Executive Committee

 

Jordan Tishler, MD
President

Dr. Tishler is a Cannabis Specialist. Through his training in Internal Medicine and years of practice as an Emergency Physician, Dr. Tishler brings his knowledge, reason, and caring to patients here at inhaleMD, and through his advocacy work at the local and national levels.

Dr. Tishler graduated from both Harvard College and Harvard Medical School, trained at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and is faculty at both the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He has spent many years working with the underserved, particularly providing care for Veterans. Having treated countless patients harmed by alcohol and drugs, his observation that he had never seen a cannabis overdose lead Dr. Tishler to delve deeply into the science of cannabis safety and treatment.

Dr. Tishler is also a parallel entrepreneur working for patients’ wellbeing in the corporate space, helping to elevate dosing and safety profiles of medication, and helping to establish best practice for bringing new Cannabis products to market.

Dr. Tishler is a frequent speaker and author on a variety of topics related to the medical applications of cannabis. He is the President of the Association of Cannabis Specialists which aims to educate clinicians, lawmakers, and the industry about best practices and needed tools for proper patient care.

James Winokur
VP of Finance

James is the founder of High Power Consulting.  He focuses on start-ups and small businesses, especially companies in the cannabis industry.

James was most recently CEO of Berkshire Roots, a Massachusetts-based cannabis cultivation, production and dispensary operator with locations in Pittsfield and Boston.  Prior to Berkshire Roots, James was the SVP & General Manager, Product Group for cannabis multi-state operator, MariMed.  James began his cannabis career as a co-founder and CEO of CannaKorp, a designer and manufacturer of a home appliance for vaporizing ground cannabis flower in a controlled portion through a Keurig-style, pod-based device called the Wisp.  The company was acquired after initial commercial unit production in 2019.  

Prior to entering the cannabis industry, James was Senior Director, Global Support at PTC focused on marketing and business development for the recurring revenue associated with annual software support agreements.  Before leaving PTC for the cannabis industry, PTC’s annual support revenue was over $700 million of the company’s $1.3 billion total annual revenue. 

James’ business management experience began with an eleven-year career as the co-owner and operator of several Culligan Water Conditioning franchises in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island.  James sold the businesses in 1998 in a successful exit leading to his move back to Boston. 

James earned an undergraduate B.A. degree in Political Science in 1986 from Boston College and in 2002 earned his MBA from the Boston College Carroll Graduate School of Management with a concentration in marketing and operations.

Carrie Armour

Carrie Armour has over fifteen years of experience representing physicians, patients and the cannabis industry as a government affairs attorney and advocacy consultant.

As a consultant, Carrie focuses on improving pain management and influencing policies to create highly regulated, compliance focused cannabis programs as well as expanding opportunities for cannabis research.

Prior to opening up her consulting firm, Armour Advocacy, Carrie worked for over a decade for the American Medical Association in its state government affairs division.

At the AMA, Carrie developed and managed advocacy campaigns to help shape and inform state laws, regulations and policies in support of patients and physicians focusing on public health improvement and protecting the physician-patient relationship.

Carrie began her legal career as a prosecutor at the Cook County State’s Attorney. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Miami University and a Juris Doctorate from Loyola University School of Law. She is on the Board of the Medical Cannabis Research Advocacy Alliance,
a Director on the Board of Illinois Women in Cannabis and a member of the International Cannabis Bar Association and the Illinois Cannabis Bar Association.

 
 

Board of Directors

 

Julia Arnsten, MD, MPH

Dr. Julia Arnsten is Chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine and a Professor of Medicine, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, and Epidemiology & Population Health. Dr. Arnsten is a general internist with a long-standing interest in behavioral medicine, including adherence with medication-taking, nicotine dependence, and substance abuse. She currently leads led an NIH-funded research program focused on addiction and chronic medical illness.

Dr. Arnsten graduated from the New York University School of Medicine in 1990 and completed residency training in Primary Care Internal Medicine at Bellevue Hospital and New York University Medical Center in 1993. She then completed a research fellowship in General Internal Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. From 1998-2002, Dr. Arnsten was a Robert Wood Johnson Generalist Physician Faculty Scholar. In 2002, she was awarded an R25 grant from NIDA to start a clinical addiction research and education fellowship for physicians; this program has now been funded for over a decade. Dr. Arnsten has been recognized for outstanding teaching and mentoring with several local and national awards.

Sandra Carrillo, MD

Dr. Sandra Carrillo is a Specialist in Cannabinoids Based Medicine. She is President of the Colombian Medical Association of Cannabis Medicine (ASOMEDCCAM) and Professor in charge of the Scientific Program of Medicinal Cannabis Faculty of Medicine University of Panama.

Dr. Carrillo is Co-Founder Medicann IPS Medical Cannabis Clinics (Colombia) and in addition to these responsibilities she is a review board member for the American Journal of Endocannabinoid Medicine (AJEM) and a Scientific Committee Member of the Columbian Medicinal Cannabis Observatory (OCCM).

Dr. Carrillos holds a Masters in Health Services Management, and certified in Antiaging and Regenerative medicine. She is also a former professor for the first certification of applications of Cannabinoids in Clinical practice for medical doctors at CES University.

She is an International speaker and advocate with appearances on different continents including USA, Mexico, Colombia, Panama, Jamaica, Brazil, Portugal, Malta, and the United Kingdom.

Her trainings and certifications include: Society of Cannabis Clinicians( TMC iGlobal) ,Diplomate Certification Program for Clinicians in Cannabinoids Prescription CES University, Certified in Medical Cannabis program Oaxterdam California ,Spectrum Academy Certification (Ottawa), AJEM University Certification in Cannabinoids Based Medicine and  Pharmacology University  Puerto Rico.

She continues her work on educational program to train Doctors and Health Care Practitioners and developing Research protocols.

Sandra is the Co-Founder of the Panama Food Bank and Volunteer at the Children´s Epilepsy foundation (LUCES) in Panama.

John Malanca

Through a family hardship in 2011, John and his wife Corinne founded United Patients Group (UPG), a trusted resource and leader in medical cannabis information and education for patients, physicians, pharmacists, governments, and organizations, both domestically and internationally.
UPG also acts as a virtual hand for patients and their loved ones struggling with chronic and terminal illnesses by helping them navigate through this ever-changing industry.

John conducts interviews regularly, most recently with Harvard, CNN and the Washington Post and was proud to be the face, host and advocate for The Sacred Plant Company: Healing Secrets Exposed, a global docuseries in addition to co-leading and co-creating The Sacred Plant: Healing Secrets Explained webinar series. John also authored 4 cannabis books and Masterclasses on (Pain, Cancer, Brain and How to Make Cannabis Work for you) with The Sacred Plant organization. Most recently he was featured in the global docuseries and masterclass entitled, The Answer To Cancer along with hosting the internationally recognized International Integrated Oncology annual conference – Best Answer for Cancer and The Green Plant Summit.

To date, John enjoys a healthy lifestyle of mind, body and spirit. John believes in a compassionate approach to Health and Healing and has dedicated his career to alleviating pain and suffering.
In October 2017, John was faced with terrible heartache. His best friend, his wife, his business partner, but, most of all, his soulmate, Corinne Malanca, passed away from cancer. She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at the end of June 2017. John continues his work in the medical cannabis arena in honor and loving memory of his beautiful wife, Corinne Malanca.

Jahan Marcu, PhD

Dr. Jahan Marcu has over 15 years of experience in cannabinoid research, policy, and operations.  He has been a passionate advocate focused on consumer safety and the medical benefits of cannabis.  He is also among a select group of professionals globally that has earned a PhD focused on the endocannabinoid system (with research on the structure and function of cannabinoid receptors, molecular pharmacology of the endocannabinoid system, and the role of the ECS in bone).

Dr. Marcu’s work has been instrumental to facilitating and supporting fact-based, scientific approaches vital to industry and patients.  This has included research focused on solving the structure and function of cannabinoid receptors, the anti-cancer properties of cannabis compounds, as well as method development and validation for analyzing complex formulations.  Furthermore, his efforts include the development of international certification and training programs, co-authoring American Herbal Pharmacopeia’s Cannabis Quality Control and Therapeutic Monographs, and assisting in the creation of the first standards for industry as a committee chairman of the cannabis committee for the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA).  His dedication to consumer safety is further evident in his work to co-develop a biotech application to predict drug-drug interactions between cannabis and commonly prescribed pharmaceutical drugs. Additionally, Dr. Marcu published one of the first product safety study on CBD products.

He is presently the Editor-In-Chief of the American Journal of Endocannabinoid Medicine. He is the co-founder and former Chief Science Officer for the International Research Center on Cannabis and Health (aka Institute of Cannabis Research). He is also founder and past-chair of the Cannabis Chemistry Sub-division of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest and oldest professional scientific society.  Further illustrating the recognition earned through his efforts, he has been asked to serve on multiple expert government advisory and trade association committees, as well as scientific organizations including ASTM (D37 Subcommittee chair), AHPA Cannabis committee (past-chair), ACS Cannabis Chemistry Subdivision (CANN), AOCS, AOAC, IACM(past BOD), and IMCPC (co-founder).

Suraj Tandon, MD, FRCPC

Dr. Tandon is a native of Toronto, Canada. He completed his Honours Bachelor of Science from McMaster University and went on to work as a researcher and co-investigator assessing physical and mental health disparities amongst South Asian immigrants for the Hamilton Public Health Department and Center for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).

After earning his medical degree, he completed his residency in Internal Medicine from the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine in Connecticut, followed by an additional chief residency year from the Hampton Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Virginia.

Upon completing his residency, Dr. Tandon pursued additional fellowship training to further his interests in assisting patients suffering from complex chronic diseases. He went on to complete a fellowship in Hospice and Palliative Medicine at New York Presbyterian Queens Hospital at Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University with additional pain medicine training at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. Dr. Tandon is Board Certified in both the United States and Canada. He is also a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada.

Dr. Tandon has a special interest with additional training in cannabinoid medicines. He has had several years of experience within this field, helped develop healthcare reform and public policy making in Canada and is a strong supporter and advocate for furthering the education including research on the efficacy of cannabinoid therapies. He has given a number of community and national talks on the evidence-based literature pertaining to the use of medical cannabinoids both within the United States and Canada.

He currently practices as a medical cannabinoid consultant and is also one of the clinical site investigator lead physicians at McMaster University & The Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Medicinal Cannabis Research. Dr. Tandon also has experience working as physician advisor for several Canadian cannabis licensed producers. Furthermore, Dr. Tandon remains actively involved as a lecturer at the university where he teaches training physicians and has had a pioneering role in introducing medical cannabinoid education into the residency program curricula.

Elizabeth Dost, RN

Elizabeth G. Dost, RN, is a senior health care executive with more than 25 years-experience in the Boston market. She currently is a Senior Executive Healthcare Consultant in Medical Cannabis and has done so since 2012, making her the first nurse in Massachusetts to publicly advocate for the Humanitarian Use of Medical Marijuana.

Ms. Dost has donated lecture time to the Hospice and Palliative Care Federation of Massachusetts, having presented in 2017 and 2018 on “Cannabis and Hospice”.  Ms. Dost has participated on panels at NECANN in Boston two years, lectured for Patients Out of Time on HIPAA and Cannabis; and at Dartmouth Hitchcock Parkinson’s Conference on Cannabis and Parkinson’s Disease. She presented a full year on cannabis, the ECS and patient/nurse implications for the Massachusetts Nurses Association.  Additionally, Beth appears in the seven-episode docuseries, “The Sacred Plant”.  She has been a featured guest on national radio.

Beth is proud to serve as Clinical Director for the Massachusetts Patient’s Advocacy Alliance (MPAA) and has done so since 2014.  Beth participated in public policy creation.  She has testified on cannabis before the State of Massachusetts’ Department of Public Health, the Senate and House of Representatives of Massachusetts, to state representatives and senators, and via invitation to the Cannabis Control Commission both in public forum and by personal appointment.

Most notably, Elizabeth G. Dost RN, was awarded Ernst and Young, Entrepreneur of the Year in Healthcare, New England Region and is a member of their elite Alumni group. 

 
 

Advisory Board

 

David Meiri, PhD

David (Dedi) Meiri, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Biology at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology and a member of the Technion Integrated Cancer Center (TICC). Dr. Meiri’s scientific background is highly diverse. He holds a M.Sc. in biochemistry and a Ph.D. in plant biotechnology from Tel Aviv University. Dr. Meiri conducted his post-doctoral fellowship at the Ontario Cancer Institute where he focused on the role of the GEF-H1 protein in tumor invasion and metastasis. During his post-doctoral studies, he expanded his knowledge in human biology and cancer pathogenesis and succeeded within a very short time frame to receive worldwide recognition as an expert in the fields of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) and small GTPases. Upon completion of his post-doctoral fellowship, Dr. Meiri took a position at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology, where he heads the “Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Cannabinoid Research”.

Presently, his lab investigates the therapeutic potential of phytocannabinoids, the unique active compounds of the Cannabis sativa plant. On top of other research being conducted in the lab, the main focus of his research is to determine the antitumor effects of cannabinoids, including the anti-metastatic and pro-apoptotic effects of phytocannabinoids.

In addition to the laboratory cannabis research performed on-site, Dr. Meiri collaborates with cannabis growers, clinicians, major manufacturers and distributors of medical cannabis for the purpose of revolutionizing cannabis treatment. He is operating the “Cannabis Database Project” and his lab is currently involved in eight clinical trials covering diverse aspects of cannabis treatment such as colon disease, pain prevention, cancer treatment and epilepsy.

Dr. Meiri is also highly involved in governmental regulations and is a residing member in several Israeli Ministry of Health committees which seek to advance the fundamental understanding of optimal cannabis usage and minimization of adverse side effects.