Wednesday, October 17, 2018

1:45 PM – 2:45 PM, Herscher Hall - Guerin B

The Science of Medical Cannabis: Matching Strains, Potency and Dosage to Specific Diseases and Disorders

Dr. Andrea Small-Howard, Chief Science Officer, GB Sciences (GBS)

Jessica Assaf, Founder, Cannabis Feminist, co-founder, Hempia

Tim Blake, Founder and Producer, The Emerald Cup

Dr. Catherine Jacobson, Director of Clinical Research, Tilray

Sundarajan Mutialu, Chief Technology Officer and Co-CEO, AZENTIVE

Mowgli Holmes, PhD, co-founder, CEO, Phylos Bioscience

David Traub, Global Ambassador, Unify.Earth, Moderator

Dr. Andrea Small-Howard, Chief Science Officer, GB Sciences (GBS): Dr. Andrea Small-Howard has more than 15 years’ experience studying cannabinoids and the endocannabinoid system, immunology and cancer treatments; as well as executive experience in the biopharmaceutical industry where she supervised research and development, manufacturing and quality control divisions. She took the lead in obtaining regulatory approvals from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (“US FDA”) and multiple international regulatory agencies, and has recently assisted other state jurisdictions in developing medical cannabis regulations. Dr. Small-Howard brings to GB Sciences a passion for advancing clinical research on medicinal applications of cannabinoid compounds in cannabis plants, clinical experience in conducting cannabinoid research,

strategic vision for creating a vertically-integrated biopharmaceutical pipeline and a track record of successes in the management of biopharmaceutical companies. Dr. Small-Howard originally received her AB from Occidental College (Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa), in addition to receiving both an MBA (Beta Gamma Sigma) and a PhD (USC All-University Merit Fellow) in biological sciences from the University of Southern California. As a post-doctoral fellow at the Queens Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, Dr. Small-Howard led a project group dedicated to the study of cannabinoids in the immune system and published peer-reviewed papers on the subject. At the John A. Bums School of Medicine – University of Hawaii, she led a productive research team as a Research Assistant Professor. Dr. Small-Howard has held management positions at AMDL, Inc. (a small public biotech company), where she took the lead in every stage of product development from discovery through commercialization. As VP of Scientific Oversight at Radient Pharmaceuticals Corp. (RPC), she provided strategic product development and regulatory oversight across multiple international business divisions. At RPC, she also played an active role in creating collaborative research agreements with development partners and research institutions, and she contributed to critical licensing and distribution agreements. In 2011, Dr. Small-Howard founded International Biotechnology Solutions to provide management consulting and has successfully completed projects within the areas of business development, corporate alliance building, product commercialization, corporate restructuring and management of successful fundraising campaigns. For four years, she also served on the Board of Directors for the Center for Healthcare Innovation, a nonprofit, non-partisan and independent organization based in Chicago that is committed to serving as a catalyst for stimulating ideas, people, companies and institutions to collaborate and achieve excellence in healthcare innovation.

Dr. Catherine Jacobson is the Director of Clinical Research at Tilray, a federally licensed Canadian medical cannabis provider. She leads a global clinical research program of regulatory agency-approved trials aimed at generating methodologically sound data to inform treatment with medical cannabis products. Dr. Jacobson obtained a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the Oregon Health & Science University, and completed post-doctoral fellowships at UCSF and Stanford. In 2013, Dr. Jacobson published the first account of treatment of pediatric epilepsy patients with medical cannabis preparations in the peer-reviewed journal Epilepsy & Behavior. This work led her back to UCSF for a clinical research fellowship at the Pediatric Epilepsy Center to investigate the anti-seizure potential of CBD in children with severe, treatment-resistant epilepsy. Her work now focuses on tackling some of the largest practical and scientific challenges facing medical cannabis use and research, with the goal of generating a strong evidence base to inform the use of medical cannabis preparations for specific diseases and symptoms. Dr. Jacobson also serves on the Medical Cannabis Advisory board to the State of California, where she advocates for medical cannabis products to meet product quality standards that ensure the safety and well-being of patients.

Mowgli Holmes, PhD, co-founder, CEO, Phylos Bioscience: Mowgli Holmes is a molecular and evolutionary biologist. He has a PhD from Columbia University, where he was a National Research Service Award Fellow. He is a founding board member of the Cannabis Safety Institute and the Open Cannabis Project, and is Chair of the Oregon State Cannabis Research Task Force.

Jessica Assaf is a cannabis activist and entrepreneur on a mission to make plant medicine mainstream. Jessica is the founder of Cannabis Feminist, a digital community of over 50,000+ promoting cannabis wellness and empowering women to lead the industry. She is the co-founder of Hempia, a line of hemp products launching this September, and the Well+Good official cannabis columnist. Jessica received her MBA at Harvard Business School and has been nationally recognized for her leadership in the cannabis and clean beauty industries.

Tim Blake, Founder and Producer, TheEmeraldCup.com: Tim Blake earned his real estate license at the age of nineteen. He was one of the founders and the CEO of several productions companies in the 1980’s. This included an audio/video production company, a music label, an original children’s program called “Eco, You, and Simon too”, and a line of “New Age” video releases. Tim is blessed to have three daughters, six grandkids, and one great granddaughter. He has owned property in Mendocino County since the early eighties. In 1998 he bought an old campground ten miles north of Laytonville on highway 101 and renamed it “ Area 101”. Tim created The Emerald Cup, the worlds largest outdoor cannabis competition thirteen years ago. Tim sponsored and helped produce the first gathering of law enforcement and cannabis farmers to openly discuss how they would work together. This helped lead to the creation of the original 9.31 program, whereby cannabis farmers could grow up to ninety nine plants legally with a permit from the county. Tim was one of the first cannabis farmers to join the program. He was the co-founder of the Mendocino Farmers Collective and also Healing Harvest Farms, both local cannabis dispensaries designed to help facilitate getting outdoor cannabis into the dispensaries across the state. He was a founding member of California Cannabis Reform Policy (CCPR), which evolved in CA Reform, and was also a founding member of the Mendocino Cannabis Policy Council ( MCPC). Tim was on the steering committee for the Heritage Initiative ( Measure AF), which was on the Mendocino County ballot in November, and is on the board of directors of The Mendocino Cannabis Industry Association ( MCIA). Tims personal goal is to help the world integrate spirituality, cannabis, organic food and living into a holistic lifestyle.

Sundarajan Mutialu is the Chief Technology Officer and Co-CEO of AZENTIVE, a wellness and sustainability company supporting the profitable delivery of the purest, organic cannabis. AZENTIVE’s flagship plasma lighting technology, The Sun On-Demand™, produces true sunlight and empowers cultivation of sungrown quality organic cannabis in any controlled environment. Sundarajan specializes in advanced materials, plasma physics, materials processing, and surface modification. He has a long career in technology with past positions including, independent consultant, Aultimut International (President), Plasma Technik (VP), Airco Temescal Evaporated Products (General Sales Manager), Jet Avion (President’s Assistant), as well as past clients including Fortune 100 and 500 companies, branches of the armed forces, and numerous international firms. His track record of engineering, management, and new product development has yielded technologies that are now ubiquitous in a variety of industries. He is passionate about producing the highest quality cannabis to serve the most patients possible. AZENTIVE’s approach to achieving this is to honor the plant first, and then to apply biomimicry to wrap sustainable technology solutions into the cultivation of that plant.

David Traub, Global Ambassador, Unify.Earth, Moderator: David earned a Masters in Education in 1990 from Harvard University, while conducting simultaneous class-work in interactive cinema and AI-based narrative at the MIT Media Lab.  HIs master thesis: design of the world's first virtual reality simulation game modeling family therapy. In 1984 he earned his undergraduate degrees in rhetoric and film with honors from the University of California at Berkeley, concluding with an honor thesis focusing on the use of film and television as "educational propaganda."  His primary focus: the aggregation and delivery of "social and emotional" and other learning-centric applications/content via feature films, TV, mobile phones, video games, thin clients/PCs and VR/AR.  In the real world, David has 20-years of experience as a digital media-oriented executive producer, entrepreneur, investor, venture catalyst, global business development executive, ind/or board member to over 40 startups/private equity companies. He has co-raised and deployed nearly $30 million dollars in support of these ventures. His most recent feature film as executive producer was JOBS, starring Ashton Kutcher;  with Bronx Bull his next movie to market (co-producer), and multiple others feature films and TV shows in  development.  David has created games, apps and other content as a co-founder,  executive and/or executive producer of digital products across a wide variety of clients such as EMI North America, MCA Records, Philips/Polydor, Microsoft/ MSN, Apple Computer and many others. He is also an author of nearly 50 articles and reports on the evolution of the digital domain for trade publications, professional books and institutional clients; and a speaker who has given nearly 50 forward-looking keynote and other speeches throughout the world for clients such as the EU, the Swedish and Canadian Governments, TV Globo (Brazil), the National Institute of Film in Denmark, Viacom, US West, Mercedes/Siebold, The Broadband Content Development Forum and numerous other economic development agencies and universities.