ROLAND R. GRIFFITHS, PhD

BOARD MEMBER, DECEASED

Roland Griffiths, PhD, passed on October 16, 2023 almost two years after being diagnosed with colon cancer.  This is a huge loss for the psychedelic research community, and everyone.  There are obituaries posted at the NY Times and the Baltimore Banner.

Roland was Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurosciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His principal research focus in both clinical and preclinical laboratories was on the behavioral and subjective effects of mood-altering drugs. His research was largely supported by grants from the National Institute on Health and he was author of over 400 journal articles and book chapters. He was a consultant to the National Institutes of Health, to numerous pharmaceutical companies in the development of new psychotropic drugs, and as a member of the Expert Advisory Panel on Drug Dependence for the World Health Organization. He conducted extensive research with sedative-hypnotics, caffeine, and novel mood-altering drugs. In 1999 he initiated a research program investigating the effects of the classic psychedelic psilocybin that includes studies in psychedelic naive and experienced volunteers, in beginning and long-term meditators, and in religious leaders. Studies have also have examined the effects of salvinorin A, dextromethorphan, and ketamine which produce altered states of consciousness having some similarities to psilocybin. Therapeutic studies with psilocybin include treatment of psychological distress in cancer patients, treatment of cigarette smoking cessation, and psilocybin treatment of major depression. Drug interaction studies and brain imaging studies (fMRI and PET) are examining pharmacological and neural mechanisms of action. The Hopkins laboratory has also conducted a series of internet survey studies characterizing various psychedelic experiences including those associated with acute and enduring adverse effects, mystical-type effects, entity and God-encounter experiences, and alleged positive changes in mental health, including decreases in depression and anxiety, decreases in substance abuse, and reductions in death anxiety. (Participation as a Heffter Board Member does not constitute or imply endorsement by the Johns Hopkins University or the Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System.)