CIHR Operating Grant : Psilocybin-assisted Psychotherapy – Registration
Well-being, Health and Biomedical Discovery
Deadlines
Academic Unit: inquire with unit
Memorial Deadline: RIS review not required for registration stage
External Deadline: Tuesday 6th, September 2022
Description
The Canadian Drug and Substances Strategy (CDSS) is the Government of Canada’s comprehensive, collaborative, compassionate, and evidence based approach to addressing drug and substance policy including innovative approaches to treatment and harm reduction. The current funding opportunity will expand the evidence base around psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy to inform practical policies and regulations that aim to improve the health of Canadians and people living in Canada who are experiencing psychiatric disorders.
In Canada and internationally, there has been increasing interest in the therapeutic potential of combining psychedelics with psychotherapy for a range of substance use and mental health disorders. Psychedelics are compounds that alter the state of consciousness, and psilocybin, an active compound in psychoactive mushrooms, has seen an increase in research activity and exemption requests to Health Canada to treat substance use disorders and depressive and anxiety disorders. While the preliminary evidence is promising, more evidence is needed in the form of randomized clinical trials to better understand the therapeutic efficacy and safety which is needed to inform clinical and regulatory policies.
Within its objective under the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Act, CIHR is charged with addressing emerging health challenges. CIHR is also positioned, as Canada’s federal funding agency for health research, to provide focused public funding for emerging health challenges. Against this backdrop and recognizing a need for independent research on psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy, CIHR is launching this funding opportunity.
The purpose of this funding opportunity is to strengthen the evidence base and expand research into psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy in identified areas through new randomized phase 1 or 2 clinical trials, which will foster psychedelic-related research capacity and inform the development of future larger scale clinical trials. This should include the collection of data for the purpose of research that is relevant to understanding the efficacy and safety of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy. The psychotherapy is essential to minimise risks and maximize therapeutic benefit and as such should be administered by a regulated clinician or health care professional (e.g., psychologist, social worker, etc.) trained in psychotherapy.
| Competition | 202210PSY |
|---|---|
| Registration Deadline | 2022-09-06 |
| Application Deadline | 2022-10-04 |
See ResearchNet for more information.