In a study of 11,363 individuals with no psychotic disorder, cannabis use increased the risk of psychosis by 11 fold for ages 12 – 19. I spoke with master behind the rese

André McDonald, PhD, MPH, is an epidemiologist and postdoctoral fellow at McMaster University’s Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research and Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Medicinal Cannabis Research. Dr. McDonald’s research focuses on the intersection between mental health and addictions among youth. Currently, his primary interest is in understanding the link between youth cannabis use and risk of mood, anxiety, and psychotic disorders. Dr. McDonald is supported by a Fellowship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

Dr. McDonald completed his PhD in epidemiology and MPH in social and behavioural health sciences at the University of Toronto while working at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Prior to his graduate studies, he worked in Nunavut (Canada’s northernmost territory) on mental health and addictions issues among Inuit. Overall, he has over 10 years of experience working in the field of public health in both research and policy roles.

There is a lot to learn from the history of Big Tobacco, and we can get that history from Professor Richard Daynard, the man who went after Big Tobacco.

Professor Daynard is at the forefront of an international movement to establish the legal responsibility of the tobacco industry for tobacco-induced death, disease and disability. He is president of the law school’s Public Health Advocacy Institute, chairs its Tobacco Products Liability Project and helped initiate its new Center for Public Health Litigation. Recently, he has worked with PHAI on issues involving obesity, gambling, opioids, gun control and e-cigarettes.

Professor Daynard has written or co-authored more than 90 articles. He teaches in the areas of public health law, strategic litigation and interdisciplinary studies, and has lectured about legal issues in the control of tobacco and obesity in 54 countries as well as chaired 25 national and international conferences on these subjects. Professor Daynard is frequently honored, most recently with Northeastern University’s Pioneer Award. In 2019, he received the Robert Morris, Sr. Award for Courage in Litigation from the Massachusetts chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA).

Professor Daynard has been the principal investigator in grants and contracts from the National Cancer Institute, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, the American Legacy Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Professor Daynard’s academic interests currently center of the intersections among law, public policy and the behavioral sciences, and he teaches courses in the field both to law students and to undergraduate honors students.