University of Florida Research Panel
Pre-Conference Workshop:
University of Florida Research Panel: Cannabis - From Marijuana to Hemp
Moderator: Dr. Jeffrey Block, MD, Founder and President, Nurturing Nature®... an interdisciplinary consultancy group advancing the safe and effective clinical use of contemporary cannabinoids.
Workshop Description:
Florida’s premier agricultural academic institution is committed to understanding Cannabis through several graduate schools and legislated research entities based out of the University of Florida. This vital panel of complementary experts will discuss how their work is advancing as Florida’s laws evolve.
Panelists:
Dr. Zachary Brym, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Agronomy Department, University of Florida
Dr. Christopher McCurdy, Ph.D., FAAPS, Professor, Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, University of Florida
Dr. Robert Cook, MD, MPH, Professor, Department of Epidemiology, University of Florida
Dr. Jeffrey Block, MD
Dr. Jeffrey Block, MD, Founder and President, Nurturing Nature®.
Bio:
Dr. Jeff Block is a Florida licensed allopathic physician, Board-certified anesthesiologist, and accomplished botanist. “DocBlock” is Fellowship-trained in both pain management & addiction medicine.
In 2014, Dr. Block authored Florida’s first mandated physician education published by the Dept. of Health; and in 2015 Block was Florida’s only physician selected by the Department to determine the rules supporting Florida’s Cannabis laws.
At the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine’s Department of Anesthesiology, Professor Block teaches cannabinoid medicine to physicians completing their subspecialty Fellowship training in pain management. Since 2020 he has authored four textbook chapters concerning endocannabinoid receptors and medical Cannabis.
As a highly awarded horticulturist and Florida Master Gardener for Miami-Dade County’s Agricultural Extension Offices, DocBlock additionally educates on behalf of the University of Florida’s Institute of Food & Agricultural Sciences program and advises their research on hemp. He is the Founder of “Nurturing Nature®” Group - an independent, interdisciplinary consultancy using integrative medicine and translational science to advance the safe and effective clinical use of cannabinoids.
Dr. Zachary Brym, Ph.D.
Dr. Zachary Brym, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Agronomy Department, University of Florida
Bio:
Zack Brym is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Agronomy working from the Tropical Research and Education Center in Homestead. His research and extension programs cover a broad range of topics related to agroecology with a focus on crop physiology, diversity, and management. The goal of these programs is to establish new cropping systems, such as hemp, that provide the complementary outcomes of crop production, environmental conservation, and community development. He is the state coordinator for the UF/IFAS Hemp Program. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Michigan and PhD from Utah State University.
Dr. Christopher McCurdy, Ph.D., FAAPS
Dr. Christopher McCurdy, Ph.D., FAAPS, Professor, Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, University of Florida
Bio:
Christopher R. McCurdy, Ph.D., FAAPS, is a broadly trained medicinal chemist, behavioral pharmacologist and pharmacist whose research focuses on the design, synthesis and development of drugs to treat pain and drug abuse. For over 20 years, much of his research has focused on opioid, Neuropeptide FF and sigma receptor ligand/probe design, synthesis, pharmacological evaluation and development. He has been successful in discovering unique and selective tools for sigma receptors, NPFF receptors and opioid receptors. He is an internationally recognized expert on Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa), that is under investigation for opioid withdrawal syndrome. A significant portion of his career has been dedicated to the development of novel sigma receptor ligands, in collaboration with a variety of interdisciplinary groups, to generate and optimize selective ligands which could serve as critical experimental tools, and more recently, as potential medication development leads to attenuate the effects of cocaine, methamphetamine and pain. Most notably, he has developed a PET/MR imaging diagnostic agent for visualizing the origins of chronic, neuropathic pain by interacting with sigma receptors at the site of nerve damage. First-in-human studies are currently underway in a Phase 0 trial. In addition to his discovery chemistry roles, McCurdy serves as the director of the UF Translational Drug Development Core. Dr. McCurdy previously served as President of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) and also serves as the Co-Chair of the Special Interest Group on Drug Design and Discovery (DDD) of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP).
Dr. Robert Cook, MD, MPH
Dr. Robert Cook, MD, MPH, Professor, Department of Epidemiology, University of Florida
Bio:
Robert (Bob) Cook is Professor of Epidemiology, Director of the SHARC Center for Translational HIV Research, and Associate Director for the Consortium for Medical Marijuana Clinical Outcomes Research, a state-supported team administratively based at the University of Florida, Gainesville.
Dr. Cook was born in Florida, obtained an MD and MPH in epidemiology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, completed a residency in internal medicine at the University of Virginia, and did a 2-year research fellowship with training in health services research. After 10 years on the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Cook returned to Gainesville in 2007 where he has worked since then. The majority of his research has focused on alcohol and marijuana, trying to tease out factors associated with benefits or harms. He has received over $20 million in research funding from the NIH as principal investigator, and served as mentor to numerous medical students, residents, fellows, PhD students, and junior faculty. His research includes a longitudinal study of marijuana use among persons with HIV in Florida, an ongoing prospective study tracking outcomes in persons using medical marijuana for chronic pain, and a recently completed study of over 1200 persons using medical marijuana in Florida. His team is in the process of preparing to conduct randomized clinical trials of cannabis in Florida within the next year.