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Foundation research
From plant knowledge to a defensible drug development pathway.
United for Hope, Advancing Cures
Our framing is deliberate and sequential. Each stage disciplines the next, so that traditional botanical knowledge is carried forward as rigorous, regulatable science rather than unsupported claim.
KF-ECS-2025
Endocannabinoid System Deficiency: A Comprehensive Study of General, Clinical, and Medically Authorized Adult and Pediatric Populations.
The Foundation's protocol record reports approval in September 2024. That historical statement does not announce current approval. Prepared consent materials are in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole; their existence does not mean enrollment is open.
The remaining structural step before the next submission is independent IRB reconstitution. The Foundation is not announcing current approval, enrollment, recruitment, intervention, participant availability, or results.
These institutional assurance and organization identifiers are not trial registration numbers or proof of current project approval, enrollment, results, FDA endorsement, or therapeutic effectiveness.
The scientific pathway
Pharmacognosy is the starting point, not the end of the claim.
Pharmacognosy studies medicines derived from natural sources. FDA's botanical drug guidance informs the Foundation's development framing where applicable; it is not product approval. Read FDA's guidance.
The protocol concerns endocannabinoid system deficiency across proposed adult and pediatric populations. This page does not establish an active pediatric anticancer trial, a validated deficiency diagnosis, or an available intervention. Traditional knowledge and mechanistic hypotheses require research, consent, and independent review.
Independent IRB reconstitution is required before the next submission. No current approval, enrollment, recruitment, intervention, participant availability, or results are announced. Broader cannabinoid and psychedelic research must not be confused with a named Foundation trial. Read educational resources; this site is not medical advice.
Research leadership
The people responsible for the work.
The research team combines botanical medicine, population health, clinical medicine, and independent review.
Dr. Lakisha Jenkins-Samuels, Ph.D., RH (AHG)
Traditional Naturopath and Clinical Herbalist with more than two decades in botanical medicine, systems-based health, and health equity.
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Dr. Denise C. Vidot, Ph.D.
Serves on the KF-ECS-2025 investigator team as Co-Principal Investigator.
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Dr. Maurice D. Hinson, MD
Serves as clinical Co-Investigator and monitor for KF-ECS-2025.
LinkedIn profileInstitutional Oversight
The Foundation's governance work separates investigators from a non-conflicted board so the protocol can receive the required independent convened review.
Awareness and action
Move the Research Forward
See how childhood cancer awareness connects to the Foundation's research mission and the whole experience of children and families. Donations support Kiona Foundation's approved charitable work and its September childhood cancer awareness activities.