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 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, 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
• FDA plans ultra-fast review of three psychedelic drugs following Trump directive (Associated Press, 2026)
• Trump’s order on psychedelics could have far-reaching science consequences (Scientific American, 2026)
• Psychedelics, placebo, and anesthetic dreams (From Our Neurons to Yours, 2024)
• Pychedelics inside out — how do LSD and psilocybin alter perception? (From Our Neurons to Yours, 2024)
• The power of psychedelics meets the power of placebo (From Our Neurons to Yours, 2024)
• Magnesium–ibogaine therapy in veterans with traumatic brain injuries (Nature, 2024)
• Magnesium–ibogaine therapy effects on cortical oscillations and neural complexity in veterans with traumatic brain injury (Nature Mental Health, 2025)

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