Senior Director, Jazz Glastra, pictured on the right
Reshaping Mental Health Access
Where Policy Meets Possibility
As we look ahead to 2026, we are more energized than ever for the future of mental health innovation and how new evidence-based treatments will provide hope to those who desperately need them. With FDA approval for the first psychedelic potentially within the next 12 months, we must move quickly to ensure the system is ready and treatments are accessible on day one.
This month, we spoke with Congressional leaders in Iowa and Washington, D.C. During the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs Roundtable, Senior Director Jazz Glastra recommended steps the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) should take to ensure its workforce and systems are ready. Jazz also talked about reducing barriers to research by fully enacting the HALT Fentanyl Act and evaluating research oversight processes at the FDA and VA.
Senator Jerry Moran, Chair of the Veteran's Affairs Committee, called on the VA to become a national leader in the next frontier of mental health.
The science is advancing. Our systems must move quickly, so Veterans aren't left waiting when care is finally within reach. Read about BrainFutures' recommendations and our brief on the roundtable.
Dr. Michael Flaum (l) and Jazz Glastra (r) in Iowa
Conversations that Move the Field Forward
BrainFutures also went to Iowa to meet with Dr. Michael Flaum, a University of Iowa psychiatrist and Co-Founder of the University of Iowa Psychedelics Research Program, and Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks. The conversation was about Dr. Flaum’s innovative work on ketamine-assisted psychotherapy and psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for the treatment of alcohol use disorder.
BrainFutures shared why we need strong federal support for research, and how Congressional leadership can prepare the health system now through workforce development and clear reimbursement pathways.
Developing Options and Restoring Hope
We’re also endorsing the Freedom to Heal Act, along with Reason for Hope, and leading Veterans’ organizations, national brain health leaders, clinicians, and researchers. Bipartisan lawmakers introduced the legislation in the hopes of creating a clear, DEA-regulated path for physicians to administer specific Schedule I substances, like MDMA and psilocybin, to patients with life-threatening conditions under the federal Right to Try law. These are considered “breakthrough therapies” by the FDA, but there’s no path to register and approve physicians to use the drugs under Right to Try due to their Schedule I classification.
“The Freedom to Heal Act is important because it gives patients facing life-threatening illnesses the ability to pursue every possible option when time is running out – restoring autonomy, dignity, and hope at the moments when they need it most.”
-Sarah Norman, BrainFutures’ Executive Director
From Research to Readiness
Our pioneering research effort with the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) that surveyed over 400 academic leaders to assess the current state of psychedelic therapy curriculum in higher education, continues to be a topic of discussion. BrainFutures' Executive Director, Sarah Norman, presented findings from the report, Survey on Psychedelic Therapy Curricula in Academia,at the December Mental Health America 2025 Regional Policy Council (RPC) meeting.
Despite the growing interest in psychedelic therapy as a professional discipline, the survey found gaps in training. Sarah shared ways the field can accelerate the integration of an evidence-based curriculum into academic settings.
We’re preparing for a pivotal shift, and we must accelerate our work to build a future where breakthrough tools for change are not just possibilities on the horizon but real options for growth, healing, and recovery.
Thank you for being part of this movement and for your support and engagement. We're looking forward to continued momentum in 2026.
Empowering Students
Building Skills That Last a Lifetime
Students in Baltimore County are using the evidence-based, ACTIVATE™, to improve their executive function skills. Our team is working with educators to implement the program, and we’re eager to see the impact in 2026. Executive function skills can improve student readiness to learn, academic performance, behavior, school connectedness, and overall well-being and mental health.
This program is funded by a grant from the Maryland Community Health Resources Commission and Maryland Consortium on Coordinated Community Supports. We recently joined mental health leaders celebrating the Consortium's $96-million investment in student behavioral health.
BrainFutures is bringing these evidence-based executive function interventions to Maryland school districts, but we believe programs to support these brain-building skills should be available in every school in the U.S. We reviewed more than 40 interventions, and 10 met our advisory group's rigorous evidence threshold. Dive into the program summaries and scientific studies to learn more about these programs.
We're keeping a close eye on the insights shaping what comes next for mental health and well-being. Our Innovation Watch this month highlights a systematic review of 71 studies that found that short-form videos may have negative health and cognitive effects, specifically attention and inhibitory control, in both adults and youth. As a nonprofit working with schools to improve learning and overall well-being, this data is troubling.
That's why we are joining a consensus-building process with Connected for Kids, to build a shared vision for flourishing in the elementary-age years. This work will bring cross-sector leaders together with development experts, grounding the vision in both science and real-world practice.
Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research released a review showing psychedelics shift perception and emotion, and impact executive function skills like working memory, inhibition, and flexibility. The research highlights cognitive flexibility as a promising therapeutic target.
And looking ahead, there's a funding opportunity, with up to a $100 million investment from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, to accelerate health innovation projects that can break longstanding barriers in measurement, diagnosis, and treatment.
"I've used BrainFutures' toolkits to brief decision makers in Washington, helping prepare for a smooth rollout of psychedelic therapies. BrainFutures' work is helping chart the path to access after FDA approval."
