisted treatments for mental illness in Australia. As a registered charity (DGR-1 status), they are supporting clinical research and working towards regulatory-approved and evidence-based psychedelic-assisted therapies. They operate as a nexus between medical practitioners, academia, government, regulatory bodies, philanthropists, and other partners. |
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The Source Research Foundation is a non-profit organization that aims to connect, inspire, and support students who study psychedelics. The Source Foundation plans to award up to $10,000 this year in small research grants, and will be accepting applications for 2020 this April.
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The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Science (MAPS) is currently hiring across a broad range of positions.
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Support Psychedelic Research
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Be a part of the psychedelic renaissance! Help support the faculty and staff at the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research. Individual donations are always appreciated, and make the work we do possible.
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