Medical Cannabiz World 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.

Joseph Cuschieri, is the Chief Executive Officer of the Malta Financial Services Authority. He also sits on the Board of Governors.

A Certified Public Accountant by profession and a fellow member of the Malta Institute of Accountants, Mr Cuschieri is specialised in management accounting, finance, economic regulation and general/business management. He also holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Henley Management College, UK and an Advanced Diploma in Management Accounting from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), UK. Throughout his professional career, he held various senior executive positions and directorships within the private and public sector amongst which Head of Corporate Affairs and then Chief Commercial Officer at Vodafone Malta, Chief Operating Officer at the Malta Communications Authority, senior consultant with EY and prior to joining the MFSA he held the position of Chairman and CEO at the Malta Gaming Authority since November 2013.

During his time at Vodafone, Mr Cuschieri was involved in key regulatory projects both in Egypt and Turkey. Furthermore, he spent a period of eighteen months enrolled on the Vodafone Group’s global leadership development programme. He has vast experience in economic regulation particularly in the electronic communications and technology sectors where he was involved in major reforms in the telecommunications sector during his time at the Malta Communications Authority. Mr Cuschieri is also a member of the Blockchain task force where he was involved in the development of a new regulatory framework for virtual currencies and distributed ledger technology. At the helm of the Malta Gaming Authority, Mr Cuschieri focused on reforming the governance of the gaming sector including a major legislative overhaul which led to the tabling of a new Gaming Bill in Parliament.

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.

Hannah Deacon is mother to Alfie and Annie and partner to Drew. She works closely with Prof Mike Barnes on the issue of medical cannabis within the U.K. and also works with End Our Pain a campaign group who campaign for medical cannabis on prescription.

Alfie started having seizures at eight months old which progressively got worse with age. He was diagnosed with PCDH19 epilepsy at the age of 5. The only treatment which stopped Alfie’s seizure clusters was intravenous steroids, he was receiving up to 25 doses a month by the age of 5. This was not sustainable and would have eventually caused him organ failure and even death. Hannah, along with her family, took Alfie to Holland in 2017 to be treated by a Paediatric Neurologist with medical cannabis as a last-ditch attempt to save his life.

The medicine worked, but they came home in February 2018, as money had run out but without knowing how to get him his medicine in the UK. After a long fought four-month battle working alongside End Our Pain, Alfie’s doctor Prof Mike Barnes, was issued the first medical cannabis license in the UK on 19^th June 2018 to enable him to prescribe the medication that Alfie had been given in Holland. On this day the Home Secretary also announced the review into medical cannabis. On 1st November 2018 the law was changed so full extract cannabis oil can be prescribed on the NHS. Alfie now has the first legal NHS prescription in the UK.

Alfie remains extremely well thanks to securing his prescription and enjoys a full and happy life.