Yasmin Hurd, Ph.D.

“Cannabis and the Developing Brain: A Complex Interaction”

Dr. Yasmin Hurd is from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai—Addiction Institute. She is the Ward-Coleman Chair of Translational Neuroscience and the Director of the Addiction Institute at Mount Sinai. Hurd holds appointments as faculty of Neuroscience, Psychiatry, Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City and is globally recognized for her translational research on the underlying neurobiology of substance use disorders and comorbid psychiatric disorders. Her research on the transgenerational effects of early cannabis exposure on the developing brain and behavior and on the therapeutic properties of cannabidiol has garnered substantial media attention.

Hurd’s research focuses on the effects of cannabis and heroin on the brain. Her pre-clinical research is complemented with clinical laboratory investigations evaluating the therapeutic potential of medications such as the use of phytocannabinoids in the treatment of psychiatric disorders. One area of concentration has set out to address the gateway drug theory. Hurd’s research also showed that CBD could be considered as a potentially significant option for treating patients recovering from opioid abuse.