Who's Who in Medical Cannabis - Dr. Robert Melamede - by c.a. riley
In the world of medical cannabis, the qualifications and work of Robert Melamede, PhD are quite impressive . . . but just call him Dr. Bob.
Melamede, associate professor of biology at the University of Colorado, is an expert on Endocannabinoids and president and CEO of an innovative Colorado Springs medicinal cannabis company called Cannabis Science.
The company’s stated goal is to build upon the growing use of medical marijuana by developing cannabis-based medicines.
Cannabis Science began in San Francisco as Cannex Therapeutics, founded by medical cannabis patient and entrepreneur Steve Kubby. Through a “reverse merger” with an oil company, Gulf Onshore, Cannex became a public company. (Reverse merger is an expedited way for a private company to go public without an initial public offering.)
Soon thereafter, Cannex was renamed Cannabis Science, Kubby was ousted as president and CEO and replaced by Melamede, who had been science officer for Cannex. The new focus of the company became Melamede and medical cannabis patients in Colorado.
Cannabis Science, in partnership with an international regulatory-compliance firm, is seeking FDA approval for a clinical study on treatment of post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD).
One group in particular that Melamede hopes to help is soldiers struggling with PTSD. He says, “It tears at me to see soldiers suffering after their return from Iraq and Afghanistan — and the high rate of suicide among them.”
Anecdotal accounts affirming the therapeutic effect of cannabis for PTSD are widely reported as well, so this study—if approved—will undoubtedly add validity to those claims and demonstrate once and for all that PTSD responds well to certain cannabinoids and people afflicted with the disorder should have unquestioned access to it.
Next, CS plans to investigate the use of cannabinoids for treatment of chronic pain.
Dr. Bob holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from the City University of New York. In 2005 he retired as Chairman of the Biology Department at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs but he continues to teach and research cannabinoids, cancer, and DNA repair.
As an authority on the therapeutic use of cannabinoids, Dr Bob has authored or co-authored dozens of papers on a wide variety of scientific subjects.
He serves as Scientific Advisor for Cannabis Therapeutics, is on the Editorial Board of The Journal of the International Association for Cannabis as Medicine and on the Scientific Advisory Board of Americans for Safe Access, the Marijuana Policy Project, and Sensible Colorado as well as several other state dispensaries and patient advocacy groups.
Melamede has also served as a director of Newellink Inc, a Colorado-based company specializing in cancer research, but in spite of all these notable achievements, he’s still just “Dr Bob,” and a medical cannabis patient himself, using it for chronic back pain and other medical conditions.
At UCCS Dr Bob teaches a course on medical cannabis—one of very few in the world. He declares that cannabis is “an anti-aging drug with incredible health benefits.” He will undoubtedly be proved correct.
