A groundbreaking new centre at the University of California will boost the study of psychedelics as a treatment for brain health.
The San Francisco institution is set to become home to the Neuroscape Psychedelic Division from March 2021.
Through $6.4M in private funding, the new division will ‘take a unique translational research approach to integrate cutting-edge neuroscience technology with psychedelics treatment’.
Among its initial planned projects is a phase III trial for MDMA as a new treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
More than half a billion people suffer from debilitating mental health conditions worldwide, creating a pressing need for new clinical tools.
Recent years have seen some progress in both clinical validation and mechanisms of action of specific psychedelic treatments, such as recent FDA Breakthrough Therapy Designation for MDMA and psilocybin to treat PTSD and depression, respectively.
However, there is a surprising lack of innovative research into approaches aimed at optimising the delivery of the treatments themselves, specifically exploring the role of context in enhancing treatment effects coupled with recording neural, psychological and physiological data.
Adam Gazzaley, executive director of Neuroscape, said: “Our generous funders are making possible a major leap forward in generating evidence of clinical efficacy and safety for individuals using psychedelics to treat a broad range of mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, PTSD, and addiction.
“At Neuroscape, we have taken a neuroscience-based, closed-loop approach to creating experiential medicine, including the first FDA-cleared video game as a medical therapeutic.
“We are excited to apply this same approach to understanding how we can deliver psychedelic treatments in a more personalised and precisely-targeted manner.”
The $6.4M in funding came from a variety of private donors, including George Goldsmith and Ekaterina Malievskaia, Dominic van Almsick, Drew and Amy McKnight, Tim Ferriss, and the George Sarlo Foundation. Goldsmith and Malievskaia gave a $4M donation for the endowment of the Ralph Metzner Distinguished Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry at UCSF.
Heading up the new Neuroscape division as Founding Director will be Robin Carhart-Harris, one of the most cited researchers in the world in psychedelic science and the founder of the first centre for psychedelic research at Imperial College London.
He said: “The founding of this new division is a hugely exciting development in the story of the psychedelic renaissance.
“I’m delighted to be joining UCSF and the Neuroscape team and hope to steer this new division to great success.”
