PROF. ROGER PERTWEE

Roger Pertwee has three degrees from the University of Oxford: MA (in biochemistry), D.Phil. (in pharmacology) and D.Sc. (in physiological sciences). He is Professor of Neuropharmacology at the University of Aberdeen, Director of Pharmacology for GW Pharmaceuticals, co-chairman of the International Union of Pharmacology (IUPHAR) Subcommittee on Cannabinoid Receptors, a co-ordinator of the British Pharmacological Society’s Special Interest Group on Cannabinoids, and visiting Professor at the University of Hertfordshire. He has also served as chairman of the International Association for Cannabis as Medicine (IACM; 2005-2007) and as President of the International Cannabinoid Research Society (ICRS; 1997-1998; 2007-2008) and is currently ICRS International Secretary and a member of the IACM board of directors. He was the recipient of the 2002 Mechoulam Award “for his outstanding contributions to cannabinoid research” and in 2005 was recognized to be an “ISI Highly Cited Researcher†” and hence among “the world’s most cited and influential researchers” (see Pertwee at <http://isihighlycited.com/>). He was also awarded the 2011 Wellcome Gold Medal by the British Pharmacological Society “for outstanding contributions to pharmacology, based mainly on research achievements”. His research has focused largely on the pharmacology of cannabinoids. This he began in 1968 at Oxford University and continued when he moved to Aberdeen University in 1974. His research has played major roles in

• the discovery of endocannabinoids and the endocannabinoid system;
• the recent discovery that ethanolamides that are formed from omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and that seem to be endocannabinoids have the capacity to inhibit cancer cell growth and proliferation;
• the discovery of a cannabinoid CB₁ receptor allosteric site;
• the discovery that delta-9-tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV) is a plant cannabinoid (phytocannabinoid) – and that this compound is both a cannabinoid CB₁ receptor blocker (antagonist) and a cannabinoid CB₂ receptor activator (agonist) that has the potential to treat obesity, liver diseases, Parkinson’s disease and stroke, and to reduce health risks associated with liver transplantation;
• the pharmacological characterization of other phytocannabinoids, including cannabidiol and cannabigerol;
• the gathering of evidence supporting cannabinoids for the management of multiple sclerosis;
• the discovery/pharmacological characterization of novel synthetic cannabinoids most of which are widely used by cannabinoid researchers as experimental tools, e.g. the first CB₁ receptor-selective agonist (methanandamide), other CB₁-selective agonists (ACEA, ACPA), a CB₂-selective agonist (HU-308), widely-used CB₁ and CB₂ receptor antagonists (AM251, AM281 and AM630), CB₁ receptor “neutral” antagonists, and the first water-soluble cannabinoid (O-1057);
• the development of cannabinoid bioassays, some widely used (e.g. the “ring test”).

See also <http://www.abdn.ac.uk/ims/staff/details.php?id=rgp>

† ISI “highly cited researchers” are researchers who have demonstrated great influence in their field as measured by the number of times their peer-reviewed papers have been cited in peer-reviewed published papers written by other authors. The most recent ISI analysis covers papers from 1981-2008. Less than 0.5% of all publishing researchers world-wide have been classified by ISI (Thomson Reuters) as “highly cited researchers”. The number of pharmacologists (alive or deceased) recognized to be “highly cited researchers” in 2011 is 2 in Aberdeen (Professors Hans Kosterlitz and Roger Pertwee), 5 in Scotland (including Aberdeen), 56 in the UK (including Scotland) and 329 world-wide (including the UK).