Pubdate: Tue, 10 Jun 2008 Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA) Copyright: 2008 Media General Communications Holdings, LLC. Contact: http://www.timesdispatch.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/365 Author: Jeremy Slayton Note: Guest Book for Dr. Billy Ray Martin http://www.legacy.com/TimesDispatch/GB/GuestbookView.aspx?PersonId=111217788 SCIENTIST BILLY R. MARTIN DIES He Worked 32 Years at VCU and Was a Top Marijuana Researcher During the past 35 years, Dr. Billy Ray Martin established himself as a world leader in marijuana research. In the late 1970s, he was the first to show that most of the behavioral effects of marijuana were attributable to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the substance's principal psychoactive ingredient. Later, he was chosen by the National Institute on Drug Abuse to lead a team of international researchers to study anandamide, a marijuana-like substance that occurs naturally in the brain. Since 2000, Dr. Martin served as chairman of Virginia Commonwealth University's department of pharmacology and toxicology. He died Sunday at his Richmond home of cancer. He was 65. During his tenure leading the department, it ranked in the top 10 in the nation in terms of National Institutes of Health funding. This year, U.S. News & World Report ranked VCU 16th in the nation among programs in substance abuse. As a leader in the department, Dr. Martin "recruited excellent scientists and built a highly collaborative research team," said Dr. Jerome F. Strauss III, dean of the VCU School of Medicine. Dr. Martin's research into marijuana looked at both avenues of the drug -- its dangers and its therapeutic potential, said his mentor, Dr. William L. Dewey, a professor at VCU's department of pharmacology and toxicology. A native of Kernersville, N.C., Dr. Martin was educated at the University of North Carolina. After postdoctoral work at Uppsala University in Sweden and Oxford University in England, he joined the faculty at VCU as an assistant professor in 1976. During the course of his career, he published almost 400 scientific papers and served on numerous national committees and boards, including being an adviser to the World Health Organization. An avid photographer and reader of nonfiction, Dr. Martin received many awards from all levels for his contributions in research, which extended to nicotine and cocaine. He won the VCU Distinguished Scholarship Award in 1996, and he received the Method to Extend Research in Time (MERIT) award from the National Institutes of Health for his research in drug dependence. This Sunday, he was set to receive the Nathan B. Eddy Award, the highest award given by the College on Problems of Drug Dependence. In the fall, he was going to be recognized with the VCU Award for Excellence, the university's highest award bestowed on a faculty member. Dr. Martin, described as a kind, soft-spoken man, was the founder and first president of the International Cannabinoid Research Society and won the group's Raphael Mechoulam Award for outstanding contributions to cannabinoid research. Throughout it all, Dr. Martin was humble about his accomplishments and status as a leader in marijuana research, always recognizing and giving credit for the work of his students and colleagues; he'd shy away from accepting an award as a personal recognition, Strauss said. Even as cancer robbed him of his sight in March -- he listened to the radio to hear his beloved Tar Heels play their NCAA tournament basketball games -- he was still going to work when he could or working from home, said his wife, Jean Y. Martin of Richmond. In addition to his wife, Dr. Martin's survivors include a son, Zachary Lee Martin of Wilmington, N.C.; a daughter, Lindsay Brooke Martin of Charlottesville; a brother, Donald Lee Martin of Kernersville; and a stepbrother, Elmer Made Jr. of the Kernersville area. A funeral will be held Wednesday at 2 p.m. at the Chippenham Chapel of Bliley Funeral Home, 6900 Hull Street Road, in Richmond. Burial will be private. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake