LLMs and National Cannabis Patient Registry Power New NIDA-Funded Cannabis Study
As cannabis legalization expands, Johannes Thrul, PhD, MS, leads a NIDA-funded study to track real-world cannabis use and health outcomes.
As the legalization of cannabis spreads across the United States, increasing the drug’s availability and use, researchers are racing to better understand its effects on our health. Johannes Thrul, PhD, MS, associate professor in Mental Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, is at the forefront. His research focuses on substance use, digital health, and behavioral addictions, with a growing emphasis on cannabis.
Though trained as a clinical psychologist, Thrul found himself more drawn to the preventive world of public health than traditional clinical models. While considering PhD programs, he realized that the most impactful prevention work was happening in the substance use space. This interest aligned with emerging opportunities in cannabis research, where both public health needs were rapidly growing.
Thrul now leads a large National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA)–funded study to build a national cannabis patient registry. This project follows patients who use cannabis over time to track what products they’re using, how they’re using them, and what effects they’re experiencing. This registry aims to provide much-needed clarity on how different cannabis products impact health outcomes at varying dosages and frequencies.
The team is also using large language models (LLMs) to scan electronic medical records (EMRs) within the Johns Hopkins Hospital system for mentions of cannabis use. Traditional medical records often lack structured fields for identifying cannabis users, so LLMs allow researchers to analyze unstructured data and uncover patterns. They’ve identified more than 45,000 patients with documented medical cannabis use, presenting a powerful opportunity to track health outcomes over time.
The registry is a collaborative effort with partnerships across the country, including the Realm of Caring Foundation, in Colorado. The long-term goal of this project is to harmonize data collection methods and promote consensus measures across the field. Thrul hopes the project will inspire more collaboration and data sharing by supporting researchers, clinicians, and policymakers with evidence that can guide safe and effective cannabis use.
Moving forward, the team is steadily building momentum and expanding the dataset. They’re focused on scaling up the registry, enhancing data harmonization, and identifying new opportunities to deepen the research.
Stay Connected
To learn more about this work or stay up to date, visit the project’s website at cannabisandhealth.org, or explore Thrul’s lab at thrulresearchlab.com.