H. Bryan Brewer, Jr, MD

H. Bryan Brewer Jr, MD, is the Director of Lipoprotein and Atherosclerosis Research at the Cardiovascular Research Institute at Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C. He was formerly the Chief of the Molecular Disease Branch at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, a position he held from 1976 to 2005.

Dr. Brewer's research led to the elucidation of the first published sequences for the human plasma apolipoprotiens, the initial determination of the metabolism of the plasma apolipoprotiens in normal and hyperlipidemic individuals, and the identification of multiple gene defects leading the generic dyslipoproteinemias. More recently, he has pioneered the use of transgenic mice and rabbits as well as recombinant adenovirus vectors to identify genes that modulate lipoprotein metabolism and the development of the atherosclerosis.

Dr. Brewer received his medical degree from Stanford University School of Medicine in California. After completing his internship and residency in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Dr. Brewer joined the NHLBI. Additionally, he served as a member of the Board of the National Cholesterol Education Program, which established treatment guidelines for patients with hyperlipidemia in the United States.

A recipient of the J.D. Lane Investigator Award from the U.S. Public Health Service, Dr. Brewer also received the Heinrich Wieland Prize from the Federal Republic of Germany and the Public Health Service Commendation Award, Meritorious Service, and Distinguished Service Medals from the NIH.

Dr. Brewer has published more than 400 original manuscripts and 75 reviews and book chapters on the subjects of genetic dyslipoproteinemias, lipoprotein metabolism, and atherosclerosis. He has served on the editorial boards of several prestigious journals and is currently on the editorial board of the Journal of Biological Chemistry .

Sumner Burstein, PhD

Sumner Burstein, PhD, is Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at University of Massachusetts' School of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology. He received his BS degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1953 and his PhD from Wayne State University in 1959. His postdoctoral training includes Fellowships at the Weizmann Institute in 1960, and at Brandeis University in 1961.

Dr. Burstein's research interests include the Mechanism of Action of the Cannabinoids, and Therapeutically Useful Cannabinoids. "Interest in the cannabinoid acid metabolites of THC was revived recently by data we obtained showing that they exhibit some of the properties that are associated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents (NSAIDs). The acids being nonpsychoactive, were long thought to be without any biological actions of their own. In fact, our findings support the possibility that several effects believed to be due to THC may actually be mediated by the acid metabolites. In addition to helping explain the pharmacology of THC, our findings have suggested a route to the discovery of novel NSAIDs with minimal adverse side-effects, a much sought after goal of pharmaceutical research. Using THC-7-oic acid as a template molecule, we have designed and studied several dimethylheptyl side-chain analogs that show similar anti-inflammatory properties, but at doses as low as 10 to 100 micrograms/kg p.o. The most promising candidate has been named ajulemic acid, which, in addition to its anti-inflammatory actions, shows analgesic properties comparable to morphine in potency but devoid of the undesireable side effects. Ajulemic acid has recently been subjected to initial trials in humans based on its generally low toxicity in a variety of in vitro and animal models, and a Phase I trial where it showed no psychotropic activity. We have also found evidence for the existence of an endogenous cannabinoid acid, NAGly, that arises from the metabolism of anandamide, the endogenous THC. Like the THC acids, NAGly shows analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity."

Daniela Cota, MD

Dr. Cota is a graduate of University of Bologna School of Medicine (Italy), where she also had a scholarship in Endocrinology and Metabolic Disorders. Dr. Cota also obtained a fellowship from the Department of Neuro-endocrinology of the Max-Planck Institute in Munich (Germany), where she started investigating the role of the endocannabinoid system (ECS) in the regulation of energy balance. Since January 2004, Dr. Cota has been a postdoctoral fellow at the Obesity Research Center of the University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Dr. Cota is interested in the study of neuronal circuits as well as of intracellular signaling cascades that in the brain are involved in the regulation of food intake and body weight.  Dr. Cota is also interested in the impact of those neuronal circuits and systems (such as the ECS) on peripheral metabolism and glucose homeostasis.

Dr. Cota is a member of the American Endocrine Society and of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity (NAASO). She recently received the NAASO Young Investigator Award for her studies on new hypothalamic pathways involved in the central regulation of energy balance.

Recent publications include

1. Cota D, Proulx K, Blake Smith KA, Kozma SC, Thomas G, Woods SC, Seeley RJ. Hypothalamic mTOR signaling regulates food intake. Science. 2006;312(5775):927-930.
2. Pagotto U, Marsicano G, Cota D, Pasquali R, Lutz B. Emerging role of the endocannabinoid system in endocrine regulation and energy balance. Endocrine Rev. 2006;27,73-100.
3. Cota D, Tschöp MH, Horvath TL, Levine AS. Cannabinoids, opioids and eating behavior: the molecular face of hedonism? Brain Research Rev. 2005;[Epub ahead of print]
4. Cota D, Woods SC. The role of the endocannabinoid system in the regulation of energy homeostasis. Curr Opin Endocrinol Diabetes. 2005;12:338-351.
5. Proulx K, Cota D, Castaneda TR, Tschöp MH, D’Alessio DA, Tso P, Woods SC, Seeley RJ. Mechanisms of oleoylethanolamide (OEA)-induced changes in feeding behavior and motor activity. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Compar Physiol. 2005;289:R729-37.
6. Cota D, Genghini S, Pasquali R, Pagotto U. Antagonizing the cannabinoid receptor type 1: a dual way to fight obesity. J Endocrinol Invest. 2003;26:1041-1044.
7. Cota D, Marsicano G, Tschöp M et al. The endogenous cannabinoid system affects energy balance via central orexigenic drive and peripheral lipogenesis. J Clin Invest. 2003;112:423-431.
8. Marsicano G, Cota D, Stalla GK, Pasquali R, Pagotto U, Lutz B. Cannabinoids in energy balance and prospectives in the therapy of obesity. Curr Med Chem. 2003;3:81-87.
9. Cota D, Marsicano G, Lutz B, Vicennati V, Stalla GK, Pasquali R, Pagotto U. Endogenous cannabinoid system as a modulator of food intake. Int J Obes. 2003;27:289-301.

Benjamin F. Cravatt, PhD

Dr. Cravatt is a Professor in the Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology and the Departments of Cell Biology and Chemistry at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI). His research group is interested in understanding the role that enzymes play in small-molecule signaling pathways in the nervous system, in particular those involved in endocannabinoid metabolism.  His group also develops and applies proteomic and metabolomic technologies to elucidate the function of enzymes in physiological and pathological processes.

Dr. Cravatt obtained his undergraduate education at Stanford University, receiving a BS in the Biological Sciences and a BA in History.  He then trained with Drs. Dale Boger and Richard Lerner and received a PhD in Macromolecular and Cellular Structure and Chemistry from TSRI in 1996.   Professor Cravatt joined the faculty at TSRI in 1997 as a member of the Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology and the Departments of Cell Biology and Chemistry.  His honors include a Graduate Fellowship from the National Science Foundation (1992-1995), a Searle Scholar Award (1998-2001), a Technology Review's TR100 Top 100 Young Innovators Award (2002), the Promega Award for Early Career Life Scientists from the American Society for Cell Biology (2002), the Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry (2004), and a Cope Scholar Award (2005).

Vincenzo Di Marzo, PhD

Vincenzo Di Marzo, PhD, was born in Naples, Italy, in 1960. He received his degree in chemistry in 1983 from University of Naples "Federico II," and his PhD in Biochemistry from Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine in London in 1988. He is presently Research Director at the Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry of CNR, Pozzuoli, Naples, Italy, where he has been a resident since 1988.

He is also Adjunct Associate Professor at the Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia. From 1994 till 1997 he was the primary investigator of a Human Frontier Science Program research grant to study the biosynthesis and metabolism of the endocannabinoid anandamide. He was also the primary investigator of a 3-year European-funded INTAS research grant awarded to study the immunomodulatory role of endocannabinoids, and was responsible for a unit funded by the Volkswagenstiftung.

In 1995, he founded the Endocannabinoid Research Group, a multidisciplinary and multisite research group in the Naples area devoted to studies of all aspects of enocannabinoid research, of which he is currently the coordinator. He was President of the International Cannabinoid Research Society in 2004-2005, from which he received the Mechoulam Award in 2007 for "outstanding contributions to cannabinoid research". He is also a member of the advisory board of the International Chair of Cardiometabolic Risk of Laval. He is coauthor of more than 300 articles, reviews and book chapters on eicosanoids and endocannabinoids. His current interest is the study of the role of the enocannabinoid system in energy balance, neuroprotection, pain, gastrointestinal function, and cancer.

James Early, MD

Dr. Early, Clinical Associate Professor–Preventive Medicine and Public Health, earned his medical degree at the Indiana University Medical School in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1973. He completed his Internal Medicine training at St. Francis Hospital in Peoria, Illinois, an affiliate of the University of Illinois School of Medicine. He is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine. Dr. Early has been active in the department since its inception and helped found the MPH program. He has taught Introduction to Public Health, a number of elective rotations, and most recently developed and taught Obesity and Public Health (PRVM 843).

Dr. Early is the founder of The Prevention and Health Center at the Via Christi Regional Medical Center. Since its founding ten years ago the Center has grown and expanded to be one of the busiest and most successful clinical preventive centers in the nation. The Center now includes medical and surgical weight management programs, a lipid education program, and houses a nationally recognized diabetes education program.

Dr. Early's clinical duties include the management of medically significant obesity and support of pre- and postsurgical patients undergoing obesity surgery. He is also active in corporate health, executive physicals, lipid management consultations, and group counseling with patients at high-risk for cardiovascular disease. His research efforts revolve around obesity, dyslipidemia, the metabolic syndrome, and ambulatory systems of medical care.

Research Interests

• Nutrition and obesity
• Ambulatory medical care systems
• Cardiovascular disease research

Henry Ginsberg, MD

Henry N. Ginsberg, MD, is the Irving Professor of Medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and Director of the Irving Institute Clinical and Translational Research at Columbia University Medical Center in New York, New York. He earned his medical degree at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, and completed training in internal medicine in Boston University Service of Boston City Hospital in Massachusetts. Dr. Ginsberg also trained in endocrinology and metabolism at Stanford University in California.

Dr. Ginsberg is principal investigator on Columbia’s new Clinical and Translational Science Award and on two R01 research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. He is also the co-principal investigator at Columbia University on the ACCORD Trial.

His research interests have focused on the regulation of plasma cholesterol and triglyceride blood levels, particularly the metabolism of apolipoprotein B–containing lipoproteins in cells, mice, and humans. Much of his present work focuses on the interaction between insulin resistance and increased secretion of very-low-density lipoproteins by liver. Very active in clinical research training and education, Dr. Ginsberg is Program Director of Columbia University's NIH-funded Clinical Translational Science Award, which supports a Clinical Research Center, a Master’s Program in Patient Oriented Research, and a K12 Scholars Program. He is also Director of a T32 Training Grant in Arteriosclerosis.

Dr. Ginsberg actively participates in national organizations such as the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American Diabetes Association. He is a Fellow of the AHA Council of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, and past Chair of the AHA Leadership Committee. He is also a Fellow of the AHA Council of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism, Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, as well as a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians. Dr. Ginsberg is on the editorial boards of The Journal of Clinical Investigation , Journal of Lipid Research , and Journal of Metabolism . He has authored or coauthored more than 200 articles, reviews, and chapters related to lipids, diabetes, and heart disease.

Allyn Howlett, PhD

Allyn C. Howlett, PhD, received her BS in Biochemistry from Pennsylvania State University and PhD in Pharmacology and Toxicology from Rutgers University. She did her post-doctoral research in the laboratory of Dr. Alfred G. Gilman at the University of Virginia. She joined the faculty of Saint Louis University in the Department of Pharmacology, and was awarded a Pharmaceutical Manufacturer’s Association Foundation Faculty Development Award to initiate research on signal transduction via G-proteins in cultured neuronal cells. Dr. Howlett developed her research program in cellular receptor-mediated signal transduction through a Research Career Development Award from NINCDS. She applied these studies to the CB₁ cannabinoid receptor in brain through a Senior Research Scientist Award from NIDA. She was the first recipient of the International Cannabinoid Research Society Mechoulam Award for outstanding contributions to the field of cannabinoid research for the demonstration of the CB₁ cannabinoid receptor and its signal transduction in neuronal cells and brain. In 2000, Dr. Howlett joined North Carolina Central University’s Julius L. Chambers Biomedical/Biotechnology Research Institute to serve as the Director of the Neuroscience of Drug Abuse Research Program funded by a cooperative agreement with NIDA. She has a joint appointment with Wake Forest University Department of Physiology and Pharmacology. Dr. Howlett has served as Associate Editor for Experimental Biology and Medicine, and as a member of several NIH study sections. She is the Co-chair of the International Union of Pharmacology Nomenclature Committee Subcommittee on Cannabinoid Receptors, and is a member of several professional research organizations.

Samuel Klein, MD

Samuel Klein, MD is the William H. Danforth Professor of Medicine, Director of the Center for Human Nutrition, Chief of the Division of Geriatrics and Nutritional Sciences, Medical Director of the Weight Management Program, and Associate Program Director of the General Clinical Research Center at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. Dr. Klein received an MD degree from Temple University Medical School in 1979 and an MS Degree in Nutritional Biochemistry and Metabolism from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1984. He completed residency training in Internal Medicine and a Clinical Nutrition fellowship at University Hospital in Boston, a National Institutes of Health Nutrition and Metabolism Research fellowship at Harvard Medical School, and a Gastroenterology fellowship at The Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York. He is board certified in Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology, and Nutrition.

Dr. Klein is past President of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity and the American Society for Clinical Nutrition, and initial Chair of the Integrative Physiology of Obesity and Diabetes NIH study section. He is Associate Editor of Gastroenterology and serves on the editorial board of the American Journal of Physiology (Endocrinology and Metabolism).

Dr. Klein’s research activities involve the use of stable isotope tracers to study the regulation of substrate metabolism in humans in vivo. His laboratory is particularly interested in the pathophysiology of lipid metabolism in obesity.

Kenneth Mackie, MD

Since 2000, Ken Mackie has been a Professor of Anesthesiology at the University of Washington, School of Medicine as well as Adjunct Professor of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Washington. He received his MD at Yale University School of Medicine in 1984.

Expertise and Research Interests

The major focus of his research program is elucidating the cellular actions of cannabinoids in neurons. "Our interest in cannabinoid pharmacology comes not only from the social and medicinal uses of cannabis, but also because we have endogenous cannabinoids (eg, anandamide) and cannabinoid receptors (designated CB¹ ) in our brains. Anandamide and CB¹ are two components of a novel neuromodulatory system with a widespread distribution including brain areas involved in learning and memory. The psychoactive effects of cannabinoids are primarily a consequence of the activation of a G protein–coupled receptor (CB¹ ). Cannabinoids acting through CB1 inhibit N and Q type voltage-dependent calcium current and activate an inwardly rectifying potassium current. This profile of actions suggests that cannabinoids may elicit behavioral effects by decreasing neuronal excitability and neurotransmitter release (presynaptic inhibition). Current work in my laboratory focuses on three main areas. The first is exploring the role of CB¹ and calcium channels in presynaptic inhibition using molecular biology, imaging, and electrophysiology. The second is determining the coupling mechanism between the CB¹ receptor and its effectors, with an emphasis on G proteins and protein phosphorylation. The third is understanding the molecular basis of tolerance to cannabinoids. These experiments focus on receptor/effector uncoupling and receptor internalization."

Memberships

American Society for Cell Biology
American Society of Anesthesiologists
International Cannabinoid Research Society
Society for Neuroscience

Previous Positions

1992-1998, Assistant Professor, University of Washington, School of Medicine, Anesthesiology
1990-1992, Instructor, University of Washington
1990-1992, Senior Fellow, University of Washington
1987-1990, Resident, University of Washington, Anesthesiology
1986-1987, Intern, Greenwich Hospital, Internal Medicine
1984-1986, Postdoctoral Fellow, Rockefeller University

Billy R. Martin, PhD

Billy R. Martin was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He earned his bachelors degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and then worked as a chemist at the Research Triangle Institute in North Carolina, and later as a research analyst at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He earned his doctorate in Pharmacology from the University of North Carolina in 1972. He then did post-doctoral work at Uppsala University in Sweden and Oxford University in England before joining the faculty at Virginia Commonwealth University in the Department of Pharmacology.

Dr. Martin rose through the ranks to his current position as Louis and Ruth Harris Professor of Pharmacology and Chairman of the Department. Dr. Martin is world renowned for his research into the biological basis of drug addiction. Understanding addiction, the actions of drugs of abuse, and how they effect the brain have been the themes of Martin's research. In the 1970s he demonstrated for the first time that the marked tolerance that developed to the active constituents was a true pharmacological tolerance at the neuronal level in the brain and not due to an alteration in distribution or metabolism as had been hypothesized. He further showed that the actions of marijuana are attributable to the compound delta-9 THC and not a metabolite. His recently published findings demonstrate for the first time that marijuana produces physical dependence. 

Dr. Martin is a past President of The College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) and The International Cannabinoid Research Society (ICRS). He also is the recipient of the National Institutes of Health prestigious MERIT award, and the principal investigator of a center and a program project grant from NIH. Martin's advice is sought nationally and internationally from the people setting policy for marijuana control as he is considered as an exponent of a balanced position between therapeutic usefulness and abuse potential. He has been a consultant for the Partnership for a Drug Free America, advisor for the World Health Organization, and a member of the Institute of Medicine's Marijuana Advisory Panel. His work has been featured on the network television shows "Prime Time Live" and "48 Hours." He has also worked with middle and high school students, and is responsible for developing and running a pharmacology class at the local Math and Science High School.

Timothy E. McGraw, PhD

Timothy McGraw, PhD is a Professor of Biochemistry at the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College at Cornell University. He received his PhD from New York University in 1985, then went on to serve as a Fellow of the National Institutes of Health from 1986 to 1989. From 1992 to 1995, Dr. McGraw served as Junior Investigator for American Heart Association, as well as on the advisory committee on personnel for research at the American Cancer Society from 1993 to 1995. In 2002, he became a Member of Cell Structure and Metastasis Study Section of the American Cancer Society. Since 1999, Dr. McGraw has served as a member of P01 review groups and ad hoc member of the Metabolism study section, NIDDK. He is also a member of the American Society for Cell Biology, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Diabetes Association

Research Interests

"Insulin regulates the storage of dietary glucose by stimulating its uptake into muscle and fat. Insulin increases glucose uptake into these cells by recruiting vesicles containing the GLUT4 glucose transporter to the cell surface. Thus, insulin controls glucose uptake by regulating GLUT4 trafficking between the interior and cell surface. Understanding how insulin regulates GLUT4 traffic is key for understanding the molecular changes underlying type 2 diabetes. We use quantitative optical microscopy to study insulin-regulated membrane trafficking. The main objectives of our work are to characterize the GLUT4 trafficking pathway in the presence and absence of insulin, and to identify how the insulin-signal transduction regulates the movement of GLUT4 vesicles. In addition to studies of GLUT4 trafficking, I am also interested in more basic questions of membrane trafficking, specifically a more detailed understanding of the molecular mechanisms of clathrin-mediated internalization from the cell surface and the mechanisms for return of endocytosed proteins back to the plasma membrane."

Patricia H. Reggio, PhD

Dr. Patricia H. Reggio is Marie Foscue Rourk Professor and Head of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Dr. Reggio is a past President of the International Cannabinoid Research Society. Since 1985, she has had research support from the National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Drug Abuse for her project entitled Molecular Determinants of Cannabinoid Activity. The long-term goal of this research project is to elucidate the basis for the actions of the cannabinoids (CBs) at the molecular level. To this end, her project aims to develop the elements of an understanding of the relationships between cannabinoid ligand structure, cannabinoid receptor structure, and cannabinoid receptor activation at an atomic level of detail.

Stephen C. Woods, PhD

Professor Stephen Woods received his PhD in Physiology and Biophysics as well as in Psychology from the University of Washington in 1970, specializing in the endocrinology and neurobiology of ingestive behavior. He was on the faculty at Columbia University and the University of Washington before joining the University of Cincinnati School of Medicine as Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Obesity Research Center. He is also the Co-Director of the NIH-funded Cincinnati Mouse Diabetes Phenotyping Center.

Professor Woods’s research focuses on the endocrinology and neurobiology of the controls over appetite and food intake, investigating these phenomena using techniques ranging from the molecular, to the physiological, to animal models of ingestive behavior, to clinical applications.  He has authored over 350 scholarly publications, and he received a distinguished MERIT Award for his research on obesity from the NIH. He is a Fellow of the American Association of the Advancement of Science and of the American Psychological Society. He has served as President of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB) and the International Congress of the Physiology of Food and Fluid Intake (ICPFFI), and he was on the Executive Board of the North American Society for the Study of Obesity. Dr. Woods is Editor-in-Chief of Physiology and Behavior, and he is on the Editorial Board of the American Journal of Physiology and Diabetes.