The Endocannabinoid System 101 with Ethan Russo, MD

Ben AmiraultPodcast, Speaker Profiles Leave a Comment

We are excited to announce CannMed 2020’s Keynote Presenter in the Science Focus Area is Dr. Ethan Russo.

The title of Dr. Russo’s presentation is “Cannabis and Psychiatry: The Final Frontier”, and it will explore basic science and clinical trial data to assess the role of cannabis psychopharmacology with respect to issues of impairment, depression, insomnia, PTSD, schizophrenia, anxiety and addiction.

You can hear about this fascinating topic and more in our latest episode of the CannMed Coffee Talk Podcast, where Dr. Russo joins us as a guest. This is a great episode for listeners who are new to cannabis medicine because Dr. Russo covers some of the basics, like “what is the endocannabinoid system?” Having said that, there is still plenty of meat on the bone for more advanced listeners. Use the player at the bottom at the post to listen.

Dr. Russo began his career as a physician, board-certified in Neurology with a Special Qualification in Child Neurology, but he has always held a strong interest in medicinal plants, which he gradually incorporated into his practice and research endeavors, with the intention of bringing cannabis-based and other botanical agents back into the mainstream of medicine.

He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania (Psychology) and the University of Massachusetts Medical School, before residencies in Pediatrics in Phoenix, Arizona and in Child/Adult Neurology at the University of Washington, and was a clinical neurologist in Missoula, Montana for 20 years.

After his clinical experience, he began dedicating his career to developing innovative approaches targeting the human endocannabinoid system to produce dramatic results for patients suffering from a range of neuro- and immuno-based diseases and disorders.

From 2003 to 2014, Dr. Russo was instrumental in developing both Sativex® for pain and MS, and Epidiolex® for intractable epilepsy while at GW Pharmaceuticals. In 2015, he became Medical Director of PHYTECS, a company devoted to the research and development of medicines, supplements and lifestyle approaches to optimizing the function of the endocannabinoid system (ECS), the critical homeostatic regulatory mechanism of human physiology. From 2015-2017, he was Director of Research and Development for the International Cannabis and Cannabinoids Institute.

Dr. Russo has also held faculty appointments in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Montana, in Medicine at the University of Washington, and as visiting professor, the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He is a Past-President of the International Cannabinoid Research Society, and former Chairman of the International Association for Cannabinoid Medicines. He serves on the Scientific Advisory Board for the American Botanical Council and has published several books, numerous book chapters, and over forty articles in neurology, pain management, cannabis, and ethnobotany, and he has consulted or lectured on these topics in more than 30 US states and 30 countries.

His current venture, called CReDO Science, aims to advance cannabis-based and botanical therapeutics via the development of optimized chemovars and extracts, as well as pursuing novel formulations and diagnostics related to the endocannabinoid system. More information can be found by visiting https://credo-science.com.

Needless to say, we are delighted to have him as such an important part of CannMed 2020.

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