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cannabis patient care
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vol. 2 no. 1 cannapatientcare.com
patient focus
his brother Kevin want to enable the industry to better under-
stand the genetics of the plant and its impact on human health.
There's a lot more work to do to sequence and annotate the
plant, interpret all the genes, and put that into a meaningful
clinical context to better help patients, Brendan said. "But the
industry is moving in that direction."
In 2017, Kevin participated in one of the first studies (12) on
rare genetic variants in core endocannabinoid system genes
that was identified in 6032 patients with a broad spectrum of
neurological disorders.
Educating the Masses
The McKernan family's unique story about their father, and
Brendan's experience with treating his own issues, resonates
throughout the medical cannabis community. The brothers had
unique tools available to them that not only led to advanced
diagnosis and therapeutics, but served as a framework for
further research.
"When we see a problem in our family, at least we sequence
our genome to see what we could find," Brendan said. "What
do the genes tell us and where does that send us? One could
call it a rabbit hole of digging into all the research to figure
out if there is data to support a hypothesis about particular
compounds that may help with a specific condition. Our expe-
rience solidified our belief that we need to drive science and
medicine in this field to help a lot more patients."
As a result of that desire, the leadership team at MGC
founded the CannMed Conference Series, whose mission is to
bring together the world's leading cannabis experts to share
their findings and latest research. In late 2015, MGC part-
nered with Dr. Raphael Mechoulam and hosted the inaugu-
ral CannMed Conference at Boston's Harvard Medical School
in April 2016. The CannMed Cannabis Conference now gath-
ers the brightest minds in the cannabis industry worldwide to
help further cannabis research, advance breeding techniques,
and discuss advances in laboratory safety. In just two years,
the conference size outgrew the venue at Harvard University,
and moved to the West coast where they will host the fifth an-
nual gathering at the Pasadena Convention Center in Septem-
ber 2021. This year, CannMed will include an 8-hour Medical
Practicum, where attendees can learn the practical guidelines
of cannabinoid therapeutics and research, from medical lead-
ers in the industry (13).
Looking to the Future
Brendan believes that regulations need to change to keep
the cannabis industry moving forward in the right direction.
"It needs to start, unfortunately, with the federal government
changing its position, especially since they have, in fact, patents
and approved drugs that are based off of cannabinoids even
though it's still a Schedule 1 drug. It just doesn't make any
sense now," he said.
In looking back on the experience with his father, and all
that the family went through fighting against the stigma of
the plant while employing a deeper understanding of both the
cannabis and human genome, Brendan struck a note of hope
going forward. "It's an intriguing field," he said. "Ten years ago,
I would never have thought or told people I would be in the
cannabis space. Now I can't envision being in any other in-
dustry because I think our particular sector, with the 900-
plus compounds in the plant, is going to, over time, develop
the biggest pharmaceutical library our healthcare system has
seen in decades.
"There's so many active compounds in this plant. Once we
unravel them and figure out what conditions they can be ap-
plied to, I think you're going to see improvements for diseases
associated with the central nervous system, safer alternatives
for chronic pain and certainly palliative benefits for those
dealing with cancer."
There are cannabis doctors and scientists who are explor-
ing the potential of cannabis being used in cancer treatment,
such as Dr. Bonni Goldstein, Dr. Dustin Sulak, and Dr. Ethan
Russo (14), all of whom are presenting at the 2021 CannMed
Conference September 29-October 1, 2021 (15).
Brendan noted that this conference was just one of many
ways in which scientists and researchers are coming togeth-
er to study cannabis and how it can help treat various human
conditions. "We're just standing on other people's shoulders
and trying to carry that torch forward to educate the world
and make a difference," he said.
References:
(1) https://www.economist.com/britain/2021/02/27/
how-british-science-came-to-the-rescue.
(2) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK425767/.
(3) https://medlineplus.gov/druginfo/meds/a611046.html.
(4) https://medlineplus.gov/druginfo/meds/a697044.html.
(5) https://www.genomeweb.com/molecular-diagnostics/courtagen-closes-
genetic-testing-business-citing-regulatory-reimbursement#.YEqnHRiZPBI.
(6) https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/97/7/E1139/2833320.
(7) https://www.medicinalgenomics.com/pathoseek-id/.
(8) https://www.kannapedia.net.
(9) https://www.courant.com/obituaries/hc-obituary-
richard-t-mckernan-20190529-story.html.
(10) https://www.cdc.gov/genomics/about/precision_med.htm.
(11) https://www.genome.gov/human-genome-project/Completion-FAQ.
(12) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5690672/.
(13) https://cannmedevents.com/practicum/.
(14) http://cannmedevents.com/practicum/#speakers.
(15) https://cannmedevents.com.
