Dr. Igor Kovalchuk is an accomplished scientist. Before coming to Canada he was a medical doctor and a cancer researcher in Switzerland. Today he is a leading plant biologist and geneticist researching the medicinal properties of various plants. His special interest is in cannabis. He holds a Section 67 license from Health Canada, which allows him to conduct research on controlled substances at the University of Lethbridge. Dr. Kovalchuk is also the founder of a medicinal plant research and technology firm called Plantbiosis Ltd., and he is a member of Sundial Growers Inc.’s management team.

In this fascinating podcast, Dr. Kovalchuk shares his life’s journey as a researcher and entrepreneur with interest in breeding new plant varieties exhibiting pain-killing, anti-cancer, and anti-inflammatory properties. He tests the potential medicinal properties of cannabis using a combination of cell cultures and animal models of various diseases. He utilizes common breeding techniques as well as transgenic genome editing techniques to develop new cannabis and hemp varieties.