Dr. James L. Smith is a Georgia native and is currently the Medical Director of Emergency Medicine at Northside Gwinnett Medical Center. Dr. Smith completed his undergraduate studies at Georgia Tech, his medical school at the Medical College of Georgia, and his residency training at Harvard. Dr. Smith brings both personal experience and a vast medical background to the medical cannabis and Low-THC Oil movement in Georgia.

In 2014, Dr. Smith founded and chaired the not-for-profit, Oil for Epilepsy, driven by his daughter’s development of a severe intractable seizure disorder, and her subsequent dramatic reduction in seizures by taking medical cannabis. His ceaseless efforts to establish a Medical Cannabis program in Georgia were instrumental in not only seeing the law passed, but also expanding the state’s list of qualified conditions to over 17.

He currently serves as the President-Elect of the Georgia College of Emergency Medicine (GCEP), the Vice President of the Medical Association of Georgia (MAG), Board of Directors for the Georgia Trauma Commission, Board of Directors for Gwinnett County Health Department, and is the Immediate Past-Chair of MAG’s Georgia Medical Political Action Committee. Dr. Smith is committed to using his role as a leader in the medical community to advocate for political change in the Medical Cannabis arena that directly benefits patients in Georgia.

Dr. Sarah Vinson is an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at Morehouse School of Medicine, one of four historically Black medical schools in the country established with the purpose of training minority students to become physicians, biomedical scientists, and public health professionals. Dr. Sarah Vinson is a Triple Board-Certified physician who specializes in adult, child & adolescent, and forensic psychiatry. As an African American woman leader in the forensic psychiatry space, she is the founder of the Lorio Psych Group, an Atlanta based mental health practice providing expert care and consultation. Dr. Vinson’s psychiatric experience working with people with criminal histories of drug use gives her a unique understanding of the impact of cannabis legalization on the community, including children and their families. Her interest in the cannabis movement in Georgia lies in helping to strike a balance between protecting those as risk in the community and decriminalizing behaviors with reason. Dr. Vinson’s expertise and perspective will play a pivotal role as part of the Georgia Atlas Medical Advisory Board in ensuring medical cannabis policies positively impact Georgia communities while patients receive the healthcare they need.

Dr. Lisa Perry-Gilkes has been a practicing physician in Georgia for over 20 years. As president of the Medical Association of Georgia she leads the largest physician’s advocacy organization in the state. She is a board-certified ENT-otolaryngologist and the Chief Medical Officer at the Ear, Nose & Throat Institute, where she treats patients suffering from sleep disorders. Attracted by its wide range of patients and the integration of medical and surgical treatments, Dr. Perry-Gilkes pursued her career as an ENT specialist after earning her medical degree from Howard University and completing her residency at King Drew Medical Center in Los Angeles. As current MAG President, Dr. Perry-Gilkes is focused on a few key issues – including COVID-19, social justice and health equity, health insurance, Medicaid pay, physician wellness and resilience, patient safety, and scope of practice. Her medical experience coupled with her awareness of current issues affecting the medical community in Georgia offer a unique perspective to Georgia Atlas. In addition to MAG, Dr. Perry-Gilkes is a member of the Georgia State Medical Association, the Medical Association of Atlanta, the Atlanta Medical Association, and the American Academy of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery where she chaired its diversity committee. As a member of the Georgia Atlas Medical Advisory Board, she looks forward to helping Georgia Atlas pave the way for safe and effective prescription of medicinal cannabis treatments for patients in Georgia.

Andrew Reisman, MD, is a board-certified family physician with the Longstreet Clinic, where he has delivered consistent quality care to patients in Georgia for over 20 years. As former President of the Medical Association of Georgia (MAG), Dr. Reisman has been a leader in the Georgia medical community, advocating for patient rights, addressing issues affecting physicians in every practice setting, and helping to improve patient and physician experience in Georgia. Most recently, as part of Governor Kemp’s Task Force on Covid-19, Dr. Reisman helped develop consensus among medical leaders in Georgia to advise the Governor on the Covid-19 global pandemic and provide recommendations. He was appointed by Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan to serve on the Senate Task Force on Tort Reform, and he currently serves on the Georgia Composite Medical Board, responsible for approving Georgia Medical Licenses and Laser Practitioner Licenses, creating regulations for medical practice in Georgia and ensuring compliance with the medical board. His active leadership in the medical community and his medical compliance experience makes Dr. Reisman uniquely qualified to help Georgia Atlas produce a high-quality and effective pharmaceutical grade low-THC oil that is safe for patients. Throughout his nearly 30 years as a family physician, Dr. Reisman has worked directly with patients who have a history of chronic conditions, from headaches and Crohn's disease to seizures, that medical cannabis may help treat. Dr. Reisman views his role with Georgia Atlas as key to helping patients get access to safe treatments. In addition, Dr. Reisman is a member of the Hall County Medical Society, the American Medical Association, and the Georgia Academy of Family Physicians. He earned his medical degree at the University of Miami and completed his residency at the University of Maryland.

Marion McNabb, DrPH, MPH is the Chief Research Officer of Georgia Atlas and the President of Cannabis Center of Excellence, INC a 501c3 nonprofit organization that conducts citizen-science focused population studies and programs in the areas of community engagement, medical cannabis, adult-use cannabis, and social justice in the cannabis industry. The CCOE serves as a virtual resource & network of cannabis industry professionals, academics, policy makers, healthcare providers, consumers, and patients who aim to break the stigma and advance social justice in the cannabis industry. The CCOE, INC is currently running a COVID-19 Cannabis patient and consumer study. www.cannacenterofexcellence.org

Dr. McNabb is the former CEO and Co-Founder of the Cannabis Community Care and Research Network (C3RN), a Massachusetts-based cannabis research company from 2018 – 2020 that aimed to improve the evidence-base related to medical cannabis therapies. C3RN, with UMass Dartmouth, led a two-year open cannabis consumer and patient research study to assess the impact on health, social, and economic outcomes. C3RN also led a Veterans Health and Medical Cannabis Research Study with UMass Dartmouth, and partners. C3RN was an approved qualified training vendor for the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission’s social equity training program. Dr. McNabb also holds over 15 years of global public health experience working in the areas of digital health, HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health, and family planning, working primarily in Africa and Haiti. She received her DrPH from Boston University School of Public Health and her MPH from the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health.