Advancing Cannabinoid Research. Inspiring Innovation. Improve Life.
The Centre for Medicinal Plant Health Research (CMPHR) will advance our leading horticulture research program to guide Canada and the world into the next century of medicinal plant research. This is impact research that improves life.
- Dr. Mike Dixon, Professor and Director, Controlled Environment Systems Research Facility, University of Guelph
About Dr. Mike Dixon.
Dr. Mike Dixon is a Professor in the School of Environmental Sciences and Director of the Controlled Environment Systems Research Facility (CESRF), University of Guelph. He served as Chair of the Department of Environmental Biology from 2003–2008.
Dr. Dixon joined the University as an NSERC University Research Fellow after earning his PhD from Edinburgh University in Scotland and holding a post-doctoral position at the University of Toronto.
As project leader for the Canadian research team investigating the contributions of plants to life support in space, Dr. Dixon formed the Space and Advanced Life Support Agriculture (SALSA) program at the University of Guelph. This program currently represents Canada's main contribution to the international space science objectives in biological life support and collaborates with NASA and the Canadian and European Space Agencies.
Five Questions for Canada's rock star of plant research, Dr. Mike Dixon.
Dr. Mike Dixon's pioneering work spans space agriculture and advanced plant health. Here are five key questions that illuminate his impactful research and vision for the future.

Published: 2019-10-06
01
What does Mike like?
"What do I like…? Well, Cadillacs, ancient scotch, curious students, teaching, always asking what if, and challenging the limits of what's possible with medicinal plant research. That's a start."
02
Tell us about your first research experience with medicinal plants.
"It's 1974 and I'm a plant biology undergrad at Mount Allison University, and I'm behind the president's residence doing what had to be one of the first legal projects on cannabis in Canada. The local RCMP's crime lab even approved it. It just wasn't being researched then, though imagine the head start we could've had, though. Forty years later, I'm giving a conference paper on our space research and it catches the ear of former ABcann Medicinals' CEO Ken Clement. He asks questions and one thing leads to another…"
03
Why is the Centre for Medicinal Plant Health so important?
"Because it's the wild west out there. There's no standard for production of medicinal plants, particularly cannabinoids. The phyto-pharmaceutical sector, of which cannabis is part, provides a significant opportunity for the application of our controlled environment technologies to produce medicines, like the production of cancer drugs from tobacco plants. This is important stuff that improves life."
04
4. What will the Centre mean to the future of medicinal plant research?
"Everything. Cannabis has been recreationally legal for not even a year and already there's a vaping epidemic that's puzzling the Centers for Disease Control. We have no research on consumption, especially at that strength. So now we have a serious public health concern. We need the highest caliber cannabis research on everything from production to clinical trials. And we need it now."
05
Why is the Ontario Agricultural College the right place?
"A centre like ours must be housed at a major research institution with all the pieces of the puzzle—and I mean all—so that we apply the finest research infrastructure to develop production strategies that yield standardized medicines. The OAC at the University of Guelph is just that place. We do everything—horticultural, food and animal science, pest management, grow food in space, even. We can be the world's destination for medicinal research."
AgriTech for Space, Ready for Earth.
Space-Tested. Earth-Ready.
Space Exploration Technology
The challenge of space exploration has yielded unique technologies for cannabis production.
Environment-Plant Relationship
Initial studies clearly indicate the relationship between environment variables and plant productivity and quality.
Environment Control "Recipes"
Environment control "recipes" are under development to deliver specific profiles of targeted medicinal compounds.
Standardized Production
Collaborations between breeders and producers will provide a standardized pharmaceutical grade commodity.
EDEN ISS Plant Cultivation Technologies for Space.
Dr. Mike Dixon Reveals Game-Changing Nutrient Delivery System in 60 Seconds.
The Controlled Environment Systems Research Facility (CESRF) is responsible for the integration of the nutrient delivery system of the EDEN ISS greenhouse facility and will contribute to the power control, command, and data handling subsystems. The CESRF will test system performance in Antarctica and will investigate its terrestrial applications. The CESRF designs, builds and operates some of the world's largest high-resolution plant growth chambers, enabling very precise studies of plant responses to a range of environmental changes and impacts. The chambers are equipped with advanced in-situ sensors that monitor plant photosynthesis and respiration.
References
Key Strengths of Ontario Agricultural College.
The Ontario Agricultural College is the international leader in three key metrics that position us ideally to launch the Centre for Medicinal Plant Health Research:
Advanced Phyto-pharmaceutical Research Infrastructure
The CMPHR will harness the University of Guelph's many assets across multiple disciplines and eight undergraduate and three graduate programs-especially in the established areas of advanced propagation tools, lighting impacts optimized plant nutrition, and phytopharmaceutical standardization for the commercial production of plant-based medicines.
Controlled Environment Systems Research Facility (CESRF)
Our Controlled Environment Systems Research Facility and its Space and Advanced Life Support Agriculture (SALSA) program have made critical contributions for sustainable horticulture in harsh environments like outer space. We have strong partnership endorsement from the Canadian Space Agency, the European Space Agency, and NASA.
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Solutions
Our IPM program is among the foremost in the world and efficiently and sustainably eliminates pest populations for agricultural applications. Our research on invasive pests has resulted in significantly reduced economic impact to the Canadian agriculture sector.
University of Guelph Leading the field in Technology Transfer.
The University of Guelph is a leader in technology transfer, translating groundbreaking research into practical applications for the medicinal plant industry. Their work has led to significant advancements, including successful licensing agreements and numerous peer-reviewed publications and theses.
Licenses
VIVO Cannabis (nee ABcann Medicinals). Encopassing technologies for 4 various growing substrates.
Peer Reviewed Publications
  • Caplan, D., Dixon, M., Zheng, Y. (2019). Increasing inflorescence dry weight and cannabinoid content in medical cannabis using controlled drought stress. HortScience (Accepted)
  • Hawley, D., Graham, T., Stasiak, M., and Dixon, M. (2018). “Improving Cannabis Bud Quality and Yield with Sub canopy Lighting.” HortScience 53 (11):1593–99. https://doi.org/10.21273/hortsci13173-18
  • Caplan, D., Dixon, M., and Zheng, Y., (2017). Coir-based growing substrates for indoor medicinal cannabis production. Acta Horticulturae. (In Press)
    Caplan, D., Stemeroff, J., Dixon, M., Zheng, Y. (2018). Vegetative propagation of cannabis by stem cuttings: effects of leaf number, cutting position, rooting hormone and removal of leaf tips. Canadian Journal of Plant Science 98: 1126-1132. https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/cjps-2018-0038
    Caplan, D., Dixon, M., Zheng, Y. (2017). Optimal rate of organic fertilizer during the flowering stage for cannabis grown in two coir-based substrates. HortScience. 52(12): 1796-1803.
    Caplan, D., Dixon, M., Zheng, Y. (2017). Optimal rate of organic fertilizer during the vegetative stage for cannabis grown in two coir-based substrates. HortScience. 52(9): 1307-1312.
Theses Completed
  • Irrigation Management Strategies for Medical Cannabis in Controlled Environments. 12/2017. J. Stemeroff, MSc.
  • Improving cannabis production using horticultural management techniques. 09/2018. D. Caplan, PhD.
  • Influence of light quality on plant secondary metabolism. 09/2018. D. Hawley, PhD.
Our Mission: Advancing Medicinal Plant Health Research.
Next steps to advancing our centre:
Build Research Space
Build a dedicated closed-environment research space designed for the multi-disciplinary research and production of medicinal plants
Expand Research Capacity
Expand our critical mass of researchers, engineers, scientists; Acquire advanced research technologies in support of the highest quality plant research
Develop Research Focus
Develop a body of research that focuses on genetics and breeding, propagation, production, harvesting, compositional analysis, postharvest storage, processing and using cannabis for human and animal health
Phase A infrastructure in existing Growth Facilities Building
Together, we advance research, inspire innovation, and improve life.
Reach out and join us in making a difference.
Email: info@cmphr.ca
Address:
Centre for Medicinal Plant Health Research
University of Guelph
50 Stone Rd E
Guelph, ON N1G 2W1
Canada

Registered Canadian Charity:
10816 1829 RR 0001
Charitable donation receipts:
December 31 (calendar year)
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