Professor Raphael Mechoulam, the Israeli chemist known as the “Father of Cannabis Research” for his pioneering work isolating cannabinoids, died March 9 in Jerusalem. He was 92.
Mechoulam was a professor in the Hebrew University School of Pharmacy and began his cannabinoid experiments in the 1960s. His research team was the first to isolate delta-9 THC and cannabidiol (CBD), among other cannabinoids.
Mechoulam also did research on the body’s natural endocannabinoid system, leading to the discovery of anandamide, one of the main endocannabinoids.
Mechoulam was born in Bulgaria and immigrated to Israel in 1949. He received his Ph.D. in chemistry from the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, Israel. After postdoctoral studies at the Rockefeller Institute in New York, he became part of the staff of the Weizmann Institute, focusing on the isolation, structure elucidation and total synthesis of the main active principles of cannabis.
He moved to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and became a full professor in 1972 and then the Lionel Jacobson Professor of Medicinal Chemistry in 1975. Between 1979 and 1982 he served as the University’s rector.
According to a press release from American Friends of the Hebrew University, Mechoulam has been nominated for more than 25 academic awards, including the Heinrich Wieland Prize (2004), an honorary doctorate from Complutense University in Madrid (2006), the Israel Prize in Exact Sciences – Chemistry (2000), the Israel Chemical Society Prize for excellence in research (2009) and EMET Prize in Exact Sciences – Chemistry (2012). Mechoulam is also one of the founding members of the International Association for Cannabinoid Medicines and the International Cannabinoid Research Society. In 1994, he was elected as a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities.
“The world has lost a giant in the scientific research community and a pioneer in the medical cannabis field,” Joshua Rednik, American Friends of the Hebrew University CEO, said in an email announcing Mechoulam’s death. “The Hebrew University has become a global leader in cannabis research thanks to his efforts; his significant contributions will live on in future research and exciting new discoveries in Israel and beyond.”
— Brian Beckley