To improve care for Veterans, VA to fund studies on new therapies for treating mental health conditions

At the beginning of this year, the VA issued a request for applications (RFA) from its network of VA researchers to study the use of MDMA and psilocybin assisted therapies for treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression, respectively. The RFA invites VA researchers to submit proposals on a broad range of topics which reflects VA's decision to make a major investment in work in this area.

We applaud the VA's efforts in the issuance of this RFA. However, we note that this is only the beginning of a very long road to generating new data and implementing psychedelic assisted therapies in clinical practice. The earliest date that any research project could start is 2025 with results much later depending on the type of study.

The studies that Healing Breakthrough and the Psychedelic Science Funders Collaborative have funded are already underway. Were it not for our efforts, there would be little MDMA-AT research focused solely on Veterans for at least the remainder of this year. Philanthropic funding has also brought together a group of VA researchers who have emerged as thought leaders positioned to inform the development of this RFA and help new applicants with best practices and lessons learned. Healing Breakthrough is very proud to have contributed to these efforts.

Read the official announcement here.