Dr. Igor Kovalchuk PhD, MD, MBA
"I am a principal investigator in the "Plant biotechnology and epigenetics" laboratory. Our lab has three research directions: 1. Genetic and epigenetic regulation of plant response to stress. We are using Arabidopsis thaliana (primarily) as a model. 2. Development of new varieties of hemp/cannabis and analysis of their medicinal properties using cell, tissue culture and animal models. 3. Analysis of medicinal effects of magic mushrooms and psilocybin. We are particularly interested in transgenerational effects of stress and microevolution of plant stress tolerance/resistance. In the past 10 years, I have been actively studying the medicinal plants, poppy and cannabis. In the lab, we have developed several novel varieties of cannabis and demonstrated their medicinal properties. Our recent focus is on the development of in vitro and in vivo models of inflammation, aging, diabetes and other diseases and testing various medicinal plants and fungi." (from UL website)
E53 - Does CBD have COVID-19 ACE'd?
What were you doing during the start of the pandemic lock down? Did you build a puzzle for the first time in year? Did you get reacquainted with how stupid and long and frustrating monopoly is? How about sour dough bread? Did you make your first sour dough? Dr. Igor Kovalchuk and his wife, Dr. Olga Kovalchuk from the University of Lethbridge were locked out of their labs too. Their lock down side project was a little more ambitious. They had been researching hundreds of cannabis extracts to see if these extracts reduced inflammation and might help treat conditions like multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease and rheumatoid arthritis. During this forced pause in their research, they wondered in CBD rich cannabis extracts might be useful against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. You want to hear what they found out.