Dr. Ester Fride

Ester Fride 1953-2010

Dr. Ester Fride was born in 1953, in Amsterdam. She was the daughter of German refugees and survivors from the Holocaust. She moved to Israel at age 19 After getting a PhD in neurobiology from the medical school at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, she then did research in the U.S. at Johns Hopkins and the National Institutes of Health on how Prenatal stress affects an infant’s brain. 

In 1990, she returned to Israel and began work in the lab of Raphael Mechoulam, where their focus was on cannabinoids and their effects in the body. Her most notable discoveries were in the endocannabinoid system and nursing. The endocannabinoid system helps regulate our sleep, appetite, mood, memory and the effects of cannabis. Her findings helped shape future cannabis research and placed a wider importance on a healthy endocannabinoid system.

She went on to further research cannabinoid deficiency effects. Her discoveries made a significant impact and helped to encourage medical cannabis research and advocacy for future generations.