Industry Insiders - Dr. Shabnam Sarshar

In this exclusive interview, we sit down with Dr. Shabnam Sarshar, a leading voice at the intersection of medicinal cannabis, business strategy, and women's health.

With a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Biology and Phytochemistry alongside an MBA, Dr. Sarshar brings a rigorous, dual-lens perspective to the medicinal cannabis industry. She is the driving force behind The Recalibration which is an educational platform advocating for female health and plant-based therapies.

With a Ph.D in Phytopharmacy and an MBA, how has blending scientific knowledge with business strategy shaped your approach to bringing cannabinoid therapies to market?

Honestly, my entry into this space was not strategic — it was personal. My first encounter with cannabinoids as a serious scientific subject was endometriosis. I started reading the research and I couldn't stop. Here was a condition affecting one in ten women, causing years of dismissed pain, and it was the first time I truly grasped the potential that cannabis could have on women's health and wellbeing. That realisation never really left me.

What followed was a desire to bring cannabinoids to women who had never thought about them — not the cannabis community, but ordinary women navigating symptoms they had been told to just live with. Women who would lower their voice when they told me they were curious about trying a cannabis based product. Women who pulled me aside at events to whisper — 'will I get high if I use this CBD cream?'

That is the stigma I was trying to dismantle with FemCan. The idea was to normalise cannabis as intelligent, plant-derived ingredients with a scientific rationale, used in functional wellbeing products that address real symptoms women experience every day.

My PhD gave me the confidence to stand behind the science and drive the product development. My MBA gave me the framework to build a brand that could meet cannabis-naive women where they were and bring them to a place of informed decision and fearless choice.

The science and the business strategy ultimately served the same goal: opening the conversation.

Through FemCan (then rebranded as Nisa), you champion cannabis for women's health. What was the catalyst for focusing your research here, and which clinical gaps are you most passionate about closing?

Founding FemCan was one of the greatest — and most painful — experiences of my career.

The name itself tells you everything about the vision: Female, and Can — as in cannabis, and as in we can. Both had been suppressed, neglected, dismissed, and pushed to the margins for far too long. That intersection felt like more than a coincidence. It felt like an invitation.

My vision for FemCan was to create a safe space — not primarily to talk about cannabis, but to invite women back into relationship with their own bodies. Because if you cannot feel the very subtle signals your body sends you, you cannot begin to heal.

The specific gap I wanted to address was the role of the endocannabinoid system in women's reproductive health — one that speaks the same hormonal language as the female body throughout her entire lifecycle.

Unfortunately, I eventually separated from FemCan. But what I never separated from is the vision — bringing the therapeutic potential of the endocannabinoid system into real women's lives. 

Given your experience in Europe, what pivotal lessons can emerging, highly regulated medicinal cannabis markets like Australia learn about balancing strict compliance with patient access?

Germany legalised cannabis as medicine in 2017. What followed was prescribers who didn't know how to prescribe it, pharmacies that couldn't reliably stock it, insurers who wouldn't reimburse it, and patients navigating a bureaucratic maze. The law existed. The access did not.

The first lesson for Australia: regulate the knowledge alongside the plant. Without clinician education, patient literacy, and professional training, the market will fail the people it was designed to serve.

The second lesson is about women specifically. We need evidence-informed, cycle-aware formulations, non-inhalative delivery routes, and language that reflects real conditions — not generic branding.

The third lesson: regulation does not automatically dismantle stigma. That cultural shift requires deliberate, sustained education. 

How crucial is education in dismantling the historical stigmas surrounding both female pain management and cannabis use?

The way I see it, science has always been a form of storytelling. We observe, measure, conclude, and build a narrative.

What I am witnessing now is scientific stories merging with healing stories — the stories of mothers, daughters, and grandmothers.

That dynamic — logic and emotion reinforcing each other — is extraordinarily powerful. The science gives the personal story credibility. The personal story gives the science humanity. Together, they don't just dismantle stigma — they shift the entire narrative. 

Looking ahead, which specific cannabinoids, terpenes, or lesser-known plant compounds do you believe hold the most untapped therapeutic potential for breakthroughs in female wellness?

I want to give an honest answer — omega-3 fatty acids. Anandamide and 2-AG are derived from arachidonic acid, an omega-6 fatty acid. When your diet is high in omega-6 and low in omega-3, your endocannabinoid system shifts toward a more pro-inflammatory state. Increasing omega-3 intake rebalances that.

In terms of cannabinoids, I am watching the varin family — THCV and CBDV — closely. The early data around appetite regulation, insulin sensitivity, and mood make them interesting for conditions like PCOS and PMS.

And then there is beta-caryophyllene — a terpene found in black pepper and cloves — the only terpene known to directly activate CB2 receptors.

The breakthroughs will not come from a single compound. They will come from understanding the whole system. 

While your foundation is in phytopharmacy, advocating for women's health has become a defining pillar of your work. Was there a specific personal or professional turning point that made you realise women were being systematically underserved by traditional medicine?

It was endometriosis. And it was cannabis that led me there.

When I first encountered the research, I realised I had never heard of the condition before. Here was a disease affecting one in ten women, and I had never encountered it. That was my turning point.

Cannabis gave me something I did not expect — it was the first time I grasped the depth of the knowledge and therapy gap surrounding women's health.

Because of cannabis, we discovered the endocannabinoid system. And because of that, we are only now beginning to understand its role in women's health.

The turning point was not outrage — it was wonder, followed by the question: how is it possible that we know so little about the biology of half the human population? 

If you’d like to access ‘The Recalibration’, click this link to head on over to Dr Sarshar’s Substack and this link to check out her Linkedin profile.

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EQWELLIBRIYUM offers end-to-end consulting for organisations navigating the medicinal cannabis market in Australia. With strategic insights and operational frameworks that are designed to help you thrive, we’re here to help you. Learn more by contacting us today at hello@eqwellibriyum.com.