Sheppard Pratt taps into Johnson's psychedelic expertise to develop new mental health treatments using psychedelics
Johns Hopkins University professor Matthew Johnson will join the Institute for Advanced Diagnostics and Therapeutics at Sheppard Pratt as a senior researcher for its Center of Excellence for Psilocybin Research and Treatment in February 2024.
Sheppard Pratt, a nonprofit provider of mental health and developmental disabilities services in Baltimore, said Jan. 18 that Johnson would help the organization in their efforts to integrate biological psychiatry with psychotherapy.
“His unparalleled expertise and groundbreaking contributions to psychedelic research will help Sheppard Pratt continue to transform mental health care treatment on a global scale,” said Sheppard Pratt President and CEO Harsh Trivedi in a prepared statement.
Johnson is known for his work on psychedelics at Johns Hopkins, including the publication of psychedelic safety guidelines, helping to resurrect psychedelic research in the United States.
Johnson’s research centers around the efficacy and safety of psychedelics in the treatment of various medical and mental health conditions.
He developed and published the first research on using psychedelics to treat tobacco addiction in 2014. Johnson and colleagues also published the largest study of psilocybin in treating cancer distress in 2016, according to his John Hopkins biography. In his most recent role, he served as a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins.
Johnson served as president of the International Society for Research on Psychedelics in 2020, where he advocated for the advancement of empirical science regarding classic psychedelics. In 2019, Johnson served as the president of the psychopharmacology and substance abuse division of the American Psychological Association.
Photo of Matthew Johnson courtesy of Johns Hopkins Medicine/Johns Hopkins University