Why Now & Why PSI?
The resurgence of psychedelic science over the past three decades is transforming the fields of mental health and neuroscience. Recent clinical trials of psychedelic-assisted therapies have shown promise across a wide range of conditions, including depression, anxiety, PTSD and substance use disorders. Novel applications are also being explored for complex conditions such as dementia, traumatic brain injury, stroke and chronic pain syndromes.
Yet significant challenges remain. The FDA rejection of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD in August 2024 underscores the complex regulatory path for bringing psychedelic medicines into mainstream clinical use.
To overcome these hurdles, there is a critical need for expert teams trained in both the delivery of psychedelic-assisted care and the rigors of modern clinical trial management with controlled substances such as MDMA, psilocybin, LSD, and 5Meo-DMT.
The Psychedelic Science Institute (PSI) was created to meet this need. Formed through the strategic merging of the PNI TRIP Center and the California Center for Psychedelic Therapy (CCPT), PSI brings together a unique multidisciplinary team of clinician-scientists, psychotherapists, and mental health professionals. Collectively, our team has conducted multiple psychedelic clinical trials and delivered more than 10,000 ketamine-assisted therapy sessions over the past six years.
PSI launches in July 2025 with the opening of our first two TRIP Clinics in Santa Monica and Hollywood. These two well-established clinics now operating under the PSI umbrella, will conduct both industry-sponsored and investigator-initiated clinical trials and provide ketamine-assisted psychotherapy.
PSI’s launch is being supported through the nonprofit Psychedelic Innovation Fund. In addition to supporting Year-1 operations, PIF will help fund:
Investigator-initiated clinical trials
Public education and training in psychedelic science and medicine
Creation of an affordable and scalable model for transformative mental health care.
Next Steps
Our goals
Conduct clinical trials of existing and novel psychedelic medicines for mental health disorders such as major depression, treatment resistant depression, postpartum depression, generalized anxiety disorder, substance use disorders, PTSD and related conditions.
Conduct clinical trials of existing and novel psychedelic medicines for chronic and degenerative neurological conditions such as stroke, TBI, mild cognitive impairment, dementia and pain syndromes.
Provide mental health services including ketamine-assisted psychotherapy and other established psychotherapy services.
Provide education and training in the rapidly evolving fields of psychedelic medicine and science.
Help expand access of psychedelic-based mental health care services to underserved populations.
Years 1 - 3
The primary PSI revenue streams will be from industry-sponsored clinical trials of psychedelic compounds.
The secondary revenue stream will be from ketamine-assisted psychotherapy and other standard psychotherapy services (both insurance covered and cash-pay).
Eventual revenue streams will be from the use of psychedelic medicines in psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) as they become FDA-approved or legalized in California.
Act Now
We are seeking to collaborate with like-minded individuals, foundations and family offices who have a strong belief and interest in advancing psychedelic medicines. Our shared goal is for the betterment of humanity and for specifically impacting mental health and neuroscience conditions for which current treatments are often ineffective.
You can support PSI with charitable donations, private foundation grants and Donor-Advised Funds through the nonprofit Psychedelic Innovation Fund (PIF). The mission of PIF is to advance the evidence-based use of psychedelic medicines and psychedelic-assisted therapy for mental health and neuroscience disorders.
To learn more about supporting PSI through the Psychedelic Innovation Fund, please contact Greg Kearns gkearns@psychedelicsci.com or Daniel Kelly dkelly@psychedelicsci.com.
