Скачать или смотреть Resource Center for Cannabis & Cannabinoid Research(R3CR): A Newly Funded Center

August 28, 2025
At the August CMCR Investigators’ Meeting, Mahmoud A. ElSohly, PhD, Research Professor and Professor of Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery at the National Center for Natural Products Research in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Mississippi, and Director of the NIDA Marijuana Project, as well as President and Laboratory Director of ElSohly Laboratories Inc., introduced the newly funded Resource Center for Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research (R3CR). Supported through the NIH’s National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) and in partnership with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the National Institute on Aging (NIA), and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the R3CR is designed to help overcome longstanding barriers to cannabis research.

The center brings together the University of Mississippi, Washington State University, and the U.S. Pharmacopeia to provide coordinated expertise across three “cores”: regulatory guidance, research standards, and research support. Together, these groups will generate best practices, provide regulatory clarity, and disseminate resources through workshops, webinars, and an interactive website (R3CR.org).

A central feature of R3CR is its seed funding program, offering up to $50,000 annually to help investigators navigate regulatory hurdles, secure compliant infrastructure, and prepare grant applications. While funds cannot support direct clinical or laboratory research, they are intended to remove logistical roadblocks that often prevent studies from moving forward.

Dr. ElSohly emphasized that NIH created the center in response to widespread concerns from researchers about the difficulty of conducting cannabis studies—particularly with Schedule I restrictions, supply limitations, and inconsistent standards. By fostering collaboration across federally funded cannabis research centers, R3CR aims to expand access to high-quality materials, streamline compliance, and support rigorous, mechanism-driven science.

Dr. ElSohly stressed that the ultimate goal is service to the research community, ensuring that cannabis and cannabinoid science can advance with clarity, credibility, and impact.