Rhode Island Hospital has embarked on an innovative research project investigating the therapeutic uses of psilocybin for a wide range of psychiatric disorders. With multi-year support from the Gruben Charitable Foundation, the hospital is currently preparing for a five-year pilot study of psilocybin for patients with treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Rhode Island Hospital psychiatrist Mohamed Sherif, MD, PhD, will lead the study. “In depression, psilocybin and ketamine seem to work by triggering brain changes much faster than with current treatment,” says Dr. Sherif. “In addition, psilocybin effects seem to be lasting longer. It is encouraging to examine psilocybin’s therapeutic potential in OCD as well.”
You can read more about this cutting edge research in a recent Lifespan article. We are delighted to support this work, and we look forward to learning from the results of the study.