Harvard, MIT Receive $9 Million for Cannabis Research

Charles R. Broderick, an alumnus of MIT (Massachusetts Technology Institute) and Harvard University, has made gifts to both alma maters to support research into the effects of cannabis on the brain and behavior.

The gifts, totaling $9 million, represent the largest donation to date to support independent research on the science of cannabinoids. The donation will allow experts in fields of neuroscience and biomedicine at MIT and Harvard Medical School (HMS) to conduct research that may help unravel the biology of cannabinoids, illuminate their effects on the human brain, catalyze treatments, and inform evidence-based clinical guidelines, societal policies, and regulation of cannabis.

“Our desire is to fill the research void that currently exists in the science of cannabis,” said Broderick, who was an early investor in Canada’s medical marijuana market.

With the gifts to HMS and MIT’s School of Science (through the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and the McGovern Institute for Brain Research), the Broderick funds will support independent studies of the neurobiology of cannabis; its effects on brain development, various organ systems, and overall health, including treatment and therapeutic contexts; and its cognitive, behavioral and social ramifications.

The Broderick gift provides $4.5 million to establish the Charles R. Broderick Phytocannabinoid Research Initiative at HMS, funding basic, translational and clinical research across the School community to generate fundamental insights about the effects of cannabinoids.

Broderick’s gift to MIT will provide $4.5 million over three years to support independent research for four scientists at the McGovern and Picower Institutes.

Broderick, who is known as Bob, is the founder of Uji Capital LLC, a family office focused on quantitative opportunities in global equity capital markets. Identifying the growth of the legal cannabis market in Canada as a strategic investment opportunity, Broderick took equity positions in Tweed Marijuana Inc. and Aphria Inc., which have since grown into two of North America’s most successful cannabis companies. Subsequently, he made a private investment in and served as a board member for Tokyo Smoke, a cannabis brand portfolio, which merged with DOJA Cannabis in 2017 to create Hiku Brands, where he served as chairman. Hiku Brands was acquired by Canopy Growth Corp. in 2018.

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