The FDA's psychedelic sea-change: what accelerated clinical trials for psilocybin, methylone, and ibogaine mean for mental health and neuroscience research | Boris Heifets

Last month we saw a big shift in the federal government’s approach to psychedelic medicine.
Specifically, following an executive order by President Trump, the FDA announced (apnews.com/article/psychedelics-trump-fda-kenn…) it is fast-tracking its review of several clinical trials of psychedelic drugs for patients with mental health disorders. The executive order also directed more funds towards psychedelic research and a review of psychedelics’ status as highly restricted Schedule 1 substances.
To help us understand what all this means for the future of psychedelic medicine and the neuroscience of psychedelics, we’re joined by Boris Heifets (neuroscience.stanford.edu/people/boris-heifets), an anesthesiologist at Stanford Medicine who runs a lab studying how psychedelics affect the nervous system and their impact on patients with psychiatric conditions.
Learn More
• The Heifets Lab at Stanford Medicine (heifetslab.stanford.edu)
• FDA plans ultra-fast review of three psychedelic drugs following Trump directive (apnews.com/article/psychedelics-trump-fda-kenn…) (Associated Press, 2026)
• Trump’s order on psychedelics could have far-reaching science consequences (scientificamerican.com/article/trumps-order-on…) (Scientific American, 2026)
• Psychedelics, placebo, and anesthetic dreams (neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/psychedelics-pl…) (From Our Neurons to Yours, 2024)
• Pychedelics inside out — how do LSD and psilocybin alter perception? (neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/psychedelics-in…)(From Our Neurons to Yours, 2024)
• The power of psychedelics meets the power of placebo (neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/power-psychedel…) (From Our Neurons to Yours, 2024)
• Magnesium–ibogaine therapy in veterans with traumatic brain injuries (nature.com/articles/s41591-023-02705-w#citeas) (Nature, 2024)
• Magnesium–ibogaine therapy effects on cortical oscillations and neural complexity in veterans with traumatic brain injury (nature.com/articles/s44220-025-00463-x) (Nature Mental Health, 2025)
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