David R. Gang, PhD, is a Professor in the Institute of Biological Chemistry at Washington State University, as well as the Director of WSU’s Center for Cannabis Policy, Research and Outreach. He has served as the President of the Phytochemical Society of North America as well as on the executive boards of other international scientific societies, including currently Groupe Polyphenols.
Dr. Gang is a well-known world expert on medicinal compound identification and production within plants, particularly of plants from the mint and ginger families and from ancient plants, although he spends a lot of his time now working with Cannabis sativa and marine microbes for their bioactive and industrial activities. His research uses modern approaches (genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, etc.) to investigate the structure, organization and regulation of metabolism within plants and other organisms (including some important insect pests and marine microbes). He also spends a lot of effort now related to policy issues surrounding hemp and high-THC cannabis.
Dr. Gang is dedicated to improving the human condition on this planet by increasing food and medicine availability and nutritional quality while reducing costs of production by better understanding how plants make the important bioactive compounds that they do and using that knowledge to improve plant properties, as well as by better understanding how plants interact with the environment.
