Dr. Ethan Russo and Nishi Whiteley have worked together for almost 10 years in efforts to:
- improve the scientific understanding of the endocannabinoid system (ECS) and how the cannabis plant modulates it – see Courses and Resources
- assist small and large cannabis companies in product formulation
- advise companies on cannabis genetics enhancements
- consult on pre-clinical and clinical research design.
We share a vision of making cannabis better and safer believing in a future in which knowledge of the endocannabinoid system and its therapeutic modulation via the cannabis plant will result in superior highly individualized medicines, aids to wellness, enhanced lifestyles and novel non-toxic industrial products.
Dr. Russo is a pioneer in the science behind cannabinoid wellness and remains one of the best resources on the planet.
Todd Harrison
Founding Partner and Chief Investment Officer
CB1 Capital Management
Ethan Russo, MD
Board-certified Neurologist
- Preeminent global medical cannabis expert.
- 24 years clinical cannabis research experience.
- Medical Monitor Study Physician for Sativex and Epidiolex clinical trials.
- Author of 50+ peer-reviewed journal articles & 7 books.
Ethan Russo, MD, is a board-certified neurologist, psychopharmacology researcher, and author. He is the Founder and CEO of CannabisResearch.org
Previously, he was Director of Research and Development of the International Cannabis and Cannabinoids Institute (ICCI) based in Prague, Czech Republic: https://www.icci.science. Medical Director of PHYTECS (2015-2017), a biotechnology company researching and developing innovative approaches targeting the human endocannabinoid system (http://www.phytecs.com), and from 2003-2014, he served as Senior Medical Advisor, medical monitor and study physician to GW Pharmaceuticals, United Kingdom for numerous Phase I-III clinical trials of Sativex® for alleviation of cancer pain unresponsive to optimized opioid treatment and initial studies of Epidiolex® for intractable epilepsy (https://www.gwpharm.com).
He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania (Psychology), and the University of Massachusetts Medical School, before residencies in Pediatrics in Phoenix, Arizona and in Child and Adult Neurology at the University of Washington in Seattle. He was a clinical neurologist in Missoula, Montana for 20 years in a practice with a strong chronic pain component. In 1995, he pursued a 3-month sabbatical doing ethnobotanical research with the Machiguenga people in Parque Nacional del Manu, Peru.
He has held faculty appointments in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Montana, in Medicine at the University of Washington, and as visiting professor, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Harvard University, and Johns Hopkins University.
He is a Past-President of the International Cannabinoid Research Society and is former Chairman of the International Association for Cannabinoid Medicines. He serves on the Scientific Advisory Board for the American Botanical Council. He is author of Handbook of Psychotropic Herbs, co-editor of Cannabis and Cannabinoids: Pharmacology, Toxicology and Therapeutic Potential, and author of The Last Sorcerer: Echoes of the Rainforest. He was founding editor of Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics, selections of which were published as books: Cannabis Therapeutics in HIV/AIDS, Women and Cannabis: Medicine, Science and Sociology, Cannabis: From Pariah to Prescription, and Handbook of Cannabis Therapeutics: From Bench to Bedside. He has also published numerous book chapters, and over fifty articles in neurology, pain management, cannabis, and ethnobotany. His research interests have included correlations of historical uses of cannabis to modern pharmacological mechanisms, phytopharmaceutical treatment of migraine and chronic pain, herbal synergy and phytocannabinoid/terpenoid, serotonergic and vanilloid interactions.
He has consulted or lectured on these topics in 39 US states and Canadian provinces and 39 countries.
Nishi Whiteley
- 30 years business development experience.
- Worked in 8 countries; in startups, federal and state governments and NGOs.
- Medical cannabis author & educator.
Nishi Whiteley (pronounced Nee-sha), is the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of CReDO. She has twenty-five plus years of international business development experience in cannabis, agriculture, wellness, green energy, and food industries. She has had leadership roles on projects in corporate America and for the US Foreign Ag Service in over 10 countries, in startups, a state agency and non-profits; as well as worked for foreign governments and met with international leaders in Cuba, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic to open trade and advance development programs. She has worked on investment projects in 8 countries.
Highlights in her work experience include being the active VP of Business Development for Breeder’s Best a breeder-forward cannabis genetics licensing company. Prior to that, she was a member of the management team and the Director for Americas Business Development at the International Cannabis and Cannabinoids Institute in Prague, was the Director for International Marketing at the Texas Department of Agriculture, and was an editor/analyst at Independent Commodity Intelligence Services , the world’s largest petrochemical information provider, writing price discovery and trends analysis reports for the fertilizer and petrochemical industries.
A lay expert in medical cannabis, she is the author of the book Chronic Relief: A Guide to Cannabis for the Terminally & Chronically Ill and the curator of the informational website MyChronicRelief.com. Whiteley lives in Texas where she is an advocate for cannabis law reform and sits on the board of the Foundation for an Informed Texas, a cannabis advocacy organization. Whiteley has been a contributing writer at ProjectCBD and is a speaker/educator dedicated to helping patients and caregivers bridge the gap between cannabis science and safe practical application. Whiteley became a cannabis advocate, author and speaker after her mother experienced great relief from cannabis at the end of her battle with lung cancer.
She has a Master of Agriculture from Texas A&M University, a Bachelor of Science from Tarleton State University and is a graduate of the professional development program Texas Agricultural Lifetime Leadership hosted by the Texas A&M University System’s AgriLife Extension.
