Gabriella

Gobbi

Dr. Gobbi leads a laboratory of basic science (Neurobiological Psychiatry Unit), holds the Canadian Research Chair in Therapeutics for Mental Health, and works as a Staff Psychiatrist at the Mood Disorder Clinic of the McGill University Health Center. Her research approach spans from bench to bedside, bridging the gaps between fundamental and clinical research. 

Dr. Gobbi received her MD (1991) and her specialty in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy (1995) from the Catholic University of Rome (Italy). She also earned a PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Cagliari (Italy) and finalized a post-doc at McGill University (Montreal, Canada) in 2001. 

Dr Gobbi’s lab is interested in understanding the pathophysiology of mental diseases and discover new treatments and cures for them. 
i) Her laboratory is studying the short- and long-term effects of cannabis use in mood and anxiety, and the potential beneficial effects of the drugs acting on the endocannabinoid system (endogenous cannabis) in the cure of mental diseases. 
ii) Her lab also discovered and patented novel selective agonists of the melatonin MT1 and MT2 receptors for pain, insomnia, and anxiety.
iii) More recently, she published and patented research unveiling the mechanism of action of LSD in social anxiety and post-stress anxiety.
Dr. Gobbi is author of more than 120 highly cited manuscripts in high impact journals, 20 book chapters, one book and inventor of international patents in psychopharmacology. Her research is highly financed by governmental agencies and private sector; In recognition of her achievement she was awarded with the Canadian College od Neuropsychopharmacology (CCNP) Innovation in Psychopharmacology (2022), Young investigator Award (2012),  the Venezia Prize (2015) and  the Samarthji Lal prize (2017) and the McGill University Principal’s Prize for Media Engagement in (2019).

Trilingual speaker, she has been invited to speak at conferences around the world and has served as reviewer/editor for many journals, international grant agencies in Europe and USA.
Dr Gobbi served as an expert witness for the Canadian Senate (2012), the Ministry of Health (2019) and the Ministry of Justice (2019) of Quebec for the cannabis legislation, her studies on cannabis have influenced policies raising the age of cannabis consumption from 18 to 21 yo in Quebec and banning the advertisement of cannabis.