Cecilia J Hillard, PhD, grew up in the suburbs of Milwaukee and credits her high school chemistry teacher for starting her on the journey to be a scientist.  Dr. Hillard received her undergraduate degree in Chemistry from the University of Virginia and PhD in Pharmacology from the Medical College of Wisconsin.  Dr. Hillard is currently a Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Director of the Neuroscience Research Center, and Associate Dean for Research at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Her laboratory has long-standing interests in the pharmacology of the cannabinoids and biochemistry of endocannabinoid signaling.  Her laboratory has explored the roles of endocannabinoid signaling in many aspects of brain function, including emotional regulation, addiction, and neuroinflammation.  She and her colleagues have reported seminal findings regarding the role of endocannabinoids in preclinical models of schizophrenia, depression, and anxiety. 

Recently, she has been collaborating with others to explore changes in circulating endocannabinoids in humans, with the goal of using this as a translational measure of endocannabinoid tone.  Her work has been funded continuously by NIH since 1987, and she has published over 270 peer-reviewed, original papers.  Dr. Hillard received the 2011 Mechoulam Award for outstanding research in the area of cannabinoids and endocannabinoids and the 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award, both from the International Cannabinoid Research Society.  A long-time faculty member at the Medical College of Wisconsin, Dr. Hillard has won many awards for teaching and was awarded “Mentor of the Year” by the Graduate School in 2010 and the Distinguished Service Award in 2011.

Todd Stollenwerk, MD, PhD, is a first-year resident in the combined Internal Medicine and Psychiatry residency program at the Medical College of Wisconsin. He completed MD-PhD training at the Medical College of Wisconsin in 2024. He obtained his PhD in the lab of Cecilia Hillard, PhD, where he studied endocannabinoid signaling in the brain. His dissertation research used a mouse model of schizophrenia to study the effects of maternal immune activation and adolescent stress and THC exposure on the development of behavioral abnormalities. During his training, he lectured in the pharmacology and physiology courses for first-year medical students and was extensively involved in the medical student tutoring program.