CSU to host cannabis research conference

FORT COLLINS — Studies that could lead to scientific breakthroughs in the fields of medical marijuana, carbon capture in plants to fight climate change and a host of other research will be discussed at the eighth annual Cannabis Research Conference set for Aug. 7-9 at Colorado State University in Fort Collins.

The conference will be co-hosted by CSU-Pueblo’s Institute of Cannabis Research and the Global Hemp Innovation Center at Oregon State University. Gov. Jared Polis is expected to attend.

The conference will feature scientific research from top universities, government, law and businesses as well as national institutions and international organizations. A three-day, multi-disciplinary event, the conference will include more than 140 presentations from leading academics and keynote presentations by researchers in the fields of medical marijuana and hemp industrial research.

The featured Mechoulam Lecture speaker will be Lumír Ondřej Hanuš. On March 24, 1992, he was the first person to isolate the brain endocannabinoid, anandamide, a discovery that opened the world to medicinal use of cannabis. The Mechoulam Lecture is named after Raphael Mechoulam, considered to be the “father” of cannabis science, whose work was identifying the structure and critical compounds of cannabis.

Other featured speakers will include Todd P. Michael. At the Salk Institute, his group is part of the Harnessing Plant Initiative working to develop crop plants that sequester more carbon via extensive root systems containing recalcitrant carbon polymers to fight climate change.

The Diversity in Cannabis Keynote Speaker will be Dr. Nirit Bernstein, a senior research scientist at the Volcani Center, part of Israel’s Ministry of Agriculture. She is the first scientist in Israel to study whole-plant cannabis, and her research projects focus on development of cultivation techniques for sativa and cannabis physiology.

The Institute of Cannabis Research was established in 2016 on CSU’s Pueblo campus, becoming the first multi-disciplinary cannabis research center at a regional comprehensive institution of higher education. It is funded by the state of Colorado through the Marijuana Cash Tax Fund.

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