Two new access funds, breakthrough research at 100x cost-efficiency, plus what’s ahead
To our surprise and delight, it appears that psychedelic research in the state-regulated model is ~100× more cost-efficient compared to the old model, just as safe, and far faster, —plus how you can help us bring Horizons Northwest back in 2026.
Greetings friends,
This past Monday during our weekly staff meeting we – Lorena and Nate – agreed it had been far too long since we sent you an email update on what we’re up to at the foundation.
We agreed we should send an email to you at the start of autumn. Then after a brief google search from Nate, we learned fall started over 1 month ago, so we got our act together. In this email, you’ll find the below 6 highlights of our recent work which we’ve distilled for your reading pleasure.
6 highlights of our recent
Why state-level psychedelic research is likely revolutionary, but seemingly still a secret
Our Two New Funds: A combined $700,000 for justice-impacted individuals and leaders facing burnout
Our work in the news
Our Research Incubator: Powering the brightest spot of the psychedelic renaissance
The case for state-level psychedelic healthcare models (vs. FDA-only)
2026 preview: Help us bring back Horizons Northwest
During this chapter of significant uncertainty, we hope these updates bring you the same kind of optimism they have been inspiring in our team.
[Photo break #1 suggestion:photo screenshot of news story on LIGPAT]
Why state-level psychedelic research is likely revolutionary, but seemingly still a secret
In Oregon (and soon in Colorado), we are demonstrating that gold-standard IRB research inside state-regulated care can be done in months, not years, and at a tiny fraction of FDA-style costs.
For example, the Low-Income Group Psilocybin for Depression (LIGPAT-D) pilot enrolled about two dozen people and moved from seed grant to published results in under a year—funded by a modest grant from us (i.e., “tens of thousands”).
By contrast, FDA-style trials (which we continue to applaud) require millions of dollars, at a minimum, and multi-year timelines—even for small samples. State-level models now let us answer research questions at a remarkably small fraction of the cost and many times faster.
Why is speed important? Across the country states and the federal government have issued ‘states of emergency’ related to epidemics of addiction, anxiety, depression, loneliness, and more. In the meantime, hundreds of millions of Americans remain without legal access to psychedelic medicines that have been proven to actually get at the root cause of these issues. The state-level model allows for an appropriate level of speed, without forgoing safety, that the FDA pathway simply does not.
Our takeaway: the state-regulated psychedelic healthcare model our namesake created can produce clinical-quality evidence ~100× less expensively and many times faster, while preserving both safety and rigor. Learn more here.
[Photo break #2 suggestion: screenshot of website of incubator page]
Our Two New Funds: A combined $700,000 for justice-impacted individuals and leaders facing burnout to receive legal, supported psilocybin healthcare in Oregon
This year, two new access funds have come online after their multi-month creation and subsequent funding by our team and partners —the Community Leaders Resilience Fund (CLRF) and Inward Dive Fund (IDF).
Together, these funds have led to dozens of people from across Oregon and the United States receiving psychedelic medicine safely and legally in Oregon. Both funds will continue to operate and issue grants through 2026.
At some point, we’ll share some of the feedback and testimonials from our grantees; their reflections and stories are powerful, moving, and reading them is liable to make one cry.
Inward Dive Fund
Launched in partnership with Henry Fields, the Inward Dive Fund is an access fund that aims to support justice-impacted individuals, including formerly incarcerated people, their loved ones, and individuals working within the criminal justice system.
This funded program offers scholarships toward Oregon-regulated psilocybin services, along with access to facilitators experienced in working with justice-impacted communities and ongoing integration support. Priority is given to those who are justice-impacted. We’re currently seeking more applications so please share far and wide.
Community Leaders Resilience Fund (CLR Fund)
The Community Leaders Resilience Fund supports individuals in community leadership roles—such as nonprofit staff, government workers, environmental advocates, faith leaders, and other social change agents—who are facing burnout, overwhelm, or spiritual exhaustion.
The CLR Fund provides up to $3,300 in scholarships per recipient to cover group psilocybin facilitation services, lodging during journey week, and access to preparation and integration mentorship. We’re currently seeking more applications so please share far and wide.
[Photo break #3 suggestion: Cohort retreat image (landscape / nature), wide shot]
Our work in the recent news
NPR for Oregonians (KLCC): Oregon study shows psilocybin therapy helped low-income people with depression
KGW: Through Oregon's psilocybin therapy industry, scientists now have a ready way to study psychedelics, the promise of group models
National University of Natural Medicine: SEF’s $30,000 grant launched the LIGPAT-D study evaluating psilocybin-assisted group therapy for low-income adults.
Axios: Highlights SEF’s Psilocybin Access Fund grants (33 people, $51,000) and our push toward insurance coverage.
Lucid News: Industry overview cites SEF’s LIGPAT-D as a key real-world outcomes study building the case for insurance.
Research Incubator — Powering the brightest spot of the psychedelic renaissance
Imagine a world where your insurance covers the cost of psychedelics. Where psychedelic healthcare is thought of in the same way we now think of talk therapy, acupuncture, or a specialist that your primary care physician refers you to.
We’re much closer to this future than one might think. Already, thanks to the work of our friends and our nonprofit’s team members, insurance is just now beginning to cover psychedelic healthcare in Oregon and beyond. And the results from participants are remarkable.
And while FDA-style drug trials remain vital, the cost/time burden of conducting research in that model compared to the state-level model is vastly higher, painfully slow, and in the meantime hundreds of millions of Americans remain without access to these powerful medicines. This is the unique opportunity ahead of us and the reason for our research incubation.
For 50 years, promising psychedelic medicine has been kept from the public due to unscientific legal prohibitions, government propaganda, & high costs. Our real-world Psychedelic Research Incubator is working to change that.
We’re helping to generate real-world evidence that insurers are paying attention to by partnering with best-in-class organizations including UC Berkeley, OPEN/Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), Synaptic, People Science, National University of Natural Medicine, Healing Advocacy Fund, Center for Psychedelic Policy, and more.
Our flagship ORCHID study tracks healthcare utilization before/after state-regulated services (ER visits, hospitalizations, psych meds) to evaluate potential cost offsets—the same path that helped acupuncture and chiropractic reach coverage.
Head here to check out our studies, read the latest results, and learn more about our work as an incubator.
The case for state-level psychedelic healthcare models (vs. FDA-only)
Speed: Oregon opened services in mid-2023; Colorado and New Mexico are moving on legislative tracks. State programs deliver care in 2–3 years vs decades on the federal path.
Scale: State models create legal access for millions within state lines while national FDA access rolls out incrementally and narrowly at first.
Efficiency: State programs have stood up with single-digit millions in public cost (per state) compared to ~$130M+ for the MDMA FDA effort—meaning more impact per dollar now. Learn more here.
2026 Preview — Help Us Bring Back Horizons Northwest
In the new year, we’ll be:
expanding our work into Colorado’s Natural Medicine Program;
fostering more real-world high-impact psychedelic research;
expanding both the number of people served and the quality of our access funds;
and we’ll continue to work with new states that are working towards adoption of the state-level psychedelic healthcare model (including New Mexico, Maryland, Idaho, Washington, and more).
And we want to bring back Horizons Northwest in 2026 after a two-year sabbatical—but only if funding is secured by December 2025. Today, we’re not yet on track to make this happen.
If you know someone or know of an organization that would like to either sponsor or underwrite this community anchor, please introduce us over email or reply directly to this email. We’re also always seeking funding for our other work. We’d love to talk.
-
We’ll send one more email update before the end of 2025. In that update, we’ll include our 2025 Impact Report as well as some reflections and testimonials from people we’ve served this year.
During the month of December, we’ll largely be offline due the upcoming birth of Nate’s second kiddo, Lorena will be in finals (she’s in grad school!), and it’s a month of holidays.
If you’re reading this, thank you. We’re grateful for your support of our work and for reading our infrequent and long updates! Talk to you soon.
Striving to be of service,
Nate, Lorena, and the SEF Team