Daniele Piomelli receives honorary doctorate from leading German university

The medical science faculty of Goethe University Frankfurt has conferred an honorary doctorate on Daniele Piomelli, UCI’s Louise Turner Arnold Chair in the Neurosciences, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the physiology and pharmacology of lipid mediators in general and endogenous cannabinoids in particular. Piomelli received the degree at a Nov. 27 event at the German institute. He is one of the world’s leading researchers on endogenous cannabinoids, which are naturally occurring chemicals in the body that attach to the same brain cell receptors as does marijuana’s active ingredient. His groundbreaking work is showing that this endocannabinoid system can be targeted by new treatments for drug addiction, anxiety, depression and obesity.