Professor David B. Yaden

David B. Yaden, PhD, is an Assistant Professor and the Roland Griffiths Professor of Psychedelic Research at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research. Since his doctoral work in Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, his research focus has been on the psychology and neuroscience of psychedelic and psychedelic-like mental states. Specifically, David seeks to understand how brief experiences can occasionally result in long-term changes to well-being. He also aims to characterize, quantify, and communicate the risks of such experiences and make progress on the relevant ethical issues. He is the co-founder and Associate Director of The Hub at Oxford for Psychedelic Ethics (HOPE). He is the co-author of The Varieties of Spiritual Experiences: 21st Century Research and Perspectives for Oxford University Press. His scientific and scholarly work has been covered by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, New York Magazine, CNN, BBC, and NPR.

Key Publications

Books:

Yaden, D. B., & Newberg, A. (2022). The varieties of spiritual experience: 21st century research and perspectives. Oxford University Press.
https://academic.oup.com/book/43765 

Articles:

Yaden, D. B., Haidt, J., Hood Jr, R. W., Vago, D. R., & Newberg, A. B. (2017). The varieties of self-transcendent experience. Review of general psychology, 21(2), 143-160. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1037/gpr0000102?icid=int.sj-abstract.citing-articles.251

Yaden, D. B., & Griffiths, R. R. (2020). The subjective effects of psychedelics are necessary for their enduring therapeutic effects. ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science, 4(2), 568-572. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsptsci.0c00194

Yaden, D. B., & Anderson, D. E. (2021). The psychology of philosophy: Associating philosophical views with psychological traits in professional philosophers. Philosophical Psychology, 34(5), 721-755. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09515089.2021.1915972

van Elk, M., & Yaden, D. B. (2022). Pharmacological, neural, and psychological mechanisms underlying psychedelics: a critical review. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 140, 104793.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35878791/

Yaden, D. B., Potash, J. B., & Griffiths, R. R. (2022). Preparing for the bursting of the psychedelic hype bubble. JAMA psychiatry, 79(10), 943-944. 
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36044208/

Yaden, D. B., Earp, B. D., & Griffiths, R. R. (2022). Ethical issues regarding nonsubjective psychedelics as standard of care. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, 31(4), 464-471.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9672929/

Yaden, D. B., & Haybron, D. M. (2022). The emotional state assessment tool: a brief, philosophically informed, and cross-culturally sensitive measure. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 17(2), 151-165.
https://pure.johnshopkins.edu/en/publications/the-emotional-state-assess...

Nautiyal, K. M., & Yaden, D. B. (2023). Does the trip matter? Investigating the role of the subjective effects of psychedelics in persisting therapeutic effects. Neuropsychopharmacology: Official Publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 48(1), 215-216.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41386-022-01424-z

Cheung, K., Patch, K., Earp, B. D., & Yaden, D. B. (2023). Psychedelics, meaningfulness, and the “proper scope” of medicine: continuing the conversation. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, 1-7.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37366110/

Jacobs, E., Yaden, D. B., & Earp, B. D. (2023). Toward a Broader Psychedelic Bioethics. AJOB neuroscience, 14(2), 126-129.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37097876/

Sandbrink, J. D., Johnson, K., Gill, M., Yaden, D. B., Savulescu, J., Hannikainen, I. R., & Earp, B. D. (2024). Strong bipartisan support for controlled psilocybin use as treatment or enhancement in a representative sample of US Americans: need for caution in public policy persists. AJOB neuroscience, 1-8.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38315212/

Cheung, K., Earp, B. D., & Yaden, D. B. (2024). Valuing the acute subjective experience. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 67(1), 155-165.
https://philpapers.org/rec/CHEVTA

Meling, D., Ehrenkranz, R., Nayak, S. M., Aicher, H. D., Funk, X., van Elk, M., Graziosi, M., Bauer, P.R., Scheidegger, M., & Yaden, D. B. (2024). Mind the Psychedelic Hype: Characterizing the Risks and Benefits of Psychedelics for Depression. Psychoactives, 3(2), 215-234.
https://www.mdpi.com/2813-1851/3/2/14#:~:text=The%20risks%20of%20psychedelic%20treatments,psychedelic%20substances%20during%20clinical%20trials.