Meet our outstanding Medicinal Cannabis expert lecturers

Expert topics from the lecturers' own many years of experience in treating patients, scientific research, knowledge transfer, and the development of medicinal cannabis medicines are presented by exceptional international experts with many years of experience in the field of Medical Cannabis.

Global Medicinal Cannabis Academia Team 

Medicinal Cannabis

Senior professional lecturer & Doctor of Medicine

Dr. Kylie O’Brien, PhD

AUSTRALIA

Professor Kylie O'Brien is, Doctor of Chinese Medicine and Science (Chin Med), MPH, BAppSc(Chin Med), BSc(Optometry), Grad Cert Tertiary Education.

Trained originally as an optometrist, after 15 years in clinical practice Kylie career-changed to Chinese medicine (CM), developing a career as an academic in CM. She developed the curricula for three Master degrees in CM, and was the Course Coordinator for Victoria University’s undergraduate and Western Sydney University Masters courses in CM. Subsequent roles as Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning) at Victoria University, Director of Assessment and Learning Design (Deakin University), National Academic Director (AIAS), Director of Education (National Institute of Integrative Medicine) and Director of Education (Australasian College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine) equipped her with a deep understanding and strong leadership skills in tertiary education. She entered the medicinal cannabis industry in 2018 and became one of Australia’s leading educators in this field. She is actively involved in clinical research into medicinal cannabis, and has authored three books: O’Brien and Sali, A Clinicians Guide to Integrative Medicine, Springer 2017; O’Brien and Blair, Medicinal Cannabis and CBD in Mental Healthcare, Springer 2021 and O’Brien and Bosak, Medicinal Cannabis in Women’s Health, Springer 2025. She is an Adjunct Professor at Torrens University and an Adjunct Associate Professor at NICM Health Research Institute, (Western Sydney University) and is a member of the Australian government’s TEQSA Expert Panel.

LECTURER'S PROFESSIONAL TITLES:

The Use of Medical Cannabis in the Treatment of Anxiety

Medicinal Cannabis 

Senior professional lecturer Doctor of Medicine

Dr. Philip W. Blair PhD

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

COL Philip Blair, MD, graduated from West Point ’72, trained in Family Medicine, served as a combat physician in Gulf War and retired after 25 years. He managed complex diseases for 15 years and since 2014 he has been treating, consulting and lecturing on the endocannabinoid system and nonpsychoactive cannabidiol. [50] Dr. Philip Blair, MD, (Colonel USArmy) graduated from West Point ’72, was a combat physician and retired after 25 years. He managed complex diseases for 15 years and since 2014 has treated, consulted and lectured on the endocannabinoid system and cannabidiol from hemp. He has consulted with patients, parents and professionals worldwide about CBD. In 2021 he coauthored the Medicinal Cannabis and CBD in Mental Healthcare and developed BCPLus, a non-cannabis CB2R activator. (74w) Dr. Philip Blair, MD, (Colonel USArmy retired) is a Family Physician and consultant in disease management in the Northwest. He graduated from West Point 1972 and University of Miami School of Medicine 1978, trained in Family Medicine and served as combat physician in 1990-1991 Gulf War. After medical assignments in three continents and 25 years in uniform he retired from the Army and has been consulting on complex disease management. Since 2014 Dr. Blair has been studying, treating, writing and lecturing about cannabidiol and the human body’s natural endocannabinoid system (ECS). ECS dysfunction appears closely associated with the full range of chronic illness. His goal is to restore health and performance by enhancing the ECS through diet, exercise, appropriate medications and non-psychoactive herbs. In 2021 he coauthored the Medicinal Cannabis and CBD in Mental Healthcare and developed BCPLus, an oral non-cannabis CB2R activator from caryophyllene. [148w]

LECTURER'S PROFESSIONAL TITLES:

Discovery and function of cannabinoid CB2 receptors

Therapeutic potential of targeting CB2R

Mechanisms of CB2R signaling in the CNS

CB2R-ECS in addiction and substance use disorders

The role of CB2R in psychiatric disorders

Medicinal Cannabis 

Professional Lecturer & Researcher

Dr. Tina Mele 

SLOVENIA – EU

Dr. Tina Mele, is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and Doctor of Medical Sciences, an herbalist, a wise woman and one of the greatest experts in green natural medicine and the use of wild food. Dr. Mele, completed her doctoral dissertation at the Faculty of Medicine, in the field of Pharmacology. She presented her research on cannabis in the academic article "New indications and development of Cannabis - based medicines". Dr. Mele works as a professor of Biopsychology at the University of Primorska in Slovenia. She currently researches and lectures on professional topics such as the integration of herbal medicine in the environment of science and tradition, herbal medicine, medicine for people and scientific achievements, and she is a professional advocate for topics related to medical cannabis.

LECTURER'S PROFESSIONAL TITLES:

History of medical cannabis use and trends

Mechanism of action of cannabis as a whole plant

Function and use of THC

Function and use of CBD

Madicinal Cannabis

Professional Researcher

Doc. Dr. Tanja Bagar

SLOVENIA - EU

Dr. Tanja Bagar, is the director of the Icanna Institute and an assistant professor at Alma Mater Europaea - ECM. She graduated in microbiology and later received a PhD in Biomedicine, majoring in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, and has experience in clinical microbiology, research biotechnology, ecology, and teaching. She has been teaching microbiology and biochemistry and other ecological topics to students for many years.She is interested in what happens in the microscopic cells of our body, how cells cooperate and communicate with each other, and also how external factors affect our body. From food and toxins to touch.

Cannabis in Medicine is a pioneering book by Dr. Tanja Bagar, with the authority of an established scientist in the field of biomedicine, convincingly presents the scientific foundations of the use of cannabis in medicine, where, through scientific facts about the functioning of the body at the cellular level, she explains to both laypeople and high-level professionals how the endocannabinoid system is expressed in the body and thus influences its functioning through risks, safe use and dosage.

LECTURER'S PROFESSIONAL TITLES:

Endocannabinoid System

Cross-talk between the Microbiome and the Endocannabinoid System

Drug Interactions with Cannabinoids

Medicinal Cannabis

Senior Scientist

PhD Mikael Kowal

NETHERLANDS -EU

Mikael Kowal, has been working in the medicinal cannabis industry since 2014. He previously completed his PhD at Leiden University in the Netherlands on the topic of psychopharmacology of cannabis. Over the years Mikael has been involved in the conduct of several clinical trials with cannabis. More recently, he has been actively setting up an internal scientific research program. Mikael is interested in exploring the full medical potential of the cannabis plant, while acknowledging the limitations and risks of treatment with cannabis.

LECTURER'S PROFESSIONAL TITLES:

Treating Patients with Medical Cannabis: Opportunities and Uncertainties

Medicinal Cannabis

Research Senior Professor

Cellular Neurobiology Laboratory

Pamela Maher, PhD

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Pamela Maher, received her BSc from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec and her PhD from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia. She is currently a Research Professor and head of the Cellular Neurobiology Laboratory at The Salk Institute in La Jolla, CA. Her research interests include models and mechanisms of cell death in aging and neurodegenerative diseases with a specific focus on the oxytosis/ferroptosis regulated cell death pathway. In addition, she works on the characterization and development of natural products and derivatives thereof for the treatment of acute and chronic neurological disorders including Alzheimer's disease Dr. Pamela Maher is searching for compounds that could slow or stop the progression of neurodegenerative diseases, with a focus on Alzheimer's disease. Her novel approach uses compounds derived from natural products such as strawberries, turmeric, and cannabis to treat the cellular aging and memory loss seen in Alzheimer's disease. Maher and her team discovered a new cell death pathway called oxytosis/ferroptosis and were among the first to consider aging in the discovery of drugs for Alzheimer's disease.

LECTURER'S PROFESSIONAL TITLES:

Cannabinol (CBN) attenuates age-related cognitive decline by improving the health of synaptic and mitochondrial connections

Medicinal Cannabis 

Professional Development Researcher, Pharmacist, Faculty Lecturer and Publicist

Prof. Dr. Samo Kreft, Master of Pharmacy

SLOVENIA - EU

Prof. Dr. Samo Kreft is a full professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Ljubljana, where he researches medicinal plants and other medicines of natural origin and lectures on them to students. He has also held professional positions at the European Medicines Agency in London. He has published more than 100 original scientific articles in renowned scientific journals. In addition to scientific articles, he has written more than 70 popular and professional articles and is a regular guest on television and radio shows. Dr. Kreft was the editor of several books, such as Sodobna fitoterapija, which has already sold more than 3,000 copies; Food supplements, which was published by the reputable foreign publishing house Elsevier; Kvarkadabra in the kitchen; Ayurveda – a new way for healthy life in Europe. He is interested in medicinal plants, primarily cannabis, because they intertwine the research fields of botany, chemistry, ecology, medicine, as well as ethnology and history. He is fascinated by the blurred boundaries between the researched and the unexplored, the proven and the traditional, the official and the alternative. He is the editor of the website MODERN PHYTOTHERAPY .

LECTURER'S PROFESSIONAL TITLES:

Studies of prenylated flavonoids, terpenes and other medicinal substances in Medical Cannabis

Acidic and non-acidic cannabinoids as medicinal substances in cannabis

Medicinal Cannabis & Hemp

Professional NGO lobbyist, international law proponent, global public interest law advocate and strategic leader of global projects

M.Sc. Majda Robić 

SLOVENIA – EU

Before the European Parliament , the European Commission and the United Nations, as well as before numerous embassies, Ms. Robić Majda , as an international lobbyist and NGO representative and head of Slovenian, European and international projects, among other things, independently advocates for the importance of industrial hemp, cannabinoids and medical cannabis, in equal and professional interest. With her work team, she achieves key breakthroughs and global achievements that represent a key contribution to global development, economy and human and environmental health, also before 60 countries of the United Nations - UN, where she leads global negotiations and NGO lobbying for medical cannabis and CBD, where with the 2023 team, they reach a final key binding global agreement. In Slovenia, she leads the National Cannabis Working Team of the Republic of Slovenia, which, under her leadership, introduced legislation for the marketing, development and production of industrial hemp products and professionally participated in the establishment of the Cannabis for Medical and Scientific Purposes Act (ZKMZN).

For more than 15 years, she has been the president of the Pomurje Herbalists' Association in the public interest and is the executive director of WORLD HEMP CONGRESS, GLOBAL medicinal cannabis INNOVATIONS, GLOBAL HEMP INNOVATION, GLOBAL HEMP tech INNOVATON, GLOBAL HEMP food INNOVATION and GLOBAL green tech INNOVATIONS, and manages the Panonia Institute where she leads the PROJECT DEVELOPMENT NETWORK  and other current projects. 

M.Sc. Majda Robić, at the international master's level, completed the MicroMasters Certified International Master in EMA - Entrepreneurial Mind in Action in the Digital Age, which confirms her education in the field of innovation, management and preparation of international demanding projects and at the master's level, she is professionally oriented in Business Law and Lobbying in the EU, European Law, Law and Human Resources, International Economic Relations and Institutions and other broader business management development knowledge. He is upgrading his knowledge at Stanford Business University in the USA and is preparing for a doctorate in Politics and Diplomacy in Switzerland.

LECTURER'S PROFESSIONAL TITLES:

Methods of cultivation and processing of medical cannabis to ensure clinical quality

International understanding of the medical cannabis market and business

Medicinal Cannabis & Hemp

Senior international Lawyer

Charles Kovess, LL.B. (Hons), LL.M., CSP, KSJ

AUSTRALIA

Mr. Charles Kovess, graduated with honours in Law from the University of Melbourne and later obtained a Master of Laws from Monash University, has established himself as a formidable figure in the legal world. His expertise and leadership culminated in the establishment of his own law firm and later as head of the commercial law department at Barker Gosling in Australia, later specialising in medical and industrial cannabis law, and also advising organisations seeking to expand globally. From chairing the Australian-Hungarian Chamber of Commerce to contributing to various charities, his commitment to positive global impact is unwavering, as is his commitment to the cannabis sector, where he is involved in drafting Australian and international legislation in the field, developing innovation and embedding cannabis into the economic and social life of Australia and globally. He is currently the President of the Australian Industrial Hemp Association, a member of the Executive Committee of the Federation of International Hemp Organizations and an invaluable member and expert at the WORLD HEMP CONGRESS.

Kovess, today, among other things, represents one of the most prominent global business, development, ethical and investment public promoters and motivators, where he works in the recently world-class company Kovess International.

LECTURER'S PROFESSIONAL TITLES:

Medical Cannabis Law for Slovenian Doctors:

Legal Foundations of Medical Cannabis in Slovenia and the EU

Professional Responsibility and Duty of Care in Medical Cannabis

Informed Consent and Patient Rights in Cannabis Treatment

Documentation Standards and Legal Defense

Managing Complications, Adverse Events, and Legal Liabilities

International Perspectives and Future Legal Challenges