Dr. Polston obtained a PhD in Biomedical Sciences from Albany Medical College, where he studied in the Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics. He also holds an advanced degree in Biomedical Ethics from the Alden March Bioethics Institute.
After completing postdoctoral training at the Pennsylvania State College of Medicine, Dr. Polston established Emerald Coast Research. He published work with the Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, has extensive clinical research experience, and is widely regarded as an expert in plant-based therapeutics after spending more than a decade investigating treatments.
Dr. Polston started Emerald Coast Research due to the lack of testing and R&D in medicinal cannabis when the industry got started in the United States. He then moved into therapeutics production and consulting in the California cannabis industry and later joined Massachusetts-based Curaleaf, one of the largest vertically integrated cannabis companies in the United States. At Curaleaf, Dr. Polston oversaw the buildout and management of its Oregon laboratories, formulated a range of core products, and managed both manufacturing and production.
Dr. Polston also lead both extraction and processing during his tenure at Trulieve Cannabis Corporation, He was responsible for major R&D initiatives, extraction, manufacturing, product development, and external scientific research programmes. He’s been directly involved in the formulation of many medicinal cannabis products on the market today in California, Oregon and Florida.
Dr. Polston left Trulieve to join Helius Therapeutics, New Zealand’s largest licensed medicinal cannabis company and the first certified New Zealand Grown cannabis producer. “I was inspired to join Helius because of its entrepreneurial energy, its strong focus on biomedical R&D, particularly its commitment to exploring and developing cannabinoids as medicine, and the opportunity to create new products that will truly help people,” he said after joining the company.