Igor Grant is distinguished professor, chair of psychiatry, and director of the HIV Neurobehavioral Research Program and the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Grant is a neuropsychiatrist who graduated from the University of British Columbia School of Medicine, had specialty training in psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, and then additional training in neurology at the Institute of Neurology (Queen Square) in London, U.K. His academic interests focus on the effects of various diseases on brain and behavior, with an emphasis on translational studies in HIV and on drugs of abuse. He has contributed to approximately 700 scholarly publications and is principal investigator of several National Institutes of Health (NIH) studies and co-director of the HIV Neurobehavioral Research Center.

Since 2000, Dr. Grant has been director of the State of Californiafunded Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research (CMCR). CMCR was funded following passage of California Prop 215, the “Compassionate Use Act,” which envisioned providing patients under doctor supervision with access to medicinal cannabis in patients whose condition warranted it. California established the CMCR to develop a knowledge-base concerning cannabis. CMCR has completed seven short-term studies on medical cannabis in relation to neuropathic pain and muscle spasticity in Multiple Sclerosis. Currently, CMCR is conducting a National Institute on Drug Abuse-funded study comparing oral THC to inhaled cannabis in pain management. Another study is examining the effects of cannabis on driving. Three additional studies have received funding and are under development. One is examining cannabinoids in bipolar disorder, the second will evaluate cannabis for treatment of HIV-associated neuropathic pain, and the third will investigate the effectiveness of cannabidiol for the treatment of autism spectrum disorder

To hear Dr. Grant at the Summit, be sure to register now.