Francesco Adefila, MSN, RN

Former sprinter and football athlete in high school with a brief stint in college. Having experienced a severe mental breakdown when forced to give up collegiate football aspirations, Francesco's focus was redirected to spirituality and science in order to understand the holistic processes of how he became a victim of a debilitating mental illness. With this new endeavor, he transferred to Fisk University (HBCU pride) and majored in Biology while studying Buddhism. Shortly after, he moved to Los Angeles and went on to acquire a Masters in Nursing from Charles R Drew University School of Medicine and Science. During this time he joined MAPS in order to obtain a certification in MDMA-assisted psychotherapy to help facilitate therapy sessions for those suffering from treatment-resistant PTSD. With these experiences and credentials in his arsenal, he created Kaleidoscope Institute which aims to provide unbiased education with a science-based evidence approach on how commonly abused drugs, both legal and illegal, work on a very basic level for the general public.He then moved to the predominantly black city of Baltimore to attend the University of Maryland Baltimore for his Doctorate in Nursing Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) program to be a leader in the community by re-wiring how we understand drug and substance abuse and challenge the current drug laws and policies that are disproportionately affecting certain groups of people in America. He is currently working at Johns Hopkins Hospital as a psychiatric nurse.

Now with an understanding of how being black, first-generation, and an ex-athlete are major variables that make him subject to mental illness, he has a tremendous zeal for bringing awareness to those under similar labels. As a team member in SportPsychMDs, he aims to individualize athletes based on voids contributing to their mental illnesses and connect them to resources in their communities.

Although Francesco’s dream as a professional athlete was halted, he continues to have the same amount of love for the game. He is a huge Baltimore Ravens fan ever since he stepped foot in America. In his downtime, he enjoys hiking, reading, trying new hobbies, traveling, and meeting new people.