Graduate student Lesley O’Brien won the prestigious Billy Martin Award at the International Cannabinoid Research Society meetings in Vancouver June 25.
This award recognizes the best pre-doctoral student presentation at the conference. O’Brien, a first-year master’s student working with psychology professor Linda Parker, competed against senior PhD students for the honour.
O’Brien studies a particular endocannabinoid, or a cannabis-like chemical occurring naturally in the brain, called anandamide. The chemical helps to regulate nausea and vomiting, but scientists don’t know how – nor do they know how the substance is switched off.
She has found that preventing anandamide from being reabsorbed into neurons reduces vomiting in shrews and all but suppresses nausea in rats. Her work may help in designing drugs to boost the body’s own regulation of nausea and vomiting. She is also exploring which brain areas are regulated by anandamide.
The Billy Martin Pre-Doctoral Award is named for a former world leader in cannabinoid research.