Martin A Lee is the co-founder and director of Project CBD (projectcbd.org), an educational service focusing on cannabis science and therapeutics. He is the author of several books, including Smoke Signals: A Social History of Marijuana – Medical, Recreational and Scientific (Scribner, 2013). The American Botanical Council gave Smoke Signals its James A. Duke Excellence in Botanical Literature Award. Named by High Times as one of the 100 most influential people in cannabis, Lee is a recipient of the Emerald Cup’s lifetime achievement award. He is also co-founder of the media watch group FAIR (fair.org) and the co-author of Acid Dreams, a social history of LSD (Grove Press 1986).

Dr Tallon has more than 25 years’ research and development experience in the field of processing technologies for natural health, food, and cosmetic products. This includes working with New Zealand and International companies on a range of new product developments, from plant-derived extracts to marine and microbiological products. Dr Tallon’s research team at Callaghan Innovation operates a comprehensive pilot product development facility, including liquid and supercritical fluid solvent extraction processes and associated technologies used for manufacturing Cannabis extracts and concentrates.

James Yu has been involved in medicinal cannabis for over three years, being the first pharmacy in New Zealand to import CBD products for patients. He started with the goal of improving access to medicinal cannabis, and aiming to not allow cost be a major barrier to life changing medicine. After seeing countless positive and life changing impacts medicinal cannabis was having for his patients, he decided to make it his mission to not only supply medicinal cannabis to patients all around the country, but also raise awareness in the potentials of medicinal cannabis by educating other pharmacists and doctors about medicinal cannabis. James also completed a postgraduate certificate in Medicinal Cannabis, a course offered by Auckland University of Technology (AUT), which he completed in 2020. 

Dr Dottie Clower is a senior technical executive with a proven track record in new product development, including product design, IP development, quality control testing, manufacturing and regulatory pathways for Class III medical devices. Before joining Puro, Dottie spent 12 years establishing and growing US-based company Cohera Medical Inc. where she took an advanced surgical adhesive product from invention through regulatory approval and commercialisation. Dottie was the co-founder of the Pittsburgh, USA chapter of Women in Bio, an organization designed to help women scientists advance their careers through mentoring, education and networking. She was also a member of the Women Presidents Organization, a group designed to support and empower women senior executives. Dottie is building Puro’s robust research and development program, with a focus on producing reliable, high-quality product in full compliance with regulations for our domestic and international customers.

Zoe is a Civil/Structural Engineer and Manager with experience in the mining and construction sectors in New Zealand and Australia, and the cannabis industry in the US. She was the Director of Engineering and Project Manager at Curaleaf, the largest cannabis company in the US, where she learned how to develop and scale a successful cannabis business from end to end. Zoe played a leading role in the company’s expansion by completing the design, planning, build, upgrade and start-up of more than 80 operational facilities in two years. She then returned to New Zealand to start Ora Pharm, where as CEO, Zoe is responsible for shaping Ora Pharm’s overall strategy and leading its domestic and global operations.

Eva Neshat, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Elysian Group (Elysian Pharmaceuticals and CannaPlus+, AU/NZ) is an international advocate and investor within the medicinal cannabis industry.

The Elysian Group established Elysian Pharmaceuticals and CannaPlus+ with the mission to facilitate growth in patient education and consumer access throughout Australia & New Zealand.

Elysian Pharmaceuticals is poised to become a leading supplier of premium, prescription-grade medicinal cannabis products throughout Australasia, democratising access to better health solutions for all.

The Elysian Group has partnered with international industry leaders in medicinal cannabis patient care with the aim of bringing this knowledge and experience to market under New Zealand’s first internationally affiliated medicinal cannabis clinic network, CannaPlus+ .

David Downs is a business leader, public servant, consultant, board director, speaker – and genetically modified organism. David is now CEO of The New Zealand Story, an ambitious government-funded organisation marketing New Zealand to the world.

Previously David was a General Manager at New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) for 10 years, working with the Technology sector to help fast growing tech companies grow internationally. David has held various roles at NZTE, in the Services, Customer and Corporate Services teams, and led a cross-government project for the MBIE to help grow the Agritech sector.

David spent 13 years at Microsoft, in New Zealand and as regional director for South East Asia, and he has set up and run successful businesses of his own. David is a published author on New Zealand Innovation, with two highly successful books – ‘No.8 Re-wired’, and ‘No.8 Recharged’.

In 2017 /2018 David was facing a terminal diagnosis and given less than a year to live, but managed to beat cancer in a remarkable series of lucky breaks. After a year of chemotherapy, and staring a terminal diagnosis in the face, David got a literal lifeline, with the chance to get on to a clinical trial in the USA. Now a genetically modified cancer-killing machine, David’s reflecting on the lucky series of events that saw him beat cancer, and on his new approach to life.

He’s an ex-comedian, TV and Radio actor, semi-finalist for New Zealander of the Year, and a genetically modified optimist who documented his battle with cancer in the book A Mild Touch of the Cancer – now a documentary film. His charity project Down with Cancer helps raise funds to make the revolutionary CAR T-cell therapy available in New Zealand for those who need it.
A chartered member of the Institute of Directors, David holds a number of board positions, including as the chairman of The Icehouse, the Hi-Tech Trust, and the Well Foundation. He is part of the executive advisory committee to the CEO of DIA.

At the beginning of the Covid-19 lockdown, David co-founded sosbusiness.nz – a not-for-profit initiative to help bars, cafes and other small businesses sell vouchers. It quickly became a huge hit and to date has sold over $2 million in vouchers for over 2500 small businesses. All the money goes to the businesses. Based on that experience, he published a book about the innovation that happened during covid-19 in New Zealand, ’Silver Linings’, published by Penguin RandomHouse.

David studied at Massey University, the University of Auckland and Stanford University, and regularly presents and gives talks on his cancer journey and on the power of positive thinking and optimism.

Dr Acland’s career has spanned practice in anesthesia, pain neuromodulation and rehabilitation, both in Auckland and Christchurch.

He graduated MBChB (Otago) in 1975.

He is a former President of the NZ Pain Society and was a member of the Medical Council of New Zealand for nine years.

Dr Acland, AFRM (RACP) has conducted many research projects and published widely. He has organized a number of scientific meetings in both pain and spinal cord injury: In 2017 he presented at the Australian and New Zealand Spinal Cord Society a paper on the use of cannabis in spinal cord injury (SCI).

Recently he coauthored a qualitative study at the Burwood Academy, assessing cannabis use for pain management in people with SCI.

He is a keen golfer.

Dr Glazer is the Chief Medical Officer at CannaWay Clinic, Canada. Dr Glazer is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Critical Care Medicine and Obesity Medicine, and a specialist in Sleep Disorders.

He is a member of the Ontario Bariatric Network and serves as President of the Canadian Association of Bariatric Physicians and Surgeons. He is responsible for education and research at CannaWay Clinic, is a key advisor to the CannaPlus+ Board in Australasia and will be integral to the launch of CannaPlus+, Australia & New Zealand.