Scott Belton has been involved with Cannabis research and industry for over 10 years. Prior to this, he was a pivotal research member of the University of Guelph’s Gosling Research Institute for Plant Preservation (GRIPP), focussing on germplasm maintenance and cryo-preservation of rare and endangered medicinal plants. While part of these labs, Scott developed growth chambers and lighting specific to Cannabis research and germplasm storage.
As part of several Licensed Producer start-ups, Scott helped initiate better plant maintenance procedures and implemented plant tissue culture for industry leading genetic banking of elite cultivars. Scott’s prior work with GRIPP labs helped him in designing a Class 1 Division 1 (C1D1) explosion proof laboratory for execution of extraction/purification by ethanol and critical CO2.
In one of Scott’s most recent research partnerships with industry and academia, he was pivotal in obtaining $300,000 in government funding for industry to partner with leading researchers at the University of Guelph. This funding is helping to advance research on lighting in Cannabis and plant tissue culture applications.
Scott is extremely proud to announce joining Niagara College as a Professor of the Commercial Cannabis Production program. Niagara College is a leader in many areas of applied agricultural research, and Cannabis is a natural fit. The dedication of space specific to Cannabis research and education is critical to ensuring Canada is a trailblazer in commercial Cannabis production. Getting to research alongside leaders and inspire bright minds that will be entering into industry, and ready to apply real world knowledge of the Cannabis plant is absolutely a dream come true!
In addition to his role at Niagara College, Scott is also the founder and Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) of Gene-eBank. This plant tissue culture banking and consultation company helps industry partners set up screened genetic libraries for ideal long-term storage and optimized breeding identification. Gene-ebank is “your genetic wish come true”, as Scott and his team have developed a universal Cannabis specific media protocol for plant tissue culture and germplasm banking of your elite cultivar’s aka chemovars.
Scott in his spare time is always hunting for elite cultivars of vegetables, fruits and Cannabis for the library and is currently farming a 10-acre licensed high CBD hemp farm on Lake Erie with his partner Diane and their 1-year old daughter Alexis.
Jeffrey Lizotte is the founder and CEO of Next Wave Brands, Canada’s first brand and partnership firm focused exclusively on recreational cannabis. Next Wave Brands was founded with a core belief that when governments create new industries, every decision is political.
Leveraging a team of political veterans and subject matter experts from government’s most regulated industries including alcohol, craft beer, energy drinks and political advertising, Next Wave Brands brings to bear the skill, experience and insight to create Canada’s top compliant cannabis brands.
Next Wave Brands help partners understand the politics, understand the rules, and execute.
Dusty Shroyer is the Chief Operating Officer of Revolution Cannabis, LLC. Dusty’s tenured background began as an owner of one of the first medical cannabis cultivation centers in Colorado, which eventually integrated to include an extraction operation and retail store location. After merging with an industry leader, Dusty joined a national consulting brand to design over 500,000 square feet of cultivation space, and contribute to winning applications for several clients in highly-restrictive states. Among those winning applications is Revolution Cannabis.
Since joining Revolution, Dusty has implemented his strategic vision to create a national medical cannabis brand focused on enhancing quality of life. Dusty leads all aspects of the operation, including facility management, medical marijuana manufacturing, product development and marketing.
Having been with Revolution since its inception, Ed helped obtain two of 19 cultivation licenses in Illinois. With a Degree in Construction Management and holding a LEED Accreditation, Ed managed the design & construction of two advanced 75,000 square foot cultivation & manufacturing facilities.
Since bringing the facilities online, Ed has utilized his project management background to facilitate the operational effectiveness of Revolution, including project scheduling, budget and procurement management, and process implementation. With a solid understanding of all operational aspects, Ed has applied the knowledge gained from his experiences to improve facility functionality and maximize cost-savings.
CPG Executive Search is a boutique search firm applying their technical knowledge within food, pharma and specialty manufacturing to the cannabis sector.
They have experience filling technical roles within QA, Regulatory, Engineering & Maintenance, R&D and also corporate roles within Finance, Sales & Marketing and Supply Chain.
Justin spent the first few years of his career in finance and is a CFA charter holder.
Dr. George Mammen is currently a post-doctoral fellow at Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. His focus of research revolves around cannabis’ medical application, particularly in mood and anxiety disorders, along with the public health implications of upcoming legalization. George is also a consultant for Beleave Inc., where he is contributing to a number of health research and education projects around medical cannabis (e.g., preparing to collect patient-data to study medical cannabis’ long-term effects on various conditions) and recreational cannabis (e.g., synthesizing scientific content for an educational campaign around cannabis impaired driving).
José Casaretto, Ph.D. is a plant biologist with twenty years of research experience in plant physiology, biochemistry and molecular biology. He was director and co-investigator of over ten research projects focused on studying different aspects of plant metabolism and environmental stress tolerance in different plant species. Dr. Casaretto is an Associate Research Scientist at the University of Guelph where he has used genomics tools to investigate regulatory networks of plant metabolic pathways and stress responses in crops. He is part of a team of researchers that investigates the molecular basis and potential behind cannabis genetics -and other medicinal plants- that will have useful applications for the production of compounds of interest for the industry.
Vijay Sappani is a successful diversified cannabis entrepreneur and angel investor in several Cannabis start-ups. He is currently Founder and CEO of Ela Capital Inc, a boutique investment and advisory services firm focused on cannabis, medical devices and healthcare sector. He is co-founder of Qunuba Sciences, one of the world’s largest cannabis and medical devices advisory company, co-founder of High noon, a premium cannabis house of brands company, and co-founder and former Chief Strategy Officer of TerrAscend, one of the largest publicly traded Canadian Cannabis company. He is also board member of Canadians for Fair Access to Medical Marijuana (CFAMM) and has been a speaker and panelists in many conferences.
Vijay through Ela Capital has several investments and advisory engagements with cannabis companies in Europe, Asia, Africa and LATAM.
Ela Capital has investments in several cannabis companies in tissue culture, vaporizers, cannabis formulations, clinical trials, distribution, CBD supply chain and cannabis brands.
Vijay has over 15 years of multinational experience in pharmaceuticals, medical devices, government and security. He has held senior positions with Natco Pharma, Mylan and Biovail. He also served as Senior Special Assistant to the Ontario Minister of Health and Long-Term Care and was a member of the board for the ministry’s Pharmacy Council. Currently he serves on the board of the MacDonald Laurier Institute focused on Indo-Pacific region policies, CDG Canada rare disease group and has previously served on the boards of over a dozen community and national organizations.
Vijay holds a Bachelor of Pharmacy from and a post-graduate in marketing management.
Jonathan Sherman is a member of the Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP Cannabis Group and assists a broad range of industry participants, including licensed producers in both Canada and the United States, pre-licensed applicants in Canada and abroad as well as a variety of ancillary businesses in the sector.
Jonathan represents public and private companies and investment dealers in domestic and cross-border transactions and advises issuers with respect to general corporate and securities law matters, mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and go-public transactions, joint ventures, alternative financing solutions and other corporate commercial transactions.
Jonathan’s representative work includes various corporate and commercial transactions for Canopy Growth Corporation as well as Canopy Rivers Corporation, the strategic investment platform formed by Canopy Growth in order to provide growth capital to licensed producers and pre-licensed applicants. In addition, he recently assisted Canopy Growth with its expansion into New Brunswick and Canopy Rivers with their initial financing rounds and strategic investment transactions.
Jonathan is also a regular contributor to the Canadian Life Sciences blog at Cassels Brock, having authored articles with respect to alternative financing options, exports under the current medical cannabis regime and other regulatory and licensing developments in both the medical and adult-use markets.
Recent Comments