Advisory Board

Advisory Board Members

Kyle Baker
Curt Jones
Mark Peysakhovich
Dr. R. Lawrence Hatchett
Lynn Anderson Lindberg
Dale B. Hales

Kyle Baker

President and Chief Executive Officer, EcoBuds
kyle@ecobuds.net

Kyle Baker EcoBuds is a cannabis cultivation assurance/insurtech platform that seeks to assist cultivators in attaining 100% compliant and insured crop-to-Market solutions through disease mitigation, best practices training and standards pre-certification, and data syndication. Mr. Baker’s area of study is the application of Method Engineering, data science, risk management, and econometric modeling to define causality of liability in the cannabis supply chain. The application of these in-practice methods is reducing instances of employee/consumer safety issues and creating underlining efficiencies within the "seed-to-sale-to-consumer" operations. Kyle is active with the Association of Food and Drug Officials, Cannabis committee and is an author of the Hemp Model Code.

Curt Jones

Founder, 40 Below Joe
curt@40belowco.com

After experimenting and perfecting the marriage of liquid nitrogen and ice cream in his kitchen, Jones, his wife Kay, and their five-year-old daughter Tracey opened the first Dippin’ Dots® store in Lexington, Kentucky, on March 18, 1988. With the help of their extended families, hundreds of employees, franchisees and millions of consumers, the next 30 years were spent growing Dippin’ Dots® into a worldwide brand. Watch out coffee industry, you’re next. At 40° Below Joe®, we brew fresh coffee from the highest quality Arabica beans, and then we cryogenically freeze it (at -320° F) at its freshest point while keeping all of the original moisture content intact. The processing and freezing are done in a nitrogen rich, oxygen poor environment; helps capture the flavor and essence of our coffee at its freshest point. All of the aroma and flavor you love is suspended in time until you choose to bring it back to life, one cup at a time. Next on the horizon—applying the patented process to produce CBD-infused product.

Mark Peysakhovich

Managing Partner, MBM Advantage LLC
mark@mbmadvantage.com

Mark Peysakhovich is the Managing Partner of MBM Advantage LLC, a firm that provides legislative and public affairs consulting as well as community outreach, alliance building and business development services to a diverse set of clients in sectors ranging from cannabis to construction to healthcare and human services. Mark has over 25 years of public affairs, community engagement and management experience, having previously served in leadership positions in the public health and human services sector.

Mark’s lobbying has helped shape Illinois’ cannabis laws and regulations and allowed an intimate understanding of the business and the politics of cannabis to develop. He serves as a lobbyist and consultant to existing industry players as well as companies looking to enter the cannabis space. He currently serves as Senior Advisor for the Cannabis Business Association of Illinois and is active in cannabis industry professional and patient groups. Mark hosts the Cannabis Community Insider podcast, a program of The Cannabis Community media platform. He is a regular presenter on cannabis industry topics for Oakton Community College and serves as a mentor at the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Chicago. Find him on LinkedIn here. Mark is also a Managing Partner of MBM Advantage LLC, find them on Facebook here.

R. Lawrence Hatchett, MD

Urology, Heartland Regional Medical Group
rlhatchett1@gmail.com

R Lawrence Hatchett

Dr. Hatchett attended Marquette on a full basketball scholarship, attended med school at University of Chicago, residency at North Carolina and fellowship at Boston’s Children Hospital at Harvard Medical School. Now a well-known urologist, he founded Southern Illinois Urology in Herrin in 2003. He established the Phoenix Cannabis Production Scholarship within the School of Agricultural Sciences, $100,000 over four years—named after his son Phoenix. The scholarship is available for African American or Hispanic students—to improve the lives of talented young people by adding well-needed diversity to the cannabis industry. The goal is to develop a footprint in the industry and highlight the talent we have at SIU. Once Illinois legalized recreational cannabis, he became majority owner of Cannabliss Depot. Medicinal cannabis helps with PTSD, seizure disorders, pain relief and anti-cancer applications—and importantly, helps reduce addiction to opioids.

Lynn Anderson Lindberg

Interim Executive Director, Office of Innovation and Economic Development
lindberg@siu.edu

Strategically directs the programs, services, and Staff of the University’s comprehensive innovation and economic development activities, reporting directly to the University’s Chancellor. Units include the Center for Innovation, Research Park, Office of Workforce Innovation and Research, Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center, Business Incubator Programs, Business Innovation and Research, and Small Business Development Center. Develops and leads innovation and continuous improvement transdisciplinary projects with the University’s Senior Leadership, Faculty, Staff, and Students. Works closely with Business Leaders, Entrepreneurs, and other Stakeholders to innovate, improve, and transform the economic success and quality of life of the region. Develops and oversees the management of new programs designed to meet the innovation, entrepreneurship, and community engagement goals of the University.

Dale Buck Hales, PhD

Professor, Department Chair
Departments of Physiology and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Southern Illinois University Carbondale
dhales@siumed.edu

Dr. Buck Hales is a renowned expert in steroid hormone biology and cancers of the reproductive tract. His work has led to wide scale acceptance of the laying hen model of ovarian cancer, the only spontaneous and natural model that accurately represents the human disease. The Hales lab pioneered the use of the laying hen model for natural product intervention for the prevention and treatment of ovarian cancer. CBD and other cannabinoids have garnered a significant amount of public interest and there are many anecdotal reports on the health benefits of the cannabinoids, especially their anti-cancer actions. The hen model and expertise of the Hales lab provide a unique opportunity for examining the anticancer actions and other health benefits of CBD and other cannabinoids.