Description
Igor Grant, M.D., F.R.C.P. (C)
Distinguished Professor, UC San Diego, Department of Psychiatry
Director, Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research
Dr. Igor Grant is Distinguished Professor and director of the HIV Neurobehavioral Research Program and the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at the University of California San Diego (UCSD). Dr. Grant served as Chair of the UCSD Department of Psychiatry from 2014-2019. He is a neuropsychiatrist who graduated from the University of British Columbia School of Medicine (1966), and received specialty training in psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania (1967-1971), and additional training in neurology at the Institute of Neurology (Queen Square) (1980-1981), London, U.K. Dr. Grant’s academic interests focus on the effects of various diseases on brain and behavior, with an emphasis on translational studies in HIV, and drugs of abuse. He has contributed to approximately 800 scholarly publications and is principal investigator of several NIH studies.
Since 2000, Dr. Grant has been Director of the State of California funded Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research (CMCR). The Center 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.
Headquartered at the University of California San Diego (UCSD), the Center has completed several studies on medical cannabis in relation to neuropathic pain and muscle spasticity in Multiple Sclerosis, as well as cannabis and driving impairment. Results of the studies have been published in the scientific literature and are available at: http://www.cmcr.ucsd.edu/, many found evidence of at least short term benefit of medicinal cannabis.
Currently the CMCR is conducting a number of studies on both therapeutic potentials (e.g., with pain, autism, anxiety, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes) and potential risks (e.g., automobile driving) of medicinal cannabis. Studies are beginning to explore modes of administration and specific cannabinoids (e.g., THC, CBD).
CMCR has been the source of authoritative information that is developing on medicinal cannabis and has consulted with the Legislature of the State of California, the Office of the Lieutenant Governor of California (Blue Ribbon Commission’s Regulatory & Tax Structure Working Group), and contributed to the recent National Academies report, “The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids: The Current State of Evidence and Recommendations for Research” (2017).
