Frequently Asked Questions

AppCoLab serves the 13-state Appalachian region, from southern New York through northern Mississippi, with a home base in western North Carolina. The focus is on communities carrying a high burden of the mental health and addiction crises that emerging treatments are built to address.

These are newer approaches to mental health and addiction care moving from research into practice, including ketamine, psilocybin, MDMA-assisted therapy, 5-meo-DMT, and ibogaine, alongside established standards of care. AppCoLab uses the terms frontier health and healing and emerging treatments to describe this full spectrum, and names specific compounds where precision matters.

Convergence describes how AppCoLab works, bringing science, medicine, policy, and traditional knowledge into one conversation instead of treating them as separate worlds. The approach is organized around four areas: Frontier, the emerging treatments and research themselves; Roots, the history, culture, and land of Appalachia; Foundations, the evidence, safety, and policy that make access responsible; and Next Generation, the education and partnerships that build lasting capacity in the region.

AppCoLab follows the treatments with the strongest emerging evidence for mental health and addiction, including ketamine, psilocybin, MDMA-assisted therapy, and ibogaine for opioid use disorder. It pairs these frontier options with medications for opioid use disorder and other established standards of care, so new tools add to what already works.

Yes. AppCoLab designs and partners on social science and policy research focused on how emerging treatments can reach Appalachian communities safely and equitably. It also advises universities and health systems building their own research and education programs.

Emerging mental health and addiction treatments tend to reach cities and coasts first, and Appalachian communities are consistently among the last to access, understand, or shape them. AppCoLab exists to change that, so access is determined by need instead of geography. The region also holds deep traditions of healing and self-reliance that inform how this work is done.

AppCoLab loves the region's healing traditions, from Appalachian folk medicine to clinical herbalism, and treats them as living parts of the story of health and healing here. These traditions belong in the same conversation as emerging treatments and established clinical care, all part of the full spectrum of healing. AppCoLab honors this knowledge through education, respectful partnership, and a shared commitment to evidence and safety.

Hollers and Horizons is AppCoLab's free monthly virtual town hall on emerging mental health and healing in Appalachia. It meets on the last Monday of each month from 5:00 to 6:30 PM Eastern and is open to anyone, by donation. You can find the link to join through the AppCoLab newsletter and events calendar.

Yes. AppCoLab partners with universities, health systems, and policymakers as a knowledge and training partner, helping them build responsible research, education, and access programs. This includes advising academic centers and supporting regional and national initiatives focused on emerging treatments.

You can support AppCoLab by donating, subscribing to the free newsletter, joining the monthly Hollers and Horizons town hall, and sharing its work. Donations fund research, education, and programs that bring emerging treatments within reach for Appalachian communities. You can give at the AppCoLab donation page

Yes. AppCoLab is a registered 501(c)(3) public charity, and donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. You will receive a receipt for your records.

You can subscribe to the free AppCoLab newsletter at appcolab.kit.com/freenewsletter. It covers the folk medicine, the policy fights, and the emerging mental health news shaping healing in Appalachia, and it is the best way to stay current on programs and events.