Grants totalling just over £½Million from the Medical Research Council (MRC) are set to expand cannabinoid research at the University of Aberdeen led by the internationally acknowledged expert on cannabis and cannabis-related compounds, Roger Pertwee, Professor of Neuropharmacology at the University of Aberdeen’s Institute of Medical Sciences.
The MRC is to establish Co-operative Group for Cannabinoid Research at the University of Aberdeen and has awarded three research grants as part of the Group award. These are to Professor Pertwee and his colleagues, Drs Gernot Reidel, Andy Irving, Mark Rae, Angela Coutts, Guy Bewick, Norman Cameron and Mary Cotter.
Professor Pertwee said: “The establishment of a Co-operative Group for Cannabinoid Research by the MRC at the University of Aberdeen, together with the award of three MRC grants, is excellent news. It demonstrates that the MRC agrees that this is an important area of research and that Aberdeen is the right place for the research to be carried out.
“The setting up of the Group provides a tremendous opportunity both for me and for colleagues from this Department to apply for additional funds from the MRC with which to carry out much needed research on cannabinoids at both non-clinical and clinical levels.”
The endocannabinoid system is a recently discovered system of cannabinoid receptors and chemical messengers that act on those receptors. The system is present in many species, including man. Two drugs which activate cannabinoid receptors are already used clinically as antiemetics or as appetite stimulants.
Other suggested uses for these drugs include suppression of muscle spasm associated with multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury and the relief of chronic pain.
Professor Pertwee added: “Although there have been considerable advances, much still remains to be learned, both about the roles of the endocannabinoid system in health and disease and about its pharmacology. The underlying aim of the Co-operative Group is to establish the detailed mechanisms through which regulation by the endocannabinoid system is achieved.
“Part of our research will focus on areas concerned in the physiological regulation of learning and memory, the hippocampus. Funding from other sources will allow the team to look at pain pathways during their investigations.
“Our research should not only advance our basic knowledge of the physiological roles of the endocannabinoid system but also provide the basis for strategies that will reduce or eliminate the unwanted side effects of drugs that interact with this system without reducing their sought-after therapeutic effects.
“In addition, we expect to learn more about the underlying mechanisms of unwanted effects of cannabis on, for example, learning and memory, and we may also identify potential new clinical applications for cannabinoids.”
Professor Pertwee well lead a steering group that will co-ordinate all cannabinoid research currently carried out at the University which is funded by The Wellcome Trust, the American National Institute on Drug Abuse, various pharmaceutical companies, as well as the MRC.
Further information from:
Professor Roger Pertwee, Tel: 01224 681818 Ext 43040
Christine Cook, Executive Director of Public Relations, Tel: 01224 272014
MRC Press Office, Tel: 0207 637 6011