Université de Moncton is looking to hire a Research Chair on therapeutic cannabis.
The successful candidate will work at the New Brunswick Center for Precision Medicine, focusing on the effects and specificity of cannabinoids in the treatment of diseases and pathophysiological conditions.
The New Brunswick Center for Precision Medicine is home to several research teams whose activities cover several health-related fields including cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.
Dr. David Joly, an Associate Professor at Université de Moncton, specializing in plant biology, has been working with cannabis since 2015 and says the new position will help the small university continue to make a name for itself in cannabis research.
Moncton is a small university, and this will help us diversify our expertise on cannabis,” says Joly. “When I started investigating cannabis a few years ago I was alone, and now more are getting involved and I think it’s great.”
“Now seeing that Chair coming into place, we may be small but we’re steadily growing,” he continues. “We have people looking at the plants themselves and now therapeutic uses. Plus with Organigram right down the road, I think it can help Moncton position itself as an important cannabis research hub.”
Joly says one of the advantages the new chair will have is the University’s partnership with the medical cannabis clinic Clinique la croix verte, or the Green Cross. The clinic’s long history with medical cannabis provides access to their database of potentially thousands of medical cannabis users.
The New Brunswick Health Research Foundation (NBHRF) and Clinique la croix verte are investing a combined $1 million over five years to establish this research chair at Université de Moncton.”
“We aren’t looking for something very specific, but ideally we would like to have someone who is involved in clinical trials because they will be able to work with thousands of medical cannabis patients through the Clinique la croix verte, as well as potentially working in the New Brunswick Precision Medical Centre,” explains Joly. “So we’re looking for someone who will have a unique approach given those opportunities.”
The Clinique la croix verte has operated in Quebec for more than six years.
This research center where the Chair would be working is home to research teams whose activities touch on several health-related fields including cancer, neurodegenerative diseases and the development of precision medicine.
In 2018, nearby University of New Brunswick hired the first cannabis health research chair in the country. Dr. Yang Qu began his role as an Assistant Professor and Cannabis Health Research Chair in the Department of Chemistry and Department of Chemical Engineering in January 2019. The New Brunswick Health Research Foundation (NBHRF) and Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc. invested a combined $1 million over five years to establish Dr. Qu’s research chair position at UNB. Current research projects under the program include the biosynthesis of cannabinoids and derivatives, medicinal monoterpenoid indole alkaloids, and their metabolic engineering in heterologous systems.
Last Month, Dr. Qu posted a job listing for a Post-doctoral research fellow in metabolic engineering.
Joly says the new position at Université de Moncton will be the third Chair of this kind in Canada and the first to look at various medical effects. Health Canada recently announced its plans to make non-medical human trials with cannabis easier.
