Roland R. Griffiths

Roland Redmond Griffiths (July 19, 1946 – October 16, 2023) was an American psychopharmacologist. At Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, he was professor of neuroscience, psychiatry, and behavioral science, and he was the director of the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research.

Life and career Griffiths was born in Glen Cove, New York, on July 19, 1946. His mother was a homemaker, and his father, a psychologist, became a professor at the University of California, Berkeley; Griffiths grew up in El Cerrito, California.

After completing his doctorate, Griffiths joined the faculty of Johns Hopkins University. Griffiths began studying psychedelic drugs in 1999. "caused a media ruckus", according to The New York Times, for its documentation of the "revelatory and spiritually meaningful" experiences of individuals who were given psilocybin.

In 2010, Griffiths led the first controlled study of the effects of the psychoactive plant Salvia divinorum.

In 2024, former colleague Matthew Johnson publicly criticized the soundness of the research in Griffiths' lab.

Personal life Griffiths' 1973 marriage to Kristin Ann Johnson, and later to Diana Hansen, both ended in divorce. At the time of his death, he was married to Marla Weiner. He had three children.

In 2022, Griffiths disclosed his own experiences with psychedelics.