Marion McNabb, DrPH, MPH, has focused her cannabis research on turning patient experiences into evidence that can inform policy and improve the safety of state medical cannabis programs. Her work combines community-based research with direct engagement among patients, advocates, policymakers, and regulators.
As President of the Cannabis Center of Excellence, McNabb helped co-found the Oklahomans for Safe Access chapter and led two research studies examining patient care in Oklahoma. Rather than keeping those findings within an academic or advocacy setting, she helped bring the data into the state policy process.
Her research contributed to an Oklahoma legislative interim study led by Representative Jacob Rosecrants examining laboratory testing and patient safety. That progression from patient-generated data to legislative review demonstrates the translational value of cannabis research: systematically documenting patient experiences, analyzing those findings, and using the resulting evidence to identify regulatory questions that warrant further investigation.
McNabb now serves as Director of the Institute of Cannabis Research at Colorado State University Pueblo, where the Institute advances objective research related to cannabis in Colorado. Her work continues to emphasize the importance of collecting evidence that can help answer practical questions facing patients, regulators, and policymakers.
Cannabis programs generate extensive observational, regulatory, laboratory, and patient-reported data, but those data do not automatically become actionable evidence. McNabb’s work demonstrates how systematic data collection, study design, analysis, and interpretation can convert disparate information into findings that inform policy and identify priorities for further investigation.
The Discovery Award celebrates research that informs cannabis policy and moves political assumptions toward evidence-based solutions. McNabb has helped bring patient-generated data into discussions of laboratory testing, regulation, and medical cannabis safety while strengthening the research infrastructure needed to support future studies and more evidence-informed policymaking.
Learn more about Marion McNabb: Institute of Cannabis Research
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“Dr. Marion McNabb is honored to be nominated for the Cannabis Safety Research Award. Research plays a paramount role in answering important questions about cannabis safety. I am honored to contribute to advancing the use of data in decision-making for cannabis patients.” |
Cast your vote for Marion McNabb for the 2026 Discovery Award.
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