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Wednesday, October 17, 2018

The Luncheon

Co-Sponsored by:

Los Angeles NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws)

Noon - 1:30 PM - Herscher Hall, Guerin B, Additional Ticket Required

On the Forefront of Medical Cannabis Innovation: The Struggles & Triumphs of Major Medical Pioneers - Cancer, Epilepsy, PTSD and other Life Threatening Diseases

Welcome: Bruce Margolin, Director, Los Angeles Chapter, NORML

Tracy Ryan, CEO, CannaKids

Eben Britton, Board Member, Athletes for Care & Former NFL Offensive Linesman

Dr. Sue Sisley, MD & Principal Investigator for the only FDA-Approved Study of Safety/Efficacy of Cannabis and Combat Veterans

Jeff Chen, MD/MBA, Director, UCLA Cannabis Research Initiative

Michael Backes, Scientific and Medical Advisory Board, Maui Grown Therapies

Moderator - Marty Perlmutter, President, Multisensory Interactive Learning Institute (MILI

 

Tracy Ryan is the CEO  for CannaKids, a California-based cooperative with a focus on supplying medical cannabis oil to adults and children looking for holistic relief for serious health conditions. She is also the CEO of CK Sciences whose sole focus is to execute pediatric human trials in the US and around the world. She is also the founder of the 501c3 non-profit SavingSophie.org. Their mission is to provide resources and financial support to families whose loved one has been diagnosed with a serious disease. Since her infant daughter’s

brain tumor diagnosis in June of 2013, Tracy has dedicated her life to educating herself on the medicinal powers of medical marijuana in treating her own daughter’s disease, as well as all other pediatric and adult cancers, autism, epilepsy and beyond. Tracy has worked on a global scale with families who are seeking education and treatment options for their loved ones, and has guided many patients to unheard of success. CannaKids is now on a trajectory to be one of the world’s leaders for cannabinoid therapies based on scientific research and is in collaboration with some of the top researchers, doctors and hospitals in the world. With a true passion for clinical research Tracy has partnered with, and is on the Advisory Board of, CURE Pharmaceutical, (OTCQB:CURR), (“CURE”), a leading disruptive drug delivery technology and pharmaceutical cannabinoid molecule development company,  and the Technion Institute in Israel who is leading the way in cannabis research for cancer. CannaKids has been sharing their meticulously tracked patient data with Technion in order to help further assist in their research. Furthermore, CannaKids & CURE are funding the next four years of this research where both pediatric and adult cancers will be studied for cannabinoid sensitivity. In addition to the research in Israel, CannaKids is in the planning phase with a major hospital in California and one in the Mid-west, and is expected to start in-hospital clinical trials on pediatric patients in the next year. She was chosen to be one of only 9 people to be on the University of California at Irvine's Task Force that will work to design the first ever cannabis multidisciplinary college.  Tracy and CannaKids have also been the recipient of several industry awards, furthering her strength in the cannabis community as a key player. Tracy and her family have been featured in many national and international news pieces including an appearance on The Doctors, National Geographic, Vice News, CNN, Entertainment Tonight, The Huffington Post, Telemundo, and many more. They are also the key focus of the Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein documentary, “Weed The People”, set to release this year.

 

Eben Britton, Board Member, Athletes for Care & Former NFL Offensive Linesman: Eben is a retired NFL offensive lineman, writer, actor, cannabis advocate, speaker, entrepreneur and personal consultant based in Los Angeles, California. Eben Britton was born in New York City in 1987 and lived in Brooklyn until he moved to California at age 11. Eben went to high school at John Burroughs High in Burbank, California. He was an all-American offensive lineman and received scholarship offers all over the country. His high school jersey would later be retired and his name added to the Burroughs Hall of Fame. After settling on the University of Arizona, Eben took Tucson by storm, becoming an All-American and All-Pac 10 offensive lineman and leading his team to a win at the Vegas Bowl. Eben was drafted in round 2 of the 2009 NFL Draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars where he played for four years. When his contract with the Jags ended, Eben moved on to Chicago, where he played sixth man tight-end for the next two seasons.  As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. After completing his sixth season in the NFL, Eben and his wife Brittany decided it was time to head home to California. Eben now resides in the Los Angeles area with his wife and daughter. He finished his creative writing degree from the University of Arizona and enjoys writing for anyone who cares to read his work. Eben is a fierce supporter of medical marijuana and regularly speaks in support of holistic health. He works as a writer, actor and lifestyle consultant. His mother, Abbie Britton, a former fashion editor and current body worker and healer, lives in Los Angeles and is vying for grandmother of the year. His father, Jeff Britton, is a genius fine painter and former NCAA Division I basketball player living in Brooklyn, NY. Eben comes from a long line of artists, writers and actors, most notably his grandmother, Academy Award-winner, Estelle Parsons.

 

Dr. Sue Sisley, MD & Principal Investigator for the only FDA-Approved Study of Safety/Efficacy of Cannabis and Combat Veterans: Dr. Sue Sisley MD is an Arizona-based physician practicing Internal Medicine and Psychiatry. She works as Medical Director for medical cannabis license holders in 11 different states/territories from Hawaii to Puerto Rico to New York. Sue serves as Site Principal Investigator for the only FDA-approved randomized controlled trial in the world examining safety/efficacy of whole plant marijuana in combat veterans with treatment-resistant post traumatic stress disorder PTSD. Dr. Sisley is on faculty at Colorado State University PUEBLO campus, recruited for core planning team to organize the CSUP "ICR Institute of Cannabis Research" in Pueblo, Colorado. Dr. Sisley has been a Member of Nevada ILAC Medical Cannabis Commission for the past two years outlining regulations for laboratory testing including limits on pesticides, residual solvents and other guidelines that are currently being used as a model for other states medical cannabis laws. She also serves on the Steering Committee for Thomas Jefferson University Lambert Cannabis Medical Research Center.

 

Michael Backes, Scientific and Medical Advisory Board, Maui Grown Therapies: Michael Backes is the author of Cannabis Pharmacy: The Practical Guide to Medical Marijuana, the second edition published by BDL/Hachette in late 2017 with a foreword by Dr. Andrew Weil. Backes and Weil serve on the Science & Medical Advisory Board of Maui Grown Therapies, Hawaii's first dispensary. Backes is based in Los Angeles, where he works with a California consultancy that specializes in cannabis science, intellectual property and policy issues. He was co-inventor of the first cannabis breeding patents awarded by the US government. In 2007, Backes co-founded Cornerstone Research Collective, the first evidence-based medical cannabis collective in California. Backes secured major funding for the American Herbal Pharmacopeia's Cannabis monographs, the first since 1942 and which serve as the basis for cannabis testing requirements in many states. Michael Backes was an editor for Cannabis Evolution and Ethnobotany by Robert Connell Clarke (author of Marijuana Botany and Hashish!) and Mark Merlin (author of Man and Marijuana), published in 2013 by University of California Press. Backes has served on the Cannabis Committee of the American Herbal Products Association and was a founding board member of the National Cannabis Industry Association. Prior to working with medical cannabis, Backes worked in the entertainment industry for decades . He worked on projects with Michael Crichton, James Cameron, Steven Spielberg, Tom Clancy and Sam Raimi. He co-founded the AFI/Apple Computer Center for Film and Videomakers and the AFI's Digital Media Studies program. His entertainment and hi-tech consulting clients have included Apple Computer, USC, the Department of Defense, Credit Suisse/First Boston and Sega. His work has been profiled in Wired, Premiere magazine, and entertainment trade publications.

 

Marty Perlmutter, President, Multisensory Interactive Learning Institute (MILI): Marty Perlmutter is currently working on the campaign to save Africa’s elephants, using social media and Virtual Reality to create programming and consciousness to reduce demand for ivory in China. Marty’s education nonprofit, Multisensory Interactive Learning, is developing mobile math games. The first in the series, “Tangram Jam,” is available for Apple and Android devices. He has worked in interactive media for over four decades. He invented an immersive display helmet in 1970 and later incorporated 3D TV in a series of science museum exhibits. He created interactive products for IBM, AT&T, HP, Pioneer, Mindscape, AOL, Looksmart and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His interactive and education work has won awards in the US, Japan and Europe. Perlmutter built long-lasting interactive exhibits at the Boston Museum of Science, Lawrence Hall of Science and New York Hall of Science. He has consulted to HBO, Sony, Xerox, AT&T, MIT, Harvard, NYU, UC, Ericsson, BT and Mass General Hospital. He has lectured at Harvard and MIT and taught at Tufts, NYU, San Francisco State and Cogswell College. His writings on new media have been widely published.