MAPS has agreed to donate $15,000 to a new observational study of ibogaine treatment for addiction to take place in New Zealand, under the direction of Principal Investigator Geoff Noller, Ph.D., Research Fellow in Psychological Medicine at the University of Otago, NZ. This will be an investigator-sponsored study conducted with assistance from MAPS, and has been made possible by a generous $25,000 grant for ibogaine research from Matt and Kristi Bowden of Stargate International. This study will complement our ongoing ibogaine research program in Mexico, to which the remaining $10,000 of the Bowdens’ donation will be allocated. Like our other observational ibogaine studies, this research will investigate the long-term effects of ibogaine therapy at independent treatment centers, perhaps up to three different New Zealand clinics. This data may be used to make a case for a possible future clinical study and to evaluate differences in treatment approach and effectiveness between clinics. We are expecting to submit study documents to a New Zealand ethics committee this summer, and anticipate initiating the study in late Summer or early Fall.
