Our Story

Our Founder and CEO, Dr. Gregory Smith, began his medical training at Rush Medical School before completing his Master’s of Public Health from Harvard University and his residency at Walter Reed Medical Center, where he trained in Preventive Medicine. As a clinician, Dr. Smith prided himself in providing personalized patient care, taking into account each patient’s individual needs and preferences.

Fueled by a commitment to care and a steadfast desire to bring his patients the maximum relief from their ailments, Dr. Smith went off the beaten path and began exploring alternative forms of treatment to support patients who were struggling to find relief from the traditional pharmaceutical route. Thus began Dr. Smith’s foray into the field of plant medicine, with him commencing training on the therapeutic use of medical cannabis in California in the early 2000s.

During this training, Dr. Smith identified a lack of accessible educational materials for both patients and caregivers on the therapeutic potential of cannabis. In an effort to fill this gap, in 2016 he authored 'Medical Cannabis: Basic Science and Clinical Applications', a scientifically-grounded textbook tailored for medical students and professionals, via Aylesbury Press. Inspired by the positive response to his book, Dr. Smith saw an opportunity to create a greater impact. He enlisted Terre Sevyn and his brother Dr. Kevin Smith to produce a set of Video CME (Continuing Medical Education) courses on Medical Cannabis.

By that point, Dr. Smith had established himself as a leader in the field of medical cannabis; however, he soon realized he was going to need a team and expert panel to help him expand his reach in the plant-based medicine space. It was then that he began expanding his team and building meaningful partnerships both in and out of the medical cannabis industry, and in 2021 NeX Therapeutics was born.