Evelyn Alvarez is currently the Quality Assurance Director at Encore Labs. She has ten years of experience working on analytical instrumentation and in regulated lab environments including work on EPA and OSHA methods. She received a degree in Environmental Science with research experience on pesticides. Evelyn was recently quoted in a Refinery29 article that revealed an unfortunate element of the unregulated Delta-8 THC market. That being that some Delta-8 THC producers will falsify lab results...
Sep 15, 2021
Justin Bueno, PhD is the Scientific Director of Goodness Growth Holdings, Inc. Since joining Goodness Growth Holdings in 2018, Dr. Bueno has published two peer-reviewed articles in the field of cannabis science. One article, published in the Journal of Cannabis Research, described the validation and the science behind the novel TerpSafe packaging system towards the preservation of terpenes in cannabis flower. This article will be the basis of his presentation at CannMed 2022 titled, “The Preserv...
Sep 01, 2021
John Malanca co-founded United Patients Group (UPG), a trusted resource and leader in medical cannabis information and education for patients, physicians, pharmacists, governments, and organizations, both domestically and internationally. UPG also acts as a virtual hand for patients and their loved ones struggling with chronic and terminal illnesses by helping them navigate through this ever-changing industry. At CannMed 2021, John will moderate a panel of medical cannabis experts to discuss and...
Aug 18, 2021
Dr. Jeffrey Raber is CEO of the Werc Shop, an independent testing lab established in 2010. Dr. Raber is trained as an organic chemistry scientist, but he is also a serial entrepreneur, patent inventor, and executive, with over a decade of experience in cannabis testing. At CannMed 2018, Dr. Raber presented “Cannabis Compositions Viewed Through Molecular Glasses” which you can view on our CannMed Archive page. At CannMed 2021, Dr. Raber will present “Thermal Degradation: A Fly in the Cannabis Vap...
Aug 04, 2021
BigMike Straumieitis is the Since 1983, BigMike Straumieitis has worked tirelessly to find new ways to bring cannabis to its true genetic potential—legally and illegally. He’s overseen the cultivation of over a million pot plants over the course of his career. in 1999, BigMike founded Advanced Nutrients, the first fertilizer company with products specifically designed for cannabis plants. Today, Advanced Nutrients is the #1 selling hydroponic nutrient company and the cannabis industry's most pro...
Jul 21, 2021
Kevin McKernan is Chief Scientific Officer at Medicinal Genomics. Kevin is back to talk about Psilocybin and the mushrooms that create it. Kevin and the team at MGC have published a highly contiguous reference genome for Psilocybe cubensis, which some listeners may know is the species of mushroom often referred to as the magic mushroom. Kevin and the team have also sequenced several different mushroom strains to try and better understand genes of interest and pathways responsible for Psilocybin....
Jul 07, 2021
William Vizuete, PhD is Chief Scientific Officer for Byers Scientific where he analyzes cannabis and hemp plant emissions and helps to develop state-of-the-art odor and emission mitigation solutions and equipment. For the past six years, Dr. Vizuete has led a team of cannabis industry experts focused on site-specific research to increase overall knowledge of cannabis industry emissions, educate local communities, and improve the tools and methods that cultivators and policymakers use to evaluate...
Jun 23, 2021
Dr. Michelle Shuffett is an accomplished healthcare executive, marketing strategist, speaker, and wellness enthusiast with 20+ years of experience encompassing a unique blend of clinical medicine, communications, and leadership. Much of her recent work has been in the cannabis industry, highlighting the potential health benefits of cannabis and CBD. She recently joined Radicle Science as a founding team member and Chief Growth Officer. At its core, Radicle is a Rebellion against the status quo o...
Jun 09, 2021
Greg Gerdeman, PhD is a neuroscientist and educator with expertise in the physiological actions of cannabis and the endocannabinoid system. Recently, Greg has gotten involved in the conversation around Delta-8 THC. He comes at the topic from a neuroscientist's perspective questioning how much we know about how Delta-8 THC affects the body and the brain. He also raises important questions about how the compound is created and what that means for consumer safety and the legality of Delta-8 THC pro...
May 19, 2021
Alice Moon is a PR and marketing professional who has worked in the cannabis space since 2011. In 2018, Alice was diagnosed with Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome, a condition that leads to repeated and severe bouts of vomiting when she consumes cannabinoids. Since being diagnosed with CHS, Alice has ceased cannabis use completely and become an advocate for safe and mindful cannabis consumption, awareness, and research. Her passion for educating on the subject has garnered the attention of RXLeaf...
May 05, 2021
Dr. Debra Kimless is the CMO of Pure Green Pharmaceuticals, where she oversees clinical medical testing, patient and physician educational programs, and medical product development. Deb and her team recently published an open-label clinical trial for treating diabetic neuropathic pain with a water-soluble CBD tablet. In our conversation we discuss: Results from her clinical trial for treating diabetic neuropathic pain with CBDWhat makes diabetic neuropathic pain a good candidate for cannabinoid ...
Apr 21, 2021
Dr. Peter Grinspoon is a primary care physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is a Contributing Editor to Harvard Health Publications and the Harvard Health Blog, where he frequently writes about cannabis medicine issues. Dr. Grinspoon also writes about addiction, both from the perspective of a clinician treating the disorder and as someone who is in recovery from opioid addiction. We spoke a lot about how cannabis can be used to tr...
Apr 07, 2021
We discuss dosing medical cannabis with Dr. Dustin Sulak. Dustin is an osteopathic general practitioner who focuses on treating patients with refractory conditions using an individualized, health-centered approach. Dr. Sulak is a founder of Integr8 Health, a medical practice in Maine that follows over 8,000 patients using medical cannabis, and cofounder of Healer.com, a medical cannabis education resource. Dustin has also participated in every CannMed Event since our first event in 2016. He serv...
Mar 24, 2021
We discuss the chemistry of cannabis with Markus Roggen, PhD. In his various roles and positions, Dr. Roggen oversaw multiple teams that are focused on the whole processing flow of cannabis production, from harvest and drying, through processing and extraction, all the way to the formulation and quality control/analytics. In addition to cannabinoids, Dr. Roggen's company, Complex Biotech Discovery Ventures (CBDV), is also investigating psilocybin. Topics discussed include: The number of compound...
Mar 10, 2021
We talk with Dr. Andrew Horwitz Vice President, R&D at Sestina Bio LLC about producing cannabinoids outside the cannabis plant. Previously, Andrew managed the Cannabinoid R&D program at Demetrix, where he helped develop the process for using genetically modified yeast cells to produce cannabinoids. We discuss: The advantages of using yeast cells to produce cannabinoids instead of cannabis and hemp plants How adjusting the precursor molecules that are fed to the yeast cells can produce ra...
Feb 24, 2021
In this episode, we talk with Dr. Van Butsic, the Co-director of the Berkeley Cannabis Research Center and Cooperative Extension Specialist at UC Berkeley. The Cannabis Research Center uses an interdisciplinary approach to address questions at the intersection of cannabis policy, the environment, and cannabis-producing communities. At CannMed 2021, Van will participate in a panel discussion about the environmental impacts of cannabis production. In our conversation, we discuss: Why it's importan...
Feb 10, 2021
Our latest guest is Professor Raphael Mechoulam. Professor Mechoulam is the first researcher to isolate THC and CBD. For that achievement and the decades of research into the endocannabinoid system that followed, Professor Mechoulam is often called the "Godfather of cannabis research". Since his research began in the 1960s, Professor Mechoulam has received numerous academic awards. Most recently he received The Harvey Prize from the Technion Israel Institute of Technology in the Human Health cat...
Jan 27, 2021
This episode’s guest is Hope Jones. She is the CEO of Superior Phenos, LLC, a hemp young plant production company in Arizona and CEO of Emergent Cannabis Sciences, an international cannabis and micropropagation consulting company with clients in Colombia, Australia, Germany and Canada. Dr. Jones has deep expertise in both hemp and cannabis often serving as an expert consultant on forming policy at the state and federal levels. NASA also tapped her micropropogation expertise to develop programs f...
Jan 13, 2021
Our guest in this episode is Dr. Mauro Maccarrone. Mauro is a pioneer in endocannabinoid research. In 1997, his team identified the receptor targets for the first two endocannabinoids that were discovered by Professor Raphael Mechoulam earlier in the decade: anandamide and 2-AG. Since then, the endocannabinoid system has been the focus of his research. At CannMed 2021 he will present "The Complex Endocannabinoid System and the Challenge of Developing Selective Drugs towards its Distinct Elements...
Dec 09, 2020
Our guest this week is Dr. Staci Gruber, Director of the Cognitive and Clinical Neuroimaging Core at McLean Hospital’s Brain Imaging Center and an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Gruber has spent decades investigating how both recreational and medical cannabis use affects the brain. In 2014, Dr. Gruber launched Marijuana Investigations for Neuroscientific Discovery (MIND), the first-ever program of its kind designed to clarify the specific effects of medical cann...
Nov 25, 2020
On this episode, we talked with tissue culture expert, Mark Jordan. Mark is currently the Chief Executive Officer at Minibis headquartered in Longmont, CO, where he started a tissue culture lab dedicated to Cannabis research and development. His previous positions include work at Colorado Seed Incorporated, Eurofins Biodiagnostics, and the Denver Botanic Gardens. While at the Denver Botanic Gardens Mark worked as the Research Horticulturist, running the protocol creation tissue cultural lab, as ...
Nov 11, 2020
On this episode we welcome Dr. Marion McNabb, President of the Cannabis Center of Excellence INC and CEO of Cannabis Community Care and Research Network (C3RN). Marion is a Public Health Doctor by training that has nearly 20 years of global and domestic public health experience. Her team recently completed a veterans’ health and medical cannabis research study with the goal of gathering information from U.S. military veterans regarding their current health conditions, conventional medical treatm...
Oct 28, 2020
On this episode we welcome Dr. Kevin Spelman from the National University of Natural Medicine. Kevin has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to medicinal plant, nutraceutical, and cannabinoid research and has authored 29 peer-reviewed publications on medicinal plants. Over the last 30 years, he has coordinated new product development, formulated product lines, advised on analytical and QC guidelines, research activity and educational curriculums for industry and universities. Dr. Spelman will sh...
Oct 14, 2020
This episode’s guest is Jordan Zager, co-founder and CEO of Dewey Scientific. Jordan is an expert in cannabis genetics and natural product biosynthesis, having authored multiple research papers in the fields of trichome development and metabolism, mathematical modeling of biochemical pathways, and functional genomics. Jordan’s CannMed 2021 presentation is titled "Gene Networks Underlying Cannabinoid and Terpenoid Accumulation in Cannabis" and in it, he will explore the biochemical processes the ...
Sep 30, 2020
We are excited to announce CannMed 2021’s Keynote Presenter in the Safety Focus Area is Grace Bandong, Scientific Strategy Leader Contaminants for Eurofins Food Integrity and Innovations. The title of Ms. Bandong’s presentation is “Risk Based Hazards Analysis: A Tool for Building A Comprehensive Analytical Testing Program,” in which she will explore the vulnerability of products/ingredients to contaminants and present a risk-based process for identifying potential hazards. Her presentation will ...
Sep 16, 2020
This episode’s guest is plant pathology expert Zamir Punja, PhD of Simon Fraser University's Department of Biological Sciences. Zamir’s research investigates the causes and management of plant diseases on cannabis, including fusarium, penicillium, powdery mildew, botrytis, as well as new and emerging plant pathogens. His CannMed 2018 presentation featured several amazing images Zamir’s team captured using an electron microscope. The image of powdery mildew mycelia wrapped around a cannabis trich...
Sep 02, 2020
This episode’s guest is Michael Levinsohn. Michael is a criminal and civil defense attorney with 20 years of experience representing people in all areas of the cannabis business. On the podcast, we discuss the legal aspects of practicing cannabis medicine, including: The need for more clinicians who are educated in cannabis medicine to help guide patients and defend them should they run into legal trouble Specific issues related to treating children with cannabisThe differences between a medical...
Aug 19, 2020
On this episode, we talk with Cindy Orser, PhD, the Chief Scientific Officer at CLIP LABS. Dr. Orser has more than 25 years of experience innovating technologies related to cannabis, human diagnostics, and even detecting biothreat agents. We spent most of the conversation talking about the panel Cindy will moderate at CannMed 2021, titled "The Hidden Cost of Cannabis: Environmental Impact”. In that panel, she and her fellow panelists will explore how current cannabis cultivation practices contri...
Aug 05, 2020
Keith Allen is the Director of Bioinformatics at Front Range Biosciences. Keith is tasked with exploring the cannabis genome to find genetic markers that can be selected in breeding projects. His current focus is on cannabinoid and terpene production, but as we discuss in our conversation, there are a number of different traits cannabis and hemp breeders will want to select for in the future, including yield, drought resistance, pathogen resistance, flowering time, heartiness for the outdoor env...
Jul 22, 2020
On this episode, we talk with CannMed 2020 presenter Eloise Theisen of Radicle Health. Eloise is a board-certified Adult Geriatric Nurse Practitioner with over 20 years experience in nursing. She started her own cannabis practice about 6 years ago and she has treated over 6000 patients using cannabis. There are very few healthcare providers nationally with the same level of expertise and experience. Eloise is the President of the American Cannabis Nurses Association and will serve as President t...
Jul 08, 2020
