Michael Benko Email & Phone Number

I began working as part of the Laprairie lab in May 2018 and spent the summer doing an extensive review of the existing literature. I then worked to develop a discussion-based educational slidedeck for high school students, as well as an evidence-based slidedeck for healthcare practitioners. In addition to carrying on my educational involvements, I have been engaged in many projects in the lab both in vitro and in vivo. Previous work involved the development of a stable CHO-K1 cell line expressing G protein-coupled receptor 55 (GPR55) so that it can be considered alongside CB1 and CB2 when investigating the endocannabinoid system and/or developing novel therapeutics to target it. This brought into question ligand interactions conflicting with published literature, as well as validation of the activity from some novel synthetic cannabinoids from Italy.I had also worked to investigate potential interaction between orexin and cannabinoid receptors in rodents so as to further our understanding of the ECS as a whole, and hopefully gain deeper insight as to how/why certain compounds induce a sleep or appetite response (in addition to activity at the cannabinoid receptors).Currently, I am working to characterize and subsequently manipulate the most geographically diverse collection of Cannabis sativa accessions ever amassed. Hopefully by utilizing many modern techniques such as genomics tools, tissue culture, polyploidization, etc. combined with my diverse background, we can achieve significant advances for the cannabis industry on a whole. I am also working as a Trainee with the QAQCC in order to further safeguard the industry as it (hopefully) develops from infancy into adulthood.

Listed skills include Microsoft Office, Management, Customer Service, Project Management, and 6 others.