Our Purpose.
Our Mission
The mission of the Center for Psychedelic Drug Research and Education (CPDRE) is to explore and advance the research about psychedelic drugs and their effects, and to disseminate the knowledge about psychedelics through education initiatives at the college, university, and local, national, and international locations.
Our Values
Curiosity
We admire the opinions and ideas of each person in the center and on each team in which we collaborate. We invite differences in perspectives, knowing they enhance our ability to think creatively and deeply. Social justice is embodied in the active engagement of our mission through our research and educational goals. A commitment to addressing issues related to lack of diversity, equity, and inclusion of black, indigenous, and people of color in psychedelic research will be at the forefront of our research and educational initiatives.
Social Justice
We engage in our mission with inquisitiveness. We are adventurous seekers of new terrain in academic spaces. We seek out answers to our questions with integrity and open-minded exploration.
Our Goals
The CPDRE will develop relevant, rigorous, and contemporary curriculum to prepare BSSW, MSW, and PhD social work graduates, and students across the OSU campus to address issues related to understanding the implications associated with the history, pharmacology, and legal, ethical, clinical, cultural, and ecological contexts of psychedelic drug use. The quickly evolving framework of this emerging field of psychedelic drug education will position the CSW at the forefront of the national academic discourse in this field. The curriculum developed within the CPDRE will be developed with an aim to launch the first academic five-course interdisciplinary minor, an online asynchronous continuing education certificate program, and interdisciplinary course textbook, in psychedelic studies. The goal will be to launch this program and publish the textbook in Autumn 2024, which will be administratively housed within the CSW in partnership with the Department of Plant Pathology and other to be named Colleges and Departments at OSU.
The CPDRE will also conduct rigorous interdisciplinary research studies within the field of psychedelic science. Projects undertaken within the CPDRE will advance research that addresses pressing issues in Ohio and beyond insofar as psychedelic research can provide important knowledge regarding understanding the elements of human consciousness, the potential therapeutic benefits of psychedelic-assisted therapies, the epidemiology of psychedelic use in non-clinical settings, the potential harms associated with use in unsafe settings, and developing best practices and ethical frameworks for psychedelic therapeutics and study design. Members of the CPDRE will present research at regional, national, and international conferences and publish findings from these projects in the scientific literature. The CPDRE will be comprised of interdisciplinary team members, providing a collaborative and innovative environment to develop and seek funding for new projects in the years to come
