Director: Kent Vrana, PhD

Scientific director: Wesley Raup-Konsavage, PhD

The Center for Cannabis and Natural Product Pharmaceutics (CCNPP) was established to expand upon the scientific progress of the state-approved medical marijuana academic clinical research center at Penn State. While, Cannabis will remain an integral part of the research conducted by the center, interests will also encompass other natural products in both basic and clinical science studies for a wide range of diseases and disorders. Current projects outside of cannabis include research on decursinol (derived from Angelica gigas), schweinfurthins (from Macaranga), pawhuskins (from Dalea), among others. Diseases and disorders currently being studied include: cancer, pain (particularly chemotherapeutic-induced peripheral neuropathy), inflammatory bowel disease, and high blood pressure. Other areas of interest include the growth and cultivation of plants of medicinal importance, using artificial intelligence to examine complex botanical mixtures, and synthesis of novel compounds based upon natural products. It is important to note that the CCNPP provides ready access to infrastructure for natural product extraction and analytical chemistry analysis. In addition, a variety of biological science pipelines (animal assessments, cell culture analysis, etc.) have already been established and are available.