Wendy Agudo

Program Manager 2

• YCSCAN2 January 2025 Webinar

  The Yale Center for the Science of Cannabis and Cannabinoids, introduces its inaugural webinar featuring Dr. Yasmin Hurd as speaker. Dr. Hurd presents her research on the effects of prenatal and adolescent cannabis exposure on brain development, behavior, and long-term health outcomes. This discussion covers topics such as epigenetic changes, potential treatments for opioid use disorder, and the need for further research in this field.

  Video by Deepak D'Souza

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• YC-SCAN2 July 2025 Webinar

  In the July 2025 webinar, Dr. Emma Johnson presented findings from the Cannabis Use During Development and Early Life (CUDDEL) study, which investigates the biological impact of prenatal cannabis exposure. With cannabis use during pregnancy on the rise, Dr. Johnson highlighted the limited understanding of its effects on child behavioral outcomes. Supported by a BBRF Young Investigator Grant, her team analyzed placental DNA methylation in 192 participants, including 121 with prenatal cannabis exposure. While no individual methylation sites reached significance after correction, 12 differentially methylated regions were identified and linked to outcomes such as preterm birth, inflammation, cognition, and maternal alcohol use. Enrichment analyses also pointed to key neurodevelopmental and immune pathways. Dr. Johnson discussed these findings, proposed mechanisms through which in utero cannabis exposure may affect child development, and outlined directions for future research.

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• YC-SCAN2 January 2026 Webinar

  The January 2026 YC-SCAN2 webinar titled “Sex Differences in Cannabinoid Pharmacology” featured Dr. Mohini Ranganathan, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine. Dr. Ranganathan presented an in-depth overview of sex differences in cannabinoid pharmacology, highlighting longstanding research gaps related to the historical underrepresentation of women in cannabis studies and recent efforts to address these disparities. Drawing on over two decades of research, she discussed biological and clinical factors underlying sex-specific responses to cannabinoids, including differences in receptor availability, hormonal influences, and patterns of cannabis use. Her presentation emphasized emerging human laboratory and PET imaging data, showing that women may be more sensitive to the rewarding effects of THC at lower doses, and underscored the critical need for intentional, sex-specific and interdisciplinary approaches in future cannabinoid research.

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