Christopher McCurdy at Rowan University Teaching Kratom 101

Christopher McCurdy at Rowan University Teaching Kratom 101

Dr. Christopher McCurdy was teaching kratom 101 at Rowan University earlier this month and I was excited that He was in the South Jersey area.

This lecture took place on October 6th, 2022, at Rowan College of Science and Mathematics. This visit from Dr. Christopher McCurdy was made possible by generous support from the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation. The Dreyfus Foundation was founded in 1946 by Camille Dreyfus to honor his recently passed brother, Henry. Both were influential chemists in the early-to-mid-1900s.

Dr. Christopher McCurdy serves as a consultant to the US Food and Drug Administration’s Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee and previously served as President of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS).

Dr. Christopher McCurdy’s areas of interest are as follows:

• Anxiety
• Drug abuse
• Drug addiction
• Drug development
• Lead optimization
• Medicinal chemistry
• Natural products
• Pain

Rowan University is in Glassboro and is about 30 minutes away from Christopher’s Organic Botanicals. When I heard Christopher McCurdy was going to be talking for 2 days I was thrilled.

When we have local kratom events or discussions I want to support kratom and discuss how kratom has helped me personally.

I was not aware that He was going to be speaking at Rowan University until a few days before he was coming to visit, so I was unable to move my schedule around on the first day of speaking.

I listened in on a zoom meeting the first day and I was invited by the dean to come in person for the second day. I did not want to impose or take the spotlight away from Christopher McCurdy in anyway and I really enjoy listening to Him speak. The second day I went to Rowan University as a guest.

I brought over some kratom leaves from My personal 3 year old kratom tree and showed the Rowan University Dean and staff what a kratom leaf looks like up closely.

I brought samples of Christopher’s Organic Botanicals kratom to show them what properly packaged and tested GMP kratom looks like in the United States.

I also explained that Kratom is from Southeast Asia and the leaves are traditionally chewed or brewed into a tea. We use kratom a bit differently in the United States since we do not have kratom trees in our backyards.

Kratom contains the alkaloids Mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine which are the most popular and discussed kratom alkaloids. 7-hydroxymitragynine is only found in minuscule amounts within the kratom leaf.

Kratom products in the United States have been targeted by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Food and Drug Administration, but in 2016 the D.E.A. backed off!

I want people in my area and region to know about kratom. I am not saying everyone should use kratom, but I would like people to know that there is another herbal tool for the toolbox.

Over the past few years there have been plenty of clinical studies on kratom and we are seeing more detailed information about how kratom works.

Broadly trained medicinal chemists are looking at kratom as an alternative to highly addictive opiates. Kures is leading the way currently with the development of new drugs made from kratom.

Dr. McCurdy has developed a PET/MR imaging diagnostic agent to visualize the origins of chronic neuropathic pain.

Christopher McCurdy also the director of the translational drug development core at the University of Florida. Christopher McCurdy knows how kratom works and is aware of the current kratom science.

Listening to Dr. McCurdy talk about the science of kratom is just fascinating to me. I enjoy kratom for all the benefits of the plant but understanding the science behind kratom and why it works is something that I genuinely enjoy learning.

Kratom Mitragyna speciosa Korth or kratom tea has been studied by the University of Florida College of Pharmacy for many years. We are proud to financially support the University of Florida and kratom research at the College of Pharmacy.

The College of Pharmacy’s Dr. Christopher McCurdy researches drugs to treat pain, anxiety, and substance abuse. For over 25 years, he has focused on opioid, neuropeptide FF, and sigma receptor ligand/probe design, synthesis, pharmacological evaluation, and development.

References:

• Kratom: History, Chemistry & Pharmacology; Expert Seminar featuring Dr. Chris McCurdy.
• How close is a cure for pain?
• Rowan University’s Dean’s Distinguished Speaker Series.