2019 Speakers

The Hon. Dr. Christian Cardona has been Minister for the Economy, Investment and Small Businesses since 2013. During his tenure, the Minister introduced a number of bills that have made Malta more competitive by fostering an attractive business environment that generates investment. These include the manufacturing of medical cannabis and the family business act.

In 2016, he was elected as the Deputy Leader for Party Affairs of the Labour Party.

Dr. Miriam Dalli is a Member of the European Parliament since 2014. Currently she is the Socialist and Democrats coordinator for the committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Security. Over the past four years, Miriam Dalli worked extensively on the public health sector. She was recognised as the MEP of the Year for Public Health in 2017. Dr.Dalli is also a member of the Industry Research and Energy Committee where she is actively involved in the Union’s industrial policy and related measures and the application of new technologies. As a Member of the European Parliament, Miriam Dalli has actively advocated for further investment in emerging sectors, urging the European Commission to especially allow for more funds towards research and development. A lawyer by profession, MEP Miriam Dalli holds an MBA, and MA in European Studies and a BA (Hons) Communications from the University of Malta.

Marion Zammit works in the Investment Promotion Department within Malta Enterprise, Malta’s economic development corporation. Marion holds a Bachelors Degree in Biology and Chemistry from the University of Malta, and a Masters Degree in Business Administration from the same University.

Her career has included various positions in the advanced manufacturing sector, including quality, production processing, as well as logistics and supply chain.  Marion has worked and gained experience in the Pharmaceutical Sector, both in manufacturing as well as sales and marketing. At Malta Enterprise, Marion has been tasked with supporting various sectors including Medical Cannabis, Pharma, and other projects of national interest.  Over the past two years, Marion has been focusing specifically on the Medical Cannabis Sector, working very closely with all the stakeholders in order to ensure an effective roll-out of the strategy for this new ecosystem in the Maltese Economy.

Tracy Ryan is the CEO of CannaKids, a California based medical cannabis company, and Founder of the 501c3 SavingSophie.org. After her infant daughter’s brain tumor diagnosis in 2013, Tracy dedicated her life to helping patients who suffer from life altering ailments, with a focus on children. Now in full swing with pre-clinical human & humanized mouse model trials with one of the world’s leading cancer immunologists, it’s her mission to not only end the suffering of those inflicted by cancer, but also develop a cure her daughter.

Professor Mike Barnes is a neurologist who has focussed on cannabis medicine for several years. He was instrumental, with the family of Alfie Dingley, in changing the UK law to allow cannabis to be prescribed by UK doctors from November 2018. His focus now is on education of medical practitioners on cannabis medicine and in assisting with the development of the cannabis industry in the UK and Europe. He appears regularly in the media offering an opinion on cannabis issues and remains a key lobbying figure throughout Europe.

Mr. Srinivasa Reddy served as board of director, CEO, CSO, COO in various companies. He is a member of ASABE and a global leader in the cannabis industry ASHS. Srinivasa’s visionary thinking about the source of both food and medicines from nature encouraged him to collaborate with research and development teams across the globe in order to produce the best quality crops. His vision of sustainable, low cost, and high quality plants includes vertical farming in a scientifically optimised and controlled environment. He has 13 years of experience in medicinal plant-use-cases and their importance for human life.

Yona is the CEO of Alvit LCS Pharma, a leading Israeli medical cannabis company that researches and develops pharma-grade products from cannabis. Under Yona’s leadership, the company has secured licenses in Malta to construct a manufacturing facility that will be the heart of the company’s operations going forward.