The Charles R. Broderick III Phytocannabinoid Research Initiative supports basic and translational research that will advance our understanding of how cannabinoids impinge on nervous system function and behavior. The goal of the program is to generate novel insights into the neurobiology of cannabis and cannabinoids.  Successful proposals will focus on highly creative research programs relevant to our understanding of the molecular, cellular, and behavioral effects of cannabis use on the nervous system, the biology of brain systems that respond to cannabis and cannabinoids, and studies that lay the foundation for clinical application of cannabinoids.

The Phytocannabinoid Research Initiative supports proposals for independent or collaborative Faculty Research Grants, as well as postdoctoral fellowships.

Thank you for those who attended the 2022 Charles R. Broderick Cannabis & Cannabinoid Research Symposium! For those interested, the recording of our keynote address by Dr. Elizabeth Thiele, "The role of cannabinoids in the treatment of epilepsy: more than millennia in the making," can be found HERE.

AWARD RECIPIENTS 

2022-2023

Mark Andermann (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center)
Rapid hunger-promoting effects of cannabinoid signaling in the hypothalamus 

Michael Greenberg (Harvard Medical School)
Endocannabinoid signaling in Scg2-dependent perisomatic inhibitory plasticity 

Kerry Ressler (McLean Hospital)
Investigating function of stress-induced Ptgs2 in prefrontal cortex on endocannabinoid signaling 

Brian Wainger (Massachusetts General Hospital)
Identifying phytocannabinoids for treating pain 

2021-2022

Alan Brown (Harvard Medical School) 
Gerhard Wagner (Harvard Medical School)
Elucidating the molecular mechanism underlying phytocannabinoidinduced biased signaling of cannabinoid receptors 

Michael Tri Do (Boston Children’s Hospital) 
Cannabinoid dependence of circadian photoregulation 

Susan Dymecki (Harvard Medical School)
Cannabinoid engagement with the serotonin system: a highly selective affair 

Joji Suzuki (Brigham and Women's Hospital) 
Cannabidiol on reward-related neurocognitive processes in individuals with opioid use disorder 

 Bakhos Tannous (Massachusetts General Hospital) 
The role of endocannabinoids signaling in brain tumors 

Clifford Woolf (Boston Children’s Hospital)
Identifying cannabidiol derivatives as novel ion channel modulating therapeutics for pain, epilepsy and neurodegenerative diseases 

Fellows: 

Jawad Husain (Massachusetts General Hospital) 
Kelly Sagar 
(McLean Hospital)

2020-2021

Todd Anthony (Boston Children’s Hospital) 
Patrick Fuller 
(Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center)
Cannabidiol modulation of neural circuits that control anxiety and sleep 

 Bruce Bean (Harvard Medical School) 
Inhibition of neuronal excitability by cannabidiol and other phytocannabinoids 

Staci Gruber (McLean Hospital)
Consider the source: examining the impact of a full-spectrum vs a single-compound cannabinoid product on clinical, cognitive, and neurobiologic outcomes 

Hisashi Umemori (Boston Children’s Hospital)
Pathway-specific effects of early-life cannabis exposure on dopamine synapse development 

Fellows: 

Philipp Aschauer (Harvard Medical School) 
Daniel Taub 
(Boston Children’s Hospital) 
Meng Zhang 
(Harvard Medical School)