Johns Hopkins Launches First-Ever Psilocybin Trial for Stroke Recovery

The study is part of a new agreement between Johns Hopkins and Rose Hill Life Sciences, a company that holds exclusive rights to intellectual property surrounding psilocybin-based treatments for neurological damage. The Phase 1 trial will examine whether combining psilocybin with digitally guided physical therapy can reopen the brain’s neuroplasticity window, allowing for meaningful recovery in patients with acute, subacute or chronic brain injuries.

The trial will be led by Drs. Gül Dölen, Steve Zeiler and John Krakauer, who believe the approach could dramatically change the way doctors treat long-term stroke-related disabilities. The licensed invention includes therapeutic methods for improving motor function and treating focal diaschisis—where one part of the brain stops working due to damage in another region. Dr. Dölen, also a professor at UC Berkeley and an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins, said in a statement that psychedelics may reopen critical periods of brain development. “If harnessed correctly, this reopened window of brain malleability could revolutionize stroke rehabilitation,” she said.

Rose Hill Life Sciences, the world’s first legal exporter of psilocybin, says it remains committed to advancing psychedelic research through collaborations in Jamaica, the U.S. and Canada. The company’s partnership with Johns Hopkins marks a major step forward in exploring how psychedelics might one day reshape neurological care.