Summer 2012 Vol. 22, No. 2 Research Edition
MAPS Shares Research Results with Doctors and Therapists at Veterans Administration and UCSF
The promising results that we’re seeing in our ongoing MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD research program are getting unprecedented attention from the scientists, doctors, and psychotherapists most involved in finding effective treatments for PTSD. On May 31, 2012, psychiatrist Michael Mithoefer, M.D., presented information about our initial studies of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD and our ongoing study in veterans with the staff at the National Center for PTSD at the Palo Alto Veterans Administration. On June 1, Dr. Mithoefer had the honor of presenting our promising research results at the San Francisco Veterans Administration Medical Center Mental Health Services’ Grand Rounds.
On the evening of May 31, MAPS hosted a tremendously successful free lecture and discussion at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center. Psychiatrist Michael Mithoefer, M.D., and MAPS founder Rick Doblin, Ph.D., shared the most recent research results from our ongoing series of Phase 2 clinical studies of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD with over 200 attendees in a standing-room only lecture hall.
MAPS Receives $5 million bequest
This year MAPS received a generous bequest of approximately $5 million from the estate of soft-ware pioneer Ashawna Hailey. This is the largest gift in MAPS’ 26-year history. The Board of Directors has allocated all but $200,000 of Ashawna’s gift to our Phase 3 studies of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD. This will allow MAPS to begin its Phase 3 fundraising campaign with more than one third of the total budget already raised. We hope this inspires donors to give to the completion of our Phase 2 studies, for which we still need to raise about $2 million. Phase 2 studies are expected to be complete in 2015, with Phase 3 studies beginning shortly thereafter.
The $200,000 not allocated to MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD is restricted to a new study: MDMA-assisted psycho-therapy for Autism.
