The primary aim of the endowment is to ensure that rigorous research on psychedelics, spirituality, and well-being continues in perpetuity. This research will extend Roland R. Griffiths’ pioneering studies on psychedelics into programmatic lines of research. We expect this endowment will persist for many generations and for centuries into the future.
The endowment will generate interest on a yearly basis to fund on-going scientific research. This fund will cover the yearly salary and benefits of a professor, postdoctoral research fellows, research assistants, and therapists at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. It will also provide research funds for psychedelic research studies. Research funds will support experimentally rigorous studies involving administration of psychedelics in humans, which are very expensive to conduct and rarely if ever supported through standard funding mechanisms. These studies will examine how psychedelic experiences in controlled settings as well as real-world retreat frameworks relate to aspects of spirituality, worldview, well-being, risks of adverse events, and prosocial behavior.
More detailed information about the rationale and purpose of the endowment along with provisions for assuring that the endowment funds be used solely to support a professor and her/his world-class research program are provided in the Founder’s Agreement between Roland Griffiths and Johns Hopkins University.