In an April 14, 2025 news release, the University of Mississippi (UM) announced it will lead the new Resource Center for Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research (R3CR), intended to support cannabis research across the nation (1). The R3CR will operate in the National Center for Natural Products Research (NCNPR) and will contribute to the production of more scientific evidence and information through an interactive website, webinars, conferences, and more.
Founded in 1995 at UM, the NCNPR partners with several organizations to facilitate research, quality, safety, and innovation in natural product science and development, and one area this includes is plant physiology (2).
“This is a unique opportunity to assist others and encourage further research in all fields of cannabis research,” stated Ikhlas Khan, director of the NCNPR, in the news release. “Establishment of this center should promote more science, and our hope is that in the near future, this center will develop evidence-based products that will address quality, safety and efficacy.” Khan will lead the new center.
“People will realize significant changes in the landscape of cannabis research,” stated Donald Stanford, assistant director of the Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences at UM. “Changes such as stronger and improved regulation compliance, development of more cannabis technologies, as well as the FDA receiving relevant safety data to make decisions on cannabinoids in foods and dietary supplements, can all eventually contribute to people’s health.”
Stanford added that over the next five years more cannabis researchers are anticipated to be able to enter the field as a result of the center.
To provide direction on regulations and best practices, the R3CR will facilitate the partnership between Washington State University (WSU) and United States Pharmacopoeia (USP).
The R3CR will be comprised of three dedicated groups: regulatory guidance, research support, and research standards.
Research professor and UM Marijuana Project Director Mahmoud ElSohly will lead the regulatory guidance group, which will act as a repository for cannabis research regulations related from the DEA and FDA. “Because conducting cannabis studies involves a complexity of regulations of various federal and state agencies, both researchers and administrators must fully understand the requirements and must devise ways to comply in a practical manner,” ElSohly stated. “Our resource center will strive to provide guidance on matters such as this.” ElSoly will be joined by UM’s director of the National Center for Cannabis Research and Education, Robert Welch.
The research support group will be led by WSU pharmaceutical sciences professor Mary Paine and will focus on distributing scientific information, organizing conferences and events, plus distributing seed funding grants.
Focusing on best practices and technical information, the research standards group will be led by Nandakumara Sarma, USP director of dietary supplements and herbal medicines.
A grant partnership from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) will support the center. As stated on its website, the NCCIH conducts and supports research while also offering complementary health information and resources (3).
References
- University of Mississippi. Pioneering Cannabis Research: UM Leads New National Resource Center https://olemiss.edu/news/2025/4/new-cannabis-resource-center/index.html (accessed April 15, 2025).
- University of Mississippi. National Center for Natural Products Research https://olemiss.edu/ncnpr/ (accessed April 15, 2025).
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. What does NCCIH do? https://www.nccih.nih.gov/ (accessed April 15, 2025).
