Dr. Igor Grant is a professor and executive vice chairman of the psychiatry department at the UCSD School of Medicine. He also serves as director of two important research programs at UCSD: the HIV Neurobehavioral Research Center (HNRC), a clinical research center designated and funded by the National Institutes of Mental Health; and the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research (CMCR), headquartered at UCSD and a collaborative effort of UCSD and UCLA to rigorously study the safety and efficacy of medicinal cannabis to treat certain diseases. HNRC researchers strive for greater understanding of how HIV enters the central nervous system and why it affects some people but does not cause neurological deficits in others. HNRC also studies the effects of cofactors such as methamphetamine abuse and hepatitis C virus infection on the brain. The CMCR, which is the result of CA State Bill 847 in 1999, coordinates and supports cannabis research throughout California on use of cannabis for diseases and conditions such as severe appetite suppression, weight loss and cachexia due to HIV infection and other medical conditions; chronic pain, particularly neuropathic pain; severe nausea and vomiting associated with cancer and its treatment; and severe muscle spasticity caused by diseases such as multiple sclerosis. In addition, Grant is an expert in how humans cope with stress. Grant is also the editor-in-chief of the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society and co-editor of AIDS and Behavior.