Meet Our Faculty

Dr. Dave Gordon
MD, IFMCP, ABoIM & Medical Director

The most effective medicine I used was the one I couldn’t talk about.

Like many physicians, I entered medicine committed to helping people heal—but early in my career, I realized that the tools I’d been trained to use weren’t enough. I was diagnosing correctly, prescribing appropriately, but too many patients were just getting
by. Meanwhile, I had quietly discovered that cannabis was the only thing that truly helped my social anxiety and irritable bowel syndrome. I didn’t call it medicine at the time—but it worked better than anything else I’d tried. Yet I felt I had to hide it to protect my license and career.

Cannabis opened my eyes—and transformed my practice.

When dispensaries opened in Colorado, where I am based, patients began asking me for certifications. Their stories mirrored mine: cannabis was relieving pain, helping them sleep, easing anxiety, giving them a quality of life they’d lost. I listened—but I also realized I didn’t actually understand the science. That launched a journey into cannabis and the endocannabinoid system, areas I was never taught in medical school. The more I learned, the more astonished I became. Here was a fundamental regulatory system, and a plant that interacted with it in complex and powerful ways.

It fit perfectly with what I had already come to believe.

I’d long since shifted my approach to focus on the root causes of illness such as chronic inflammation, nervous system imbalance, and lifestyle dysfunction. My care centers on what I call the Four Pillars of health: food, movement, relaxation, and community. Cannabis doesn’t replace these foundations, but it can accelerate progress, ease suffering, and support deep healing. It can also complement conventional therapies when used intentionally and with education.

Education before medication. Always.

That phrase guides everything I do. Over the past 15 years, I’ve helped thousands—patients, practitioners, students, and the general public—learn how to use cannabis effectively and safely. I’ve seen firsthand that one-size-fits-all approaches fail. Cannabis works best when it’s personalized, intentional, informed, and integrated into a broader understanding of health. Whether it’s in my office, in the media, or in the college classroom, I’m committed to making high quality cannabis education accessible to everyone.

Cannabis is more than a treatment—it’s a tool for transformation.

It has the power to reduce stigma, restore autonomy, and reimagine what healing looks like. I’m honored to be part of a movement that puts science, safety, and patient empowerment at the heart of cannabis medicine.

Joe Dolce
Founder & CEO

There is so much confusion about what medical cannabis is and how to use it.

That’s why our mission is ‘Education Before Medication.’ The goal is to separate myth from fact and to bring professionals and patients up to speed quickly. Our materials are based on the latest research and data from the world’s leading scientists and clinicians..

I was introduced to medical cannabis while writing Brave New Weed (Harper Wave, 2016). The reporting led me into the laboratories and offices of the above mentioned scientists and clinicians. Learning about medical cannabis and the body’s endocannabinoid system caused me to rethink everything I had been taught about the plant in specific and plant medicines in general. It redirected the course of my working life.

In the years since, I’ve seen firsthand how it can be used to help people suffering from chronic illnesses (pain, stress, insomnia) and from disruptive diseases like epilepsy or MS. I’ve met war veterans who use it to eradicate some of the harrowing memories associated with PTSD or cancer patients who use it to ameliorate the nausea caused by chemotherapy. Medical cannabis is not a panacea, but it is therapeutically broad and safe.

Before diving into this new world, I founded one of New York City’s most highly regarded Presentation & Media Training companies. I was editor-in-chief of Details magazine and a contributing editor at Gourmet in addition to writing for T: The New York Times Magazine, New York, Rolling Stone, Travel & Leisure, Departures, Leafly, and many others.

My understanding of the healing power of medical cannabis was borne from experience.

I became a patient several years ago when I was hit with a chronic pain condition that no other medication, prescription or over the counter, could treat. Medical cannabis did the trick.

No one should suffer unnecessarily. This is why I decided to share what I have learned with as many people as possible.

Dr. Matthew Elmes
Science writer, Doctor, Consultant

Dr. Matthew Elmes is a cannabinoid scientist whose professional background spans academia and the cannabis industry. He was Scientific Director for CannaCraft, one of the largest vertically integrated cannabis manufacturers in the US, where he oversaw  product formulations, R&D, and cannabis education initiatives.

Dr. Elmes is a consultant for pharmaceutical and cannabis companies, a science writer for the educational nonprofit Project CBD and Medical Cannabis Mentor, and an Adjunct Professor for Stony Brook University’s Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, where he teaches about the history, culture, technology, science, and medicinal uses of cannabis. He holds a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from Stony Brook University.

Rob Mejia, Professor, Stockton University, Cannabis Studies
Professor, Stockton University, Cannabis Studies

Rob Mejia is a Professor at Stockton University where he teaches the Introduction to Medical Cannabis, Preparation for Cannabis Internship and Social Justice and Cannabis classes. As one of the leads for the hemp and cannabis internship program, he has helped place dozens of students in valuable internships and jobs. He is often called upon to speak about cannabis at events and to diverse audiences.

He recently helped establish CHRIS  – the Cannabis & Hemp Research Initiative at Stockton – as a hemp and non-medical research hub, as well as a cannabis education center. One of the first events that CHRIS hosted was a Cannabis Curriculum Convening which attracted over 30 cannabis professors from across the country. CHRIS continues to offer free ongoing quarterly educational hemp and cannabis panels and sponsors Stockton’s Cannabis Career Fair & Business Expos.

In addition to his teaching duties, Rob is President of Our Community Harvest: A Minority-Owned Cannabis Education company and is an established author. His company provides cannabis education to the public, business owners, and governmental officials. His authorship includes The Essential Cannabis Book: A Field Guide for the Curious, The Essential Cannabis Journal: Personal Notes from the Field and numerous magazine articles including a bi-monthly article for NJ Cannabis Insider called “Prof Mejia’s Weed Corner.” 

To round out his cannabis business activities, Rob hosts a number of cooking with cannabis events and represents two cannabis artists, namely, Pat Ryan and Laurence Cherniak. 

Finally, Mejia was recently named by NJ Advance Media/NJ.com as one of “22 to Watch in 2022” in the New Jersey cannabis industry. He also made his television debut on RVN TV on January 11th, 2022, on the “New Perspectives” show. In recognition of his advocacy and education efforts, he was the recipient of the Inaugural Excellence in Cannabis Education Award for the state of New Jersey in June 2022. 

Dr. Godfrey Pearlson
MA, MBBS

Dr. Pearlson is currently founding director of the Olin Neuropsychiatry Research Center at the Institute of Living/Hartford Hospital in Hartford CT and Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at Yale University Medical School.

He is a member of the Board of Physicians that advises the state of Connecticut on which conditions are appropriate for treatment with medical marijuana. He is a member of the Research Society on Marijuana and chairs its neuroscience committee. He is currently examining effects of marijuana on vehicle driving abilities in virtual environments inside the MRI scanner. His book, Weed Science, Cannabis Controversies and Challenges (Academic Press) was published in 2020.

Dr. Pearlson is an National Institute of Mental Health MERIT awardee and currently holds RO1 grants from NIAAA, NIDA, NIDDK and NHTSA. He has been awarded a NARSAD Distinguished Investigator Award, the Ziskind-Sommerfeld Research Award from the Society of Biological Psychiatry, the Albert M. Biele Lectureship from Jefferson Medical College, a Michael Visiting Professorship from the Weizmann Institute, the Dean award in schizophrenia research from the American College of Psychiatrists, the annual Mentorship Award from the American Psychiatric Association and is a member of the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars for distinguished alumni.

He is also co-founder of the annual BrainDance Competition, which is open to high school and college students across New England. BrainDance encourages students to gain knowledge about psychiatric diseases and to develop a more tolerant and realistic perspective toward people with severe psychiatric problems.

Dr. Pearlson is a certified master gardener in the state of Connecticut.

Dr. Swathi Varanasi
PharmD, Integrative Health & Medical Cannabis Pharmacist

What stands between the therapeutic potential of cannabis and its widespread use is education.

I am passionate about educating practitioners, students and patients on the intricacies of the endocannabinoid system and the power of food as medicine.

As a healthcare disrupter, I look for opportunities to break barriers and challenge my western-trained colleagues to think beyond the conventional scope of their practice.

We are often scared of what we do not understand, so let’s change that.

I am a part of the movement to incorporate natural medicines core coursework into healthcare professional curricula across the country and the world.

Andrew M. Rosner, JD
Attorney

Andrew takes his inspiration as an attorney from his early work in increasing access to healthcare through advocacy and programmatic solutions. He brings a deep knowledge of the importance of how policy and law shape access to resources and how regulations can work to protect public health.

He spent over ten years as a healthcare attorney where he advocated on behalf of individuals and organizations across a range of healthcare issues. With the legalization of cannabis, Andrew applied his expertise to cannabis and public health. He founded Entertaining Health LLC that specialized in providing public health evaluations, including next-generation plant-based environmental materials and systems. He worked with institutes at Yale University, New York University and, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, among others.

He went on to found Hursana LLC, a company that develops medical cannabis programs for healthcare systems. Along with his medical team, Andrew pioneered the development and implementation of cannabis protocols for clinical practice, billing, and practice management. He championed initiatives to enhance patient health literacy connected with cannabis medicines and helped design an approach to evaluation that took into account health and economic impact.

Andrew also founded the New York State Cannabis Growers and Processors Association, Inc. (NYCGPA), a cannabis organization that works directly with New York State in crafting policy, law, and regulations for the cannabis industry. Through his work, Andrew supports the physicians by ensuring compliance with state law while achieving physician and patient satisfaction.