Emerald Conference 2019 Presentations
Skin in the Game: Why the DoD Should be on the Leading Edge of Cannabis Research
Presenter: Todd Scattini, Global CEO, Harvest 360
Scientific Director Opening Remarks
Presenter: John Abrams, Ph.D., Chairman & Chief Scientific Officer, Clinical Endocannabinoid System Consortium
Genetic Sleuthing – the power of sequencing for the entire cannabis market
Presenter: Jessica Kristof, M.Sc., VP of Research & Development, Phylos
Over the past decade, chemical analysis for cannabinoid and terpene content has become a widely adopted test. As the final dataset, chemotype results represent the culmination of a long plant development history ending with senescence.
Chemovar Cannabis Typing Using Principle Component Analysis on High Resolution Mass Spectral Data
Presenter: Paul Winkler, Food and Beverage Marketing Development Manager
Consumers of Cannabis have long asserted the differences between cultivars, or strains, for user experience. The historical classification scheme of Indica, Sativa, and Hybrid has prevailed as a popular and simplified way to group together Cannabis cultivars of perceived properties and ancestral origin, allowing the consumer to select desired products based on a class-based assumption of its qualities.
Grammar & Symbols to Translate the Language of Cannabis Chemotypes
Presenter: John Abrams, Ph.D., Chairman and Chief Scientific Officer, Clinical Endocannabinoid System Consortium (CESC) Inc.
Consumers of Cannabis have long asserted the differences between cultivars, or strains, for user experience. The historical classification scheme of Indica, Sativa, and Hybrid has prevailed as a popular and simplified way to group together Cannabis cultivars of perceived properties and ancestral origin, allowing the consumer to select desired products based on a class-based assumption of its qualities.
The Role of Genetic Testing in Clinical Outcomes in Cannabinoid and Terpenoid Therapeutics
Presenter: Steve Ottersberg, MS, Chief Scientific Officer, Technica Botanica
This discussion is a result of more than 5 years of clinical and teaching experience in human genetics. When 23 and Me became the first consumer-based genetic testing company, I found a niche in integrating 23 and Me data with clinical lab data to generate precisions medicine treatment plans based upon the patient’s biochemical individuality.
A Comparison of Two Cannabis Strains Using EEG and Psychological Measures: Implications for Therapeutic Applications
Presenter: Jeff Tarrant, Ph.D., Director, NeuroMeditation Institute
While cannabis is now widely used for a variety of medicinal and recreational purposes, little is understood about the impact that different cannabis profiles may have. What measurable impact is there on acute changes in brain functioning?
The American Cannabis Experiment: Extracting Data from the Largest Unregulated Clinical Trial
Presenter: Kalev Freeman, M.D., Ph.D., Consultant, Phyto-Science Institute
While medical marijuana is now legal in most states, few medical schools provide training in cannabis-based medicine. Furthermore, restrictive federal policies and regulations severely limit clinical research on the health effects of cannabis and cannabinoids, limiting the evidence available to physicians.
Pharmacological Formulation Strategies for Effective Cannabis-based Products
Presenter: Linda Klumpers, Ph.D., Founder & Director, Tomori Pharmacology, Inc.
Hundreds of new cannabis products are launched every year. Despite many of them being aimed at the medical market, few products are created with extensive knowledge of their pharmacology. This includes both how the the active ingredients move through the body, called pharmacokinetics (PK), and what effects the active ingredients have on the body, called pharmacodynamics (PD).
Standardizing the Entourage Effect: Regulating Terpenes & Flavor Additives for Inhalable Cannabis Products without Throwing the Baby Out with the Bathwater
Presenter: Brad Douglass, Ph.D., Vice President of Intellectual Property and Regulatory Affairs, The Werc Shop
Cannabis products cover a wide range of forms that will demand a regulatory scheme that is anchored in existing frameworks for food, dietary supplements, pharmaceuticals, liquor, and tobacco regulation.In this presentation, the importance of establishing ingredient standards for inhalable cannabis products will be addressed.
High-Resolution, Comprehensive, and Quantitative Physical Stability Analysis of Cannabis Beverage Emulsions: Homogeneity, Formulation, and Shelf Life
Presenter: Matt Vanden Eynden, Ph.D., Analytical Chemist, Formulaction, Inc.
Cannabis beverage emulsions, just like all other food and beverage products, undergo some sort of stability testing in order to maintain a level of quality that will be passed along to customer. The shelf integrity of these products are also critical over time as oils can break out from their emulsion matrix and produce what is now a heterogeneous product, and therefore unappealing to an end user.
Operating a Commercial Cannabis Laboratory in California: A 10 Year Assessment
Presenter: Robert Martin, Ph.D.. CEO, CW Analytical
Ultraviolet Supplement for Higher Yield, Better Quality and Less Chemical Spray
Presenter: Yan Ren-Butcher, Ph.D., Director of Horticulture Science, Illumitex
This session will review published scientific reports of the effects of UVA and UVB radiations on plant growth and development, quality improvement and disease controls. The possibility of introducing UV spectra to increase THC and other cannabinoids, as well as is becoming widely talked about amongst cannabis growers.
Optimization Study of Supercritical Fluid Extraction of Cannabinoids from Cannabis Sativa
Presenter: Eric Kawka, M.A., Founder, Cattis Scientific
Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) has been studied and optimized for a variety of purposes in the food and nutraceutical industries. However, optimization data related to the use of SFE for extracting cannabinoids from Cannabis sativa is limited.
Optimization Study of Supercritical Fluid Extraction of Cannabinoids from Cannabis Sativa
Presenters: Ariel Bohman, Ph.D., Application Scientist, PerkinElmer and Markus Roggen, Ph.D., Founder, Complex Biotech Discovery Ventures
The production of cannabis extracts and oils for both medicinal and recreational products has increased significantly due to greater market demand brought on by legalization and patient demand for a greater diversity of cannabis products. Most cannabis extraction processes undergo a decarboxylation step whereby the carboxylic acid functional group is removed from the cannabinoids converting the naturally occurring acid forms to their more potent neutral forms.
Identification of unknown cannabinoid reaction pathways using Ultra-Performance Convergence Chromatography (UPC2) for real-time, high-resolution reaction monitoring
Presenter: Shawn Helmueller, Chief Scientific Officer, Deutsche Process
The medical cannabis industry has seen fantastic growth in both research and industrial scale processing and formulation of new and unique cannabis-based products. As such, new technologies and process optimization strategies are required across each and every stage of the cannabis product development life-cycle.
Chromatography and the Art of Method Maintenance
Presenter: Sean Orlowicz, Business Development Manager- Cannabis, Phenomenex
Some say that chromatography is as much of an art as it is a science. While this may be true, what if instead, we think of it as a tool? A specialized tool used to build machines capable of answering questions like, “how safe is this product for consumers?”. The availability of such tools often defines the capabilities of a laboratory.
Routine Analysis of Cannabis for Pesticides and Mycotoxins using UPLC-MS/MS and GC-MS/MS
Presenter: Marian Twohig, Ph.D., Principal Scientist, Waters Corporation
Quantitative methods for residual pesticides and mycotoxins analysis in cannabis should provide reliable coverage and robust methodology for the entire list of analytes to fulfill the state-mandated safety tests. The detection sensitivity and specificity offered by LC/MS/MS is advantageous for determining trace levels of most pesticides and mycotoxins in complex matrices.
Genomics of Cannabis Terpene Content Variation
Presenter, Keith Allen Ph.D., Director of Bioinformatics, Steep Hill
Terpenes give cannabis many of its distinctive odors and flavors, and so variation in terpene content is a key factor differentiating strains and will be an important target for breeders. Looking forward to a new wave of craft and medicinal breeding, it is clear that a full understanding of the genetic basis of terpene variation will be an essential starting point.
Overcoming the Challenges Associated with Pesticide Analysis of Cannabis and Understanding the Matrix Effects and the Impact of Various Clean-Up Strategies
Presenter: Toby Astill, Ph.D., Sr. Business Manager – Cannabis & Hemp Markets, PerkinElmer
A new analytical LC-MS/MS method has been developed and qualified to allow cannabis laboratories to complete the entire Pesticide assay (including molecules such as Chlordane and pentachloronitrobenzene) in one quick method, using one instrument.
The value of metals testing for risk management and product safety
Presenter: Anthony Smith, Ph.D., Chief Science Officer, EVIO Labs
A number of US States have adopted requirements for heavy metals testing of Cannabis and Cannabis products. There have been lots of murmured presumptions that metals testing will increase costs without doing much to improve harm reduction, the motivation of all public health and safety regulators. We have found that metals testing is driving product safety and supply chain efficiency in the Cannabis industry.
