AFHU News Spring 2023

PAGE 14
AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY
AFHU NEWS VOL. 30 PAGE 15
The “Father of Cannabis Research”
Prof. Raphael Mechoulam Dies at 92
Professor Raphael Mechoulam, known as the
“Father of Cannabis Research,” died in Israel at
age 92 in March.
A professor in the Hebrew University School of
Pharmacy, Mechoulam began his cannabinoid
experiments in the 1960s in Israel. His research
team was the first to isolate delta9-THC (THC),
the psychoactive component of cannabis,
which affects the brain, consciousness, and
creativity as well as Cannabidiol (CBD), the most
important substance in the plant with medical
benefits. Among Mechoulam’s many other
achievements are the design and synthesis of
numerous important novel cannabinoids that have
therapeutic potential as pharmaceutical drugs.
Mechoulam also helped form The Hebrew
University Multidisciplinary Center for Cannabinoid
Research (MCCR) in 2017 based on his significant
discoveries in this field over the past 55 years.
Hebrew University President Asher Cohen said,
“Most of the human and scientific knowledge
about cannabis was accumulated thanks
to Prof. Mechoulam. He paved the way for
groundbreaking studies and initiated scientific
cooperation between researchers around the
world. Mechoulam was a sharp-minded and
charismatic pioneer. This is a sad day for the
academic community and for the university. I send
my sincere condolences to his family.”
“The world has lost a giant in the scientific
research community and a pioneer in the medical
cannabis field,” says Joshua Rednik, American
Friends of the Hebrew University CEO. “We send
our condolences to Prof. Mechoulam’s family.
The Hebrew University has become a global
leader in cannabis research thanks to his efforts;
his significant contributions will live on in future
research and exciting new discoveries in Israel
and beyond.”
Since the inception of his research in the 1960s,
Professor Mechoulam has been nominated for
over 25 academic awards, including the Heinrich
Wieland Prize (2004), an honorary doctorate from
Complutense University (2006), the Israel Prize
in Exact Sciences – Chemistry (2000), the Israel
Chemical Society Prize for excellence in research
(2009) and EMET Prize in Exact Sciences –
Chemistry (2012). Mechoulam is one of the
founding members of the International Association
for Cannabinoid Medicines and the International
Cannabinoid Research Society. In 1994, he was
elected as a member of the Israel Academy of
Sciences and Humanities.
Mechoulam was born in Bulgaria in 1930 and
immigrated with his family to Israel in 1949,
where he later studied chemistry. He received his
Ph.D. at the Weizmann Institute, Rehovot (1958),
with a thesis on the chemistry of steroids. After
postdoctoral studies at the Rockefeller Institute,
New York (1959–60), he was on the scientific
staff of the Weizmann Institute (1960–65),
focusing on the isolation, structure elucidation
and total synthesis of the main active principles
of cannabis.
Mechoulam moved to the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem and became a full professor (1972) and
then the Lionel Jacobson Professor of Medicinal
Chemistry (1975). Between the years 1979-1982
he served as the University’s Rector.