2024 Keynote Speakers
Ryan Vandrey, PhD
Professor, Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit, Johns Hopkins University
Title of Presentation: Using Laboratory Science to Inform Clinical Decision Making and Patient Safety in Medicinal Cannabis
Bio: Dr. Ryan Vandrey is an experimental psychologist with degrees from the University of Delaware (BA) and University of Vermont (PhD). He is currently a Professor at the Johns Hopkins University Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit (BPRU). Dr. Vandrey’s research focuses primarily on the impact of route of administration, dose, and chemical composition of cannabis products on resultant drug effects and pharmacokinetics. In addition, Dr. Vandrey has been involved with a broad range of studies related to the risks and benefits of medicinal cannabis use, cannabis drug interactions, the effects of cannabis use on sleep, cannabis withdrawal and the treatment of Cannabis Use Disorder, cannabis product testing, and developing measures of cannabis use behavior.
Matthew Hill, PhD
Professor, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary
Title of Presentation: Cannabis, Endocannabinoids and PTSD
Bio: Dr. Matthew Hill is a Professor in the Departments of Cell Biology and Anatomy and Psychiatry at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute at the University of Calgary, the inaugural Chair of the Mental Health Initiative in Stress and Trauma and the Deputy Director of the Mathison Centre for Mental Health Research and Education. Dr. Hill is the Executive Director for the Canadian Consortium for the Investigation of Cannabinoids and both the Past President of the International Cannabinoid Research Society and the past Chair of the Neurobiology of Stress Conference. Dr. Hill’s research has demonstrated that the brain produces “endocannabinoids” (the brains own version of molecules like THC from cannabis) in response to stress to help us recover appropriately, and has found that chronic stress compromises how the “endocannabinoid” system functions, identifying this system as target for both the pathophysiology and treatment of stress related mood and anxiety disorders.
Margaret Haney, PhD
Professor, Irving Medical Center, Columbia University
Title of Presentation: Cannabis Use Disorder
Bio: Dr. Margaret (Meg) Haney is a Professor of Neurobiology (in Psychiatry) at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center. As the Director of the Cannabis Research Laboratory and Co Director of the Substance Use Research Center, Dr. Haney is internationally recognized for her expertise in human laboratory studies of cannabis and cannabinoids. Her interest is both in conducting placebo controlled studies testing the efficacy of treatment medications for Cannabis Use Disorder and in testing the potential therapeutic effects of cannabis and cannabinoids.