Meet the Cannabis Science Conference Fall Speakers: Jini Glaros Discusses Sample Preparation, Compound Error, and Potency Inflation

* This article was first published on our sister brand Cannabis Science and Technology website as a preview to the Cannabis Science Conference (CSC) Fall 2023. Read more about CSC 2023 here *

Cannabis Science Conference (CSC) Fall will be taking place in Providence, Rhode Island, from September 20 to the 22nd. CSC Fall features several exciting tracks: analytical science, cultivation, medical cannabis, and psychedelics. With expert speakers coming in from around the country, we thought it was a great opportunity to introduce some of them and get a sneak peek into their presentations. Jini Glaros, Chief Scientific Officer at Modern Canna Labs in Lakeland, Florida, will be presenting in an analytical-focused general session on Friday, September 22nd. Her talk is titled “Sample Preparation, Compound Error, and Potency Inflation.” Here, Glaros shares how she got her start in cannabis testing as well as a little preview of what to expect from her exciting talk!

Jini Glaros of Modern Canna Labs, in Lakeland, Florida

Can you tell us about your background and how you got involved with cannabis testing?

Jini Glaros: Of course. So, if you had asked me 10 years ago if I would be doing cannabis testing like probably a lot of people in the industry, I would have said, "No, there's no way." My original plan was I wanted to get a medical degree and be a doctor. I worked in a lab during my undergraduate education and fell in love with it. I ended up taking a gap year after graduation, which was when I worked at the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore, Maryland. During that time, I realized that it was lab life for me; I wanted to be in the lab. There was no doubt about it. So, I thought maybe I'll pursue my MD and PhD. I'll still get to be in a lab and still get to be a doctor—kind of the best of both worlds. Of course, sometimes life happens and that didn't work out, but everything happens for a reason. I ended up working at the University of Florida for a while in one of their labs, before moving back to my hometown of Lakeland, Florida, which is where the Modern Canna Labs’ headquarters is located and where I'm working currently. This opportunity really just fell into my lap, and I couldn't be happier about my role and thrilled that I was given such an opportunity. I got in the industry when things were very fresh and new in Florida. I started working for Modern Canna back in 2017, so I've been with them for quite some time now, and really have been able to watch the company grow.

What are you most looking forward to at the Cannabis Science Conference this fall?

Glaros: I think the networking opportunities, as well as the presentations relating to all aspects of cannabis. As a scientist, of course, the analytical track is very exciting to me and I'm looking forward to seeing all of those presentations, but I'm also interested in the presentations that relate to medical cannabis, cultivation, and psychedelics because it will allow me to get a little bit out of my comfort zone and to learn something new—something that maybe I did not know about. Some of the best collaborations can come from those sort of things because you can see a cultivator present and you're like, ‘Oh, wait, we could partner on something and you could cultivate and I could do some science.' It's opportunities like that which come from conferences where you're bringing all aspects of the industry together.

Can you give us a little preview of what you'll be discussing in your talk?

Glaros: Potency is a highly scrutinized analysis, whether that be from cultivators, producers, or even consumers, right? You hear all the time that consumers want the most “fire” weed, or they want cannabis with the highest THC. It's great that they want high THC flower, but that's not the only thing that matters. When it comes to high THC flower, by the industry pushing for higher and higher potencies, it's led some laboratories to maliciously manipulate their data. However, the reality is that, in most cases, I really don't think that's the intention of all laboratories. I think, ultimately, that some of these labs just don't have the tools and the techniques to know when they're doing something that could be leading to potency inflation or could be leading to results that are skewed in one way or another. So, the goal of my talk is to uncover some of those things that lead to compound error, which may in turn lead to potency inflation. We're going to dive into sampling bias, sample weighing, sample extraction, sample dilutions—the whole nine yards—and how each step of that process impacts the final result. I’ll also discuss how laboratories can improve their processes and what cultivators, producers, and regulators can look for when they're looking to a lab to produce accurate data.

Stay tuned for more with Jini Glaros with our live video conference coverage taking place September 21–22, 2023 or join us in person to hear Jini’s presentation and countless others at the Cannabis Science Conference Fall in Providence, RI. Register today with code EARLYBIRD to save 30%: https://bit.ly/3pIBuJp!