Priorities for the next generation of psychedelic science

Over the last decade, interest in the study of psychedelic drugs has grown tremendously, yielding a new generation of research centers, clinical trials, and neuroscience studies. In response to this growing wave of inquiry, in November of 2022, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) issued a notice outlining its priorities and criteria for new grant applications related to the study of psychedelic drugs, emphasizing a need for deeper research into underlying mechanisms, as well as more robust study designs in clinical and translational research. In this session, NIMH Director Joshua A. Gordon, M.D., Ph.D. and trauma researcher and NIMH grant recipient Barbara O. Rothbaum, Ph.D. of Emory University discuss the strengths and weaknesses of latest wave of psychedelic research, and what we hope to learn from the next generation of rigorous investigations into the neurobiology and therapeautic applications of psychedelic drugs.