Experts to discuss cannabis “From Seed to Social Impact”
CHICAGO – State officials will join the director of the Cannabis Research Institute at Discovery Partners Institute on Friday in a livestreamed panel discussion that will provide an overview of CRI’s functions and the burgeoning cannabis economy. Governor JB Pritzker and University of Illinois System President Tim Killeen have been invited to make opening remarks.
Members of the news media and the public are invited to register to receive the livestream link for “CRI: From Seed to Social Impact,” which will take place Nov. 15 at 1 p.m. Registrants later will have access to a recording of the session.
CRI was formed in 2022 in association with the state of Illinois, the Cannabis Regulation Oversight Officer for Illinois and DPI, which is part of the University of Illinois System. The initiative was funded in July of this year with a $7 million award from the Illinois Department of Human Services.
Key research priorities for CRI include agricultural crop management, health and medicinal effects, and social equity impacts.
CRI recently opened a lab near the Illinois Medical District, repurposed from the University of Illinois System’s work during the COVID-19 pandemic. It aims to be a research base for studying ways to improve cannabis as an agricultural crop, mapping cannabis compounds to understand the application to diseases and maladies, and evaluating cannabis pathogens that may plague crops.
The panelists for the discussion:
- CRI Director Reggie Gaudino, a molecular geneticist focused on biochemical networks in plant phytochemistry.
- Donell Barnett, behavioral health adviser at the Illinois Department of Human Services and CRI’s program officer.
- Nathaniel Inglis Steinfeld, deputy cannabis regulation oversight officer for research and data in the state of Illinois.
- Eva-Dina Delgado, Illinois General Assembly House Representative 3rd District
Mila Marshall, who writes and edits the “Cannabis Corner” column for Chicago News Weekly, will moderate. Marshall helped write Illinois HB1438, which makes legal cannabis use, possession and purchase in limited amounts and provides for regulation and licensing in its distribution.
About the Cannabis Research institute at DPI
The Cannabis Research Institute conducts rigorous, relevant, and timely research to provide unbiased information from seed to social impact for policymakers and the public. CRI is an applied research initiative of Discovery Partners Institute, part of the University of Illinois System, which also advances tech talent development and business building in Chicago. With state investment and a high-powered network of university partners regionally and internationally as a part of the University of Illinois System, DPI has the resources to attract, develop, retain, and leverage the most ambitious talent in Chicago. Together, we can address global challenges in our environment, agriculture, industry, life sciences, and shared digital future. Learn more about CRI here.