Dr. Haleh Hashemi Sohi is a Plant Biotechnology Researcher with experience and back ground on Medicinal Plants.
Due to legalization of Cannabis in Canada, fast growing progress in cannabis science around the world and increasing demand for new Cannabis products compound with capability for therapy and her profession on a some important value-added medicinal plants in Pharma world, like Papavera somniferum ( morphine and Codeine), Artemisia Ss (artemisinin) and Cannabis sativa (Cannabinoids), Haleh was invited to join as Senior Scientist to MedReleaf, and then Aurora (two of the world’s largest and most successful cannabis companies).
As R&D lead, Haleh developed different Molecular methods to keep the plants and products in a safe mode, not only for the producer but also for consumers. She also set up Cannabis tissue culture towards commercialization of micropropagation and launched a live Bio-bank for different cultivars.
Recently, with her interest to use her background knowledge of traditional medicine and mix it with new edge technology, Haleh has started to design and develop new generations of prototypes and products with the help of nano technology and collaboration with Researchers from McGill University, that would be valuable for emerging cannabis markets.
Prior to her work in the Canadian cannabis industry, Haleh was an Associate Professor at National Institute for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (NIGEB). Her passion for research, specifically in the field of Medicinal Plants, has brought her a number of awards, including the National Selected Researcher Award.
Haleh has authored and co-authored more than 60 journals and conference papers. She works actively as a national member of the committee of the GEF program (United Nation program), sustainable development committee and Mab committee of UNESCO. She was also an organizer of several international workshops and seminars in the fields of plant medicine and biotechnology.
In her activities as a deputy for technology, she gained experiences in transfer of technology for pilot plant projects and consulted on products/technology from bio-incubators for small companies. Haleh was a scientific advisor for some of the Pharmaceutical companies that are working in field of medicinal plant Biotechnology and was active as an executive board member of National Medicinal Plants.
Other areas of her research include: Detection methods for Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) and pathogens in a variety of agricultural products especially for export and import. Based on these experiences she founded her private business as the first certified laboratory in this field.
Nadeem Siddiqui, B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D. (McGill U.): Dr. Siddiqui completed his Ph.D. in Biochemistry at McGill University specializing in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. His thesis work included applying biophysical and biochemical techniques to biomolecules from various species.
He has over 20 years of experience working in academic and government laboratory environments and has over thirty peer-reviewed publications.
Azhar is a physician with a broad clinical background, having trained in internal medicine in the UK. In 2006, he joined the pharmaceutical industry and has worked in the UK, Denmark, Canada and the USA, holding several senior medical affairs positions across several therapy areas over 10 years. In 2016, Azhar brought together a group of likeminded individuals, passionate about communicating science to different audiences, and started imc North America, part of the imc Group.
Over the past three years Azhar and his team have grown into an award-winning organization in the pharmaceutical and medical cannabis space and are currently working with different organizations in the cannabis ecosystem, launching medical cannabis offerings, gathering real world data on cannabis use and developing medical education initiatives in Canada and internationally.
With over 40 years of experience in family medicine, Dr. Ivor Teitelbaum brings a wealth of knowledge to cannabis prescribers in Canada. Dr. Teitelbaum’s professional expertise covers: Sports Medicine, Geriatric Medicine, Obstetrics, Pedorthics and Orthotics, Industrial and Ergonomic Medicine, and Aviation Medicine.
Dr. Teitelbaum has spent the past ten years working in addiction medicine, and is a consulting addiction physician at AMS Toronto Addiction Clinic, where he has observed many patients on cannabis treatment. He has a special exemption from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario to prescribe methadone for both addiction and pain as well as Suboxone.
Since 2016, Dr. Teitelbaum has extended his practice into the cannabis industry. He has served as a Medical Advisor to Tilray, MedReleaf and Spectrum. He is a consultant for a number of physicians to prescribe cannabis for patients. Dr. Teitelbaum provides education for other physicians for cannabis use, guidelines, safe prescribing and monitoring.
For over 20 years he has researched areas such as: female health, metabolism in high performance athletes, stress injuries and harm reduction. Dr. Teitelbaum has more than 50 Phase IIB clinical research studies, and is the lead author in two published research papers on hypertension.
An association member of several regional hospitals and nursing homes, Dr. Teitelbaum is also a member of the Canadian Medical Association, the Collage of Sports of America and the South African Medical Association, where he is originally from.
Public Speaker, research and development based entrepreneur, collaborator, advisory board of directors for several organizations, partnered with different industries to bring up synergy of success in controlled environment, EU-GMP facility design and development, research and development in plant based medicinal compounds etc. His vision for the growing global population is to bring affordable medicine, food and shelter.
He served as CEO, COO, CSO and directors for several companies and organisations. His visionary concept is to bring innovations in science and technology, educate the world for the new challenges and solutions.
He has been invited to talk about the health related public talk and the plant based medicine for present and future. His skills comprised of multiple post graduate degrees in Plant, animal science and medicine, engineering in controlled environment ( two PhD level and two master level education), and having two patents and few more pending on controlled environment and medicinal compounds.
Dr Jacqueline Armstrong is a experienced and passionate anti aging and aesthetic physician registered in Malaysia. In her 20 yrs of practice Dr Jacq has experience in many medical field including integrative & regenerative medicine, stem cell science, radiology, aesthetic medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, nutrigenomics and now has a special interests in cannabinoid medicine.
Dr Jacq firmly believes that medical cannabis has the potential to change the face of medicine. And looking at the current global trend this has started, but with a huge gap – medical cannabis education. Therefore she has set out to fill this gap in the ASEAN Region, connecting world experts to the local ecosystem. By promoting
awareness and education, she hopes to eliminate the stigma of using medical cannabis. She is really passionate about helping train medical professionals in the field of cannabinoid medicine ensuring that patients get the best care.
Drawing examples from other countries which has legalized medical cannabis and its pitfalls, Dr Jacq is writing a legal framework for medical cannabis in Malaysia, with the support of lawyers, researchers, industrial players, educationist, researchers and activists to better help the government to do it right even before legalization and reducing harm for patients and the society.
Dr. Edwin Chang has been a practicing physician for the last 18 years with professional exposure around the global medical community. He also acts as KOL for various medical cosmetic industries. He has been actively integrating his practice with functional medicine including nutrition, herbs, hormonal modulation and medical stem cells.
Dr. Edwin’s center was the first to be awarded ISO 9001 by UKAS. He transcended his practice with regenerative medicine by bringing his own unique blend of surgery, philosophy and healing. He has been advocating for medical cannabis in Asia and educating fellow doctors and other industrial players over the past three years on the therapeutic benefits of cannabis.
Recognized as an authority figure in his area of expertise, Dr. Edwin is sought out by international and local media for scientific analysis & interpretations of new developments in the field of medicine.
Jahan Peston Jamas undertakes the Bombay Hemp Company’s strategic engagements with domestic and international stakeholders. He engages with academicians, scientific experts, and hemp entrepreneurs from around the world to build and strengthen the BOHECO network, and to evaluate the previously unexplored applications of hemp. His pragmatic vision powers his work as one of the leaders of the BOHECO Innovation Lab. Jahan also leads BOHECO’s commercial & strategic endeavors in establishing one of the World’s first Hemp-based graphitic nano-materials business divisions. Equally Jahan also co-leads BOHECO’s initiatives with Medicinal Cannabis through the wholly owned BOHECO subsidiary company ‘ IndoCannabinoid Pvt Ltd’.
Focused on positive brand impact, Kelly is a consultant helping businesses design socially responsible strategies and programs to help bring about real, impactful global change.
Over the past four years, Kelly has worked in the legal Cannabis industry helping to develop programs aimed at both the medical and non-medical markets. Formerly the Manager of Special Events at Aurora Cannabis, and Manager of Strategic Partnerships at MedReleaf Corp, Ms. Beker’s career in cannabis has been built on the foundation of social impact, education and community outreach. Kelly’s passion for education has helped to educate medical professional across Canada on the therapeutic benefits of cannabis. Her national efforts were pivotal in forming strategic partnerships with several charitable organizations and patient advocacy communities.
Kelly has been invited to speak at various key industry conferences, as well as universities. Currently, Ms. Beker is an advisor to O’Cannabiz, one of the leading cannabis conferences in Canada.
Prior to her work in the cannabis sector, Kelly’s background is in the not for profit across Canada and Asia. Ms. Beker spent five years teaching English in South Korea and Cambodia, where she founded a school on an island called Koh Rong.
Stephanie was trained as a podiatrist, graduating from the University of Manchester in 1985 (DPodM ). She served as an assistant medical provider in the Third World for three years. Returning to the UK, Stephanie embarked on a career in retail marketing management, working with Aveda where she was responsible for retail
business development, new accounts, and brand management in the South of England. Through her complementary therapy center, Stephanie continued her professional development studying surgery through Matthew Boulton College and Cannock Orthopedic Hospital.
Arriving in Victoria BC in 2005 with her then young family, she utilized her knowledge base to create a range of eco friendly, paraben and chemical free skin care products and then through an association with Natureworks LLC created a range of fully compostable baby diapers and feminine hygiene products as the basis for “Broody Chick Natural Products”. Working to reduce carbon footprint and protection of the ecosystem and environment played a pivotal role in Stephanie’s interest in medicinal use and application of Cannabis.
In 2015, following a course in Plant Production and Facility Management specific to cannabis, the provision of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s) Quality Control (QC) and Good Documentation Practices (GDP) and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) to European standard aligned to the ACMPR requirement under Health Canada, formed the base of Stephanie’s move into EU GMP certification. Stephanie has studied and gained her accreditation in Plant science and GMP Pharma and GDP training with Hygiene and Microbiology through “Concept Heidelberg” at the European Compliance Academy, Europe’s leading provider for advanced training in pharmaceutical QA and drug safety. A further study in Good Production Practices (GPP) and Good Agricultural and Collection Practices (GACP)through AAPS followed. She is also writing Standards of Operation and employee protocols for major recreational growers in the Washington area, U.S. had assisted in design of facilities in South America and license applications in South Africa and for License Producers in Canada. Her International lead auditor status in EU GMP enables her to review both internal and external third party auditing systems compliant to EU GMP.
Inspired by his own health, Philip Kwong has been determined to find new ways to help MS patients after he received a diagnosis at the age of 23. This subsequently created a relationship with cannabis and charted the course of his career.
After many pharmaceutical trials, Philip began experimenting with cannabis concentrates as a way of developing new methods for symptom relief. These experiments led to a product that helped to improve the day-to-day side effect of his MS.
With the desire to provide access to a more natural alternative that could reduce the number of pharmaceutical drugs, increase the quality of life and reduce symptom relapse, Philip found 3 Carbon Extractions Inc. A company based in British Columbia, Canada, creating an industry solution for healthy, compliant and safe hydrocarbon extraction.
Philip is an entrepreneur and community-builder who has worked across a variety of emerging industries from cannabis extraction, and research and development technologies to building globally networked multi-vendor mobile digital marketplaces for non-profit groups and other social enterprises.
His passion for innovation and change drives him to develop and design businesses that can transform people’s lives.
Jenn Larry is Founder and President of CBD Strategy Group Inc., a commercial marketing, brand development, and business strategy group helping businesses thrive inside the box of cannabis regulation. With a full time focus on cannabis, Ms. Larry spends her time working with a variety of public and private companies across the medical and non-medical Canadian marketplace.
Over the past 20 years, Jenn has worked with national and international companies, within emerging and regulated sectors including: Music, Online Gambling, Pharmaceutical, Tobacco, Payments, Technology, and Retail. Her extensive experience enables her to develop strategies in markets and categories that are in a state of disruption, and ban traditional marketing and branding. Ms. Larry is well known for her ability to forecast trends, and leverage business intelligence to lead change across organizations.
Jenn is regularly invited to speak at key industry conferences in Canada and abroad. She has also been interviewed and cited across multiple national and international publications. Currently Ms. Larry is an advisor at the National Institute of Cannabis Investors, as well as a mentor at Growtech Labs. Jenn is also the Founder of the Cannabis Education Guild.
Philippe is a cannabis geneticist who focuses on using genomic and bioinformatic tools to shed light on the genetic basis of key traits of the cannabis plant and the cannabis-human relationship. After a decade in academia, as an instructor and assistant professor, he refocused his professional career towards cannabis research as the principal investigator of the Recreational Genomics Consortium and 420andme which he has lead as an adjunct professor at the University of Northern British Columbia. Philippe has also held a variety of roles in the industry, including being CTO at VSSL.tech , and the former VP of R&D at The Flowr Corporation.
Tyler is a founding member of the Campaign for Cannabis Amnesty, which advocates for the expungement of cannabis possession offences for Canadians. He also help found the Ontario Cannabis Consumer & Retail Alliance a non-profit which advocates for licensed private retail and consumption spaces in the province of Ontario, and the inclusion of legacy cannabis participants under the framework of the Sensible Ontario campaign.
Tyler James worked as the Stakeholder Engagement Manager on Aurora’s social responsibility team. Tyler engaged with external NGOs and community groups in which Aurora has a presence, as well as supporting campaigns championed by internal stakeholders across the organization.
Founder of Hotbox, Abi has been innovating the cannabis lifestyle & tourism industry for 20 years, with decades of retail operations.
Dedicating her life to the freedom of cannabis consumers and the normalization (and now legalization) of cannabis.
A history of cannabis lobbying & activism, led Abi to the position of Executive Chair of NORML Canada, which she recently passed on to the new incumbent
Nathan Tappin has a very diverse background including, in recent years, using consumer research to drive product development at Shopify. After applying that experience to the cannabis industry, he focussed his career onto the cannabis space launching the product consulting firm Notorious RnD in summer 2018.
Notorious RnD provides experience driven insights and prototyping to the cannabis industry and community.
Douglas has almost 30 years work experience spanning finance, media, sales and marketing. He began his career in commercial banking with Bank of America before pursuing entrepreneurial ventures that shaped the next 20 years of his career. He is a visionary leader with a natural ability to look beyond the clutter and inspire others towards long term goals.
In 2016, he founded CanEx Jamaica – the premier Cannabis Business Conference & Expo that takes place in the Caribbean. The conference celebrated 3 years in 2018 with 1500 attendees from 23 countries and over 60 speakers, including keynotes from some of the top industry leaders across the globe. In the three years in which he has been a part of this burgeoning industry, he has spoken at events in Jamaica, Toronto, Washington DC, Mexico City, Trinidad & Tobago and Medellin, Colombia and forged a wide global network with special attention to developing business opportunities in the Caribbean and LATAM.
He serves as Chairman of Zimmer & Co. a medicinal cannabis and hemp-based CBD health and wellness distribution business, since its inception in 2017, where he inspires and leads the team to new markets and opportunities.
Douglas has extensive experience in media as the founder of the OCEAN Style brand which has become synonymous with luxury lifestyle in the Caribbean. OCEAN Style evolved from a glossy print-only publication to a media operation producing print magazines, digital ezines, television shows and events to an expanding and influential audience.
Douglas was born in New York and raised in Trinidad and Tobago before moving to England and then to the US, where he attended high school in New York before pursuing a degree in Economics at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He has traveled extensively and enjoys meeting people and exposure to new cultures.
Aside from business he is the proud father of two girls and an avid advocate for anything related to progress for the Caribbean or a conversation about football, as a longstanding fan of Liverpool Football Club.
Alex Revich joined licensed producer MedReleaf in 2014 which was the beginning of his career in the medical cannabis industry. Alex was present at the outset of the Canadian Medical Cannabis Industry Association (CMCIA) and during his subsequent tenure he served as committee chair and held the position of interim Executive Director. He has spoken to thousands of patients around the world with various conditions and ailments.
Alex has worked with Veterans Affairs Canada on the coverage of cannabis and vaporizers and is a proponent of methods of ingestion other then smoking. He left MedReleaf at the start of 2017 and focused on cannabis education by creating a program called “Cannabis IQ” alongside MD Briefcase and a faculty of 5 Health Care Professionals. Alex is currently the Director of Partner Development and Education for Licensed producer Flowr out of Kelowna, British Columbia where he does projects on both the medical and retail side of the business, as well as several international opportunities.
Jessica is currently pursuing a DPhil in Socio-Legal Studies at the University of Oxford. Her research explores ‘how cannabis companies are influencing cannabis policies.’ She has been conducting ethnographic fieldwork since 2015 beginning with her joint honors degree in International Relations and Social Anthropology at the University of St. Andrews. She was awarded the Dean’s Scholarship for Academic Excellence, became a 2018 John Blundell Scholar and has been a recipient of numerous grants from St. Hildas College.
Jessica is the Founder and Managing Director of international cannabis consultancy firm, The Global C. She also is co-founder of entOURage Network, an empowerment platform for women to engage and explore opportunities in the legal cannabis market.
Jessica has been invited to speak globally, as a resource for YPO’s Summit 420 in California and at various conferences in the UK. She was an official delegate at the UN’s 61st and 62nd meetings of the Commission of Narcotic Drugs and an observer at the WHOs 40th and 41st ECDD Session for the review of cannabis, CBD, THC and extracts and resin.
Jessica is a contributing author for CannaTech, Benzinga and other publications.
Beyond her academics, Jessica founded the 501(c)3 Giveable Giggles when she was 13 years old. She was named as one of Impact Squared’s #100FacesofImpact based on her charity’s work.
Farrell Miller was an early adopter in the cannabis industry and helped open the first medical access dispensary in Kelowna B.C in 2014. Her journey to law school was inspired by the work of lawyers like John Conroy, Kirk Tousaw and Paul Lewin, to advance the rights of medical cannabis patients. Farrell assisted Paul Lewin and Jack
Lloyd with a constitutional challenge to the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR) in 2016, and graduated from UBC’s Peter Allard School of Law in 2018.
Since graduating from law school, Farrell has assisted individuals and companies with navigating the evolving cannabis regulatory framework in Canada. She has worked on a number of Health Canada processing and cultivation applications and has built SOPs and Organizational Security Plans for early applicants.
Farrell sits on the board of NORML Canada, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, a non-profit organization that has been established in Canada for over 40 years. NORML has its roots as a consumer rights advocacy group advancing the rights of medical users. Farrell assisted with the transition to the modern NORML mandate, and was instrumental in defining the current goals of the organization post- legalization.
Farrell brings a knowledge of research and clinical trial programs from the pharmaceutical industry to her work in cannabis. Prior to law school, she worked with research support services at the University Health Network in Toronto, the largest medical research organization in Canada. There, she worked closely with the Review Ethics Board in the administration of the necessary documentation and recordkeeping for clinical trials involving human subjects.
An advocate and policy critic at heart, Farrell brings a diverse background to the cannabis industry in Canada and abroad. Farrell has also participated in committees and working groups in Canada and the U.S., such as the Canadian Health Food Association’s (CHFA) CBD Working Group, and the American Herbal Products
Association’s (AHPA) Cannabis Committee. Part of the Cannabis Committee agenda included helping to define industry standards for the U.S Hemp Authority’s certification program for growers and processors, providing comments on the 2019 version. As a participant in both groups, she provided feedback as an industry professional and regulatory expert to help shape the future of cannabis and hemp legislation. Fare is the Vice President Licensing and Operations for ERBN Green.