Acute inflammation and pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 infection: Cannabidiol as a potential anti-inflammatory treatment?

Cecilia Costiniuk completed her medical training at McMaster University followed by a residency in internal medicine and fellowship training in infectious diseases at the University of Ottawa. After completing her MSc in Microbiology and Immunology in Ottawa, she then pursued post-doctoral training at the KwaZulu-Natal Research Institute for TB and HIV in Durban, South Africa. She joined McGill University in 2014, and she is currently an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Chronic Viral Illness Service of the McGill University Health Centre. Dr Costiniuk also holds a Chercheur-boursier-clinicien Junior 1 salary award from the FRQ-S As a clinician investigator, she leads a research program focused on pulmonary immunity and inflammation in the context of HIV infection. Her interest lies also in exploring the therapeutic potential of cannabinoids for various conditions involving excessive inflammation, including people living with HIV, in the context of well-designed studies.

Mohammad-Ali Jenabian is an Associate Professor and the holder of the Canada Research Chair in Immnuo-Virology at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM). He earned his D.V.M. degree in Veterinary Medicine in Iran. He then began Ph.D. studies in Virology at the Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris. During his first postdoctoral training he furthered his expertise in HIV fundamental immunology at INSERM U955 in Paris. He also performed a second postdoctoral fellow at Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, in HIV clinical immunology. His laboratory is now focused on pulmonary and intestinal mucosal immunity during HIV infection as well as accelerated aging in people living with HIV. Furthermore, his lab is also studying the anti-inflammatory properties of cannabinoids.