Discover our story
With mental health challenges on the rise and growing frustration with traditional treatments, our Fund was created to give people access to more effective care and empower them to lead healthier, happier lives.
Isala Van Diest
Isala Van Diest, a pioneering figure in Belgian healthcare, was the country's first female doctor. The Isala Fund honors her legacy, recognizing her courage in challenging societal norms and paving the way for a more inclusive and equitable healthcare system. The Fund aims to destigmatize mental healthcare and support individuals from all backgrounds.
We founded the Isala Fund in 2022 because despite the international resurgence of clinical research into psychedelic-assisted therapy for difficult-to-treat mental health conditions such as Treatment Resistant Depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and substance abuse disorders and the resulting growing evidence around the safety and potential efficacy of these treatments, no clinical research had been initiated yet in Belgium.
Our aim is to support Belgian research teams and clinicians to develop the needed expertise to set up psychedelic studies and to train the clinicians working on these studies. Since our creation, we have supported a study into psilocybin-assisted therapy for alcohol use disorder at the Free University of Brussels (ULB) and a study into psilocybin-assisted therapy for treatment-resistant depression at the University of Gent (UGent), and are organising bi-annual workshops on psychedelic-assisted therapy for research teams and clinicians.
The mission of the Isala Van Diest Fund is to encourage research and development of new treatments for psychiatric disorders that are difficult to treat in Belgium
A passionate team with expertise in psychotherapy, psychiatry, psychology, psychedelic research, business development, and economics, working to advance psychedelic research in Belgium for better patient treatments.
Core Member
Michael Koslowski is a physician, psychiatrist, and psychotherapist. He is affiliated with the psychedelic research group at Charité University in Berlin. Michael played a key role in establishing Germany's first clinical study on psilocybin-assisted therapy for treatment-resistant depression, where he has worked as a therapist over the past five years. He is also involved in the development of psychedelic therapy clinical studies in France.
Core Member
Mathieu is a psychiatrist specializing in psychedelic research and drug development. He began as a Senior Research Associate in the Psychedelic Trials Group at King's College London and is now the Senior Medical Director and Head of Psychotherapy at Beckley Psytech, while completing his PhD on the psychological change mechanisms of 5-MeO-DMT. He also holds a master’s degree in Economics.
Core Member
Laetitia Vanderijst is a psychologist and PhD candidate at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. In June 2022, she received an FNRS research fellowship to establish Belgium's first psilocybin-assisted therapy study at CHU Brugmann. This clinical trial, which began in March 2024, investigates the clinical efficacy and neurocognitive mechanisms associated with this therapeutic modality for severe alcohol use disorder.
Core Member
Raphael Beaumond-Schilling is an economist and electromechanical engineer committed to developing initiatives that sustainably improve quality of life for all. He designs and implements entrepreneurial projects that combine collective well-being, economic resilience, and data analysis.
His work explores investment strategies and impact-driven innovation, with the ambition of equipping financial and political decision-makers with the tools needed to create informed societal value.
Our partners support us in our mission
Proudly supported by the Roger de Spoelberch Foundation. Their contributions enable us to develop expertise through research in Belgium and achieve our mission.