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.
Our initial funding goal is a 20-million-dollar plus endowment that will generate interest on a yearly basis to fund on-going scientific research. Roughly, one-third of this fund will cover the yearly salary and benefits of a full professor at Johns Hopkins University. The next third will cover the yearly salaries of a postdoctoral research fellow and two or more research assistants. The final third and any additional funds will provide research funds for psychedelic research studies. Most of these 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 relate to aspects of spirituality, worldview, well-being, 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.
$1.5 Million Dollar Matching Gift: Beginning November 10, 2022, a generous anonymous donor has agreed to match dollar for dollar all donations up to $1.5 million dollars.
