Dr. Daniel Hardy has won the 2022 Dr. Joseph Gilbert Research Contribution of the Year Award for his team's study published in Scientific Reports, which examined the effects of THC, the psychoactive component of cannabis, and its potential long-term impact in fetal development in pre-clinical models.
“In 2018 Canada became the largest country in the world to legalize cannabis,” says Dr. Hardy, Lawson Scientist and Associate Professor at Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry. “Our study looked at pre-clinical models and directly asked the question; does THC impair fetal development and lead to long-term cardiometabolic dysfunction?”
The pre-clinical study demonstrated that exposure of Delta 9 THC in pregnancy, even if a very low dose, adversely impacted the placenta, leading to a decrease in overall body weight and heart-, liver- and pancreas-to-body weight ratios, key organs involved in metabolism. His follow-up studies now indicate this culminates in glucose intolerance and cardiac dysfunction long-term.
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