The University of California San Diego has announced a $1.5 million gift from software developer Eugene Jhong to launch a research program within the UC San Diego Psychedelic and Health Research Initiative to learn more about the biological and psychological effects of N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) in humans.

Led by principal investigators Fadel Zeidan, associate professor in the Department of Anesthesiology at UC San Diego School of Medicine, and Jon Dean, a postdoctoral scholar in the department and director of the Division of DMT Research at the UC San Diego Psychedelic Health and Research Initiative, the study will map the phenomenological, neurological, and physiological responses to DMT—which is traditionally ingested via ayahuasca, a plant-based drink used by Indigenous peoples in Latin America—during the longer windows of time created with infusion protocols. UC San Diego is currently the only university in the United States that has a dedicated division to conduct extended-state DMT research.

“We are beyond grateful to Eugene Jhong for his visionary support of this novel research effort,” said Zeidan. “We will learn more about how the unique effects of DMT on consciousness interacts with human physiology to understand how these profound psychedelic effects evoked by DMT impact our well-being. Our long-term objective is to gain a better understanding of how DMT and other psychedelics could be used in a therapeutic manner to address pain, trauma, and various medical conditions related to the brain.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/janiecbros)