Academics
MAR 2023
The NYU Langone Center for Psychedelic Medicine, under the auspices of NYU Langone’s Department of Psychiatry, supports health-focused research across the translational spectrum, from basic science to phase III clinical trials. Principally, it has three transdisciplinary areas of focus: psychiatry, medicine, and preclinical research. (read more here)
PHOTO: MOHA EL-JAW/GETTY
Studies include the assessment of psychedelics in the treatment of psychiatric disorders (e.g., substance use disorder, alcohol use disorder, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and distress associated with life-threatening illness such as cancer), as well as emerging medical indications.
PHOTO: MICROGEN IMAGES/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/GETTY
In a psilocybin-assisted therapy for Alcohol Use Disorder conducted last year, studies showed that “two doses of psilocybin, a compound found in psychedelic mushrooms, reduces heavy drinking by 83 percent on average among heavy drinkers when combined with psychotherapy.”
“Led by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, the investigation involved 93 men and women with alcohol dependence. They were randomly assigned to receive either two doses of psilocybin or an antihistamine placebo. Neither the researchers nor the study participants knew which medication they received. Within an 8-month period from the start of their treatment, those who were given psilocybin reduced heavy drinking by 83 percent relative to their drinking before the study began. Meanwhile, those who had received antihistamine reduced their drinking by 51 percent.
“Our findings strongly suggest that psilocybin therapy is a promising means of treating alcohol use disorder, a complex disease that has proven notoriously difficult to manage,” says study senior author and psychiatrist Michael P. Bogenschutz, MD, director of NYU Langone’s Center for Psychedelic Medicine.” (quotations taken from here)
F0r 2023, NYU Langone Health´s Center for Psychedelic Medicine will be recruiting participants for the following trials:
The Center for Psychedelic Medicine also advances the field of psychedelic medicine by providing training opportunities for the next generation of scientists and clinicians in the field. The Psychedelic Medicine Research Training Program provides education, mentorship, training opportunities, and pilot funding to support promising new investigators.
