[NOTE: Any funds in excess of $80,000 will be applied to strengthening this or other psilocybin studies at Johns Hopkins. They have several prepared.]

I am helping researchers in neuroscience and psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine to conduct a pilot study of psilocybin in the addressing of treatment-resistant depression.

A recent but still unpublished study at Johns Hopkins demonstrated rapid, substantial, and sustained (lasting up to six months) antidepressant and anxiolytic (anti-anxiety) effects of a single dose of psilocybin in psychologically-distressed patients with life-threatening cancer diagnoses.  This is incredibly exciting. What if we could decrease or avoid altogether the known side-effects (and frequency of consumption) of current antidepressant drugs like SSRIs?

This study could help establish an alternative.

Current popular antidepressant medications have significant adverse side effects, with up to 50% of patients failing to respond fully and as many as 30% remaining completely resistant. Major depression is a common and often devastating psychiatric disorder. Individuals with depression are at a much greater risk of suicide than the general population. 

Psilocybin has been safely consumed by humans for millennia. Despite this, the study of entheogens like psilocybin was blocked for several decades due to political rather than scientific factors.  Now, we can finally explore the therapeutic and medical potential of these powerful compounds.

Besides me (Tim Ferriss), public supporters of this research include:

• Eric Weinstein, managing director of Thiel Capital, Ph.D. in Mathematical Physics from Harvard, research fellow at the Mathematical Institute of Oxford University
• Naval Ravikant, CEO of AngelList, renowned tech investor (Uber, Yammer, Twitter, Postmates OpenDNS, etc.)
• Matt Mullenweg, CEO of Automattic, lead developer of WordPress (powers ~25% of the Internet)
• And many other innovators in business and tech

The study on this page will determine the efficacy of psilocybin in treatment-resistant depression, and will also use cutting-edge brain imaging to clarify the mechanism of action of psilocybin's antidepressant effects.

In the world of science, it is a rare opportunity to be able to conduct such potentially groundbreaking work for a mere $80,000.  It’s almost unheard of.  Psilocybin has the potential to revolutionize the treatment of major depression that cannot be properly addressed with current treatments.  This also applies to end-of-life care for terminally-ill cancer patients (more on this in the Michael Pollan New Yorker feature entitled “The Trip Treatment").

I hope you’ll join me— and the above thought leaders—in this campaign. It could spark a huge shift in the national conversation about entheogens and their place in medicine.

Contributions to this study are fully tax-deductible and each donor will receive a tax receipt. Johns Hopkins is a 501(3)c organization.

I am personally committing at least $100,000 to entheogen/psychedelic research this year (2016). A portion of that will go to this study.

If you prefer to donate appreciated securities, please email mdevito1 [AT] jhmi {DOT} edu

THE TEAM:

Roland Griffiths and his colleagues at Johns Hopkins have been leaders in the re-initiation of research with classic psychedelic drugs, which was blocked for a period of several decades. Some of their research can be seen here: http://csp.org/psilocybin/

STUDY SPECIFICS:

This pilot study will enroll up to 6 individuals with treatment-resistant depression (at least 2 failed attempts at an anti-depressant treatment) who are judged by a physician to be appropriate for the study and who remain under outpatient supervision for the duration of the study.

Participants will undergo two blinded drug sessions, one with psilocybin and one with a placebo, each followed the next day by a brain imaging session using a high-field strength MRI (7T magnetic resonance imaging) scanner to measure key neurotransmitter levels (cortical glutamate concentration) and communication among brain regions while at rest (i.e. dynamic functional connectivity).  

Brain imaging measures will help us to understand the way in which psilocybin alters brain functioning, which may help us to further optimize the delivery of psilocybin-based treatments. The study may last up to one year from the time of funding, but the objective is to finish sooner. Preliminary data from this pilot study will be used to seek a larger grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), as well as private funding institutions for a large clinical trial of psilocybin and depression. Based on preliminary data, psilocybin has the potential to revolutionize the treatment of major depression resistant to available treatments.