Breaking News, Business, Financial and Economic News, World News from EconoTimes

Become a contributor

Bookmark Econotimes

Fri, Mar 27, 2026 08:44 AM All times are UTC

Follow Series

©Econometrics LLC . All Rights Reserved.

Kent E Vrana

Professor and Chair of Pharmacology, Penn State
Dr. Kent E. Vrana is the Elliot S. Vesell Professor and Chair of Pharmacology at the Penn State College of Medicine. He received his B.S. with honors in Biochemistry from the University of Iowa, and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry (Pharmacology minor) from Louisiana State University Medical Center in New Orleans. His post-doctoral fellowship training was in embryology and molecular biology at the Carnegie Institution of Washington in Baltimore, MD (on the Johns Hopkins University campus).

Dr. Vrana joined the Department of Biochemistry at the West Virginia University Health Sciences Center as an assistant professor and then moved to the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine where he rose through the ranks to full professor. In 2004, Dr. Vrana assumed the position of Professor and Chair of Pharmacology at the Penn State University College of Medicine.

Dr. Vrana is a member of the editorial boards of several scientific journals (Associate Editor for Pharmacology (Karger Press), the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (an ASPET journal) and Medical Cannabis and Cannabinoids (Karger Press)). He has served as chair (30 times) and/or a member of over 110 scientific review panel meetings for the federal government and non-profit organizations. He has co-authored more than 190 scientific articles, book chapters, and monographs (including two textbooks). In 2009, he was named an honorary professor of the School of Medicine of the Peruvian University of Applied Science in Lima, Peru, and was inducted into the Society of Distinguished Educators at the Penn State College of Medicine. In 2015, he was elected a Fellow of the American Association for Advancement of Science (AAAS). He currently serves the immediate past president of the Association of Medical School Pharmacology Chairs (AMSPC).

CBD is not a cure-all – here's what science says about its real health benefits

Feb 10, 2023 06:04 am UTC| Health

Over the last five years, an often forgotten piece of U.S. federal legislation the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, also known as the 2018 Farm Bill has ushered in an explosion of interest in the medical potential of...

Economy

India Slashes Fuel Taxes: A Ten-Rupee Relief Amid Global Energy Turmoil

Effective March 26, 2026, the Indian government made a decisive fiscal action by significantly lowering the Special Additional Excise Duty (SAED) on motor fuels. This change in policy lowers the tax on gasoline from INR 13...

France's 2025 Budget Deficit Shrinks More Than Expected, Easing Fiscal Pressure

France made stronger-than-expected progress on its public finances in 2025, with the national budget deficit falling to 5.1% of GDP a notable improvement from 5.8% recorded in 2024 and well ahead of the governments own...

Oil Prices Slip as Trump Extends Iran Ceasefire Deadline Amid Ongoing War Fears

Global oil prices were on course for a weekly loss on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump granted Iran a 10-day extension before threatening to strike its energy infrastructure, offering markets a brief reprieve ...

Asian Stocks Rebound as Trump Delays Iran Strike Deadline

Asian equity markets staged a partial recovery on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump postponed a planned military strike on Iranian energy infrastructure, extending the deadline by over ten days while signaling...

Google's TurboQuant Sends South Korean Chip Stocks Tumbling Amid AI Memory Demand Fears

South Korean equities took a sharp hit Friday as mounting concerns over reduced artificial intelligence memory demand dragged the KOSPI index to its lowest point in more than two weeks. The benchmark fell nearly 3% to...

Politics

Lavrov Claims U.S. Seeks Control Over Damaged Nord Stream Pipelines

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused the United States of pursuing dominance over the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, which were severely damaged by underwater explosions in September 2022. The...

Chinese Universities with PLA Ties Found Purchasing Restricted U.S. AI Chips Through Super Micro Servers

Procurement records reveal that four Chinese universities, two of which have direct ties to the Peoples Liberation Army, acquired Super Micro Computer servers loaded with restricted Nvidia AI chips over the past year. The...

U.S. Praises Kurdistan's Role in Oil Markets Amid Iran War Fallout

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a significant diplomatic call Thursday with Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, signaling Washingtons commitment to regional energy stability as conflict...

Russia Accused of Helping Iran Target U.S. Forces, European Powers Tell G7

European nations have formally accused Russia of providing military intelligence and drone technology to Iran to help target American forces in the Middle East, raising the issue directly with U.S. Secretary of State Marco...

Trump Signs Executive Order to Pay TSA Workers Amid Airport Security Crisis

President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he will sign an executive order directing Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to ensure Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees receive their pay,...

Science

SpaceX Pivots Toward Moon City as Musk Reframes Long-Term Space Vision

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has revealed a significant shift in the companys near-term space exploration strategy, announcing that SpaceX is now prioritizing the development of a self-growing city on the Moon rather than focusing...

SpaceX Prioritizes Moon Mission Before Mars as Starship Development Accelerates

Elon Musks SpaceX is shifting its near-term space exploration strategy, choosing to prioritize a return to the Moon before pursuing missions to Mars, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report citing sources familiar...

NASA and SpaceX Target Crew-11 Undocking From ISS Amid Medical Concern

NASA has confirmed that the agency, in coordination with SpaceX, is targeting no earlier than 5 p.m. Eastern Time (2200 GMT) on Wednesday, January 14, for the undocking of the SpaceX Crew-11 mission from the International...

Neuralink Plans High-Volume Brain Implant Production and Fully Automated Surgery by 2026

Elon Musks brain-computer interface company Neuralink is preparing for a major expansion, announcing plans to begin high-volume production of its brain implant devices and transition to a fully automated surgical procedure...

Jared Isaacman Confirmed as NASA Administrator, Becomes 15th Leader of U.S. Space Agency

The U.S. Senate has officially confirmed billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman as the new NASA administrator, making him the 15th leader in the agencys history. The confirmation, which took place on Wednesday, marks...

Technology

Federal Judge Blocks Pentagon's Blacklisting of AI Company Anthropic

A federal judge has temporarily prevented the Pentagon from enforcing its designation of Anthropic as a national security supply-chain risk, dealing an early blow to the Trump administration in a growing dispute over...

SMIC Allegedly Supplies Chipmaking Tools to Iran's Military, U.S. Officials Warn

Chinas top semiconductor manufacturer, SMIC (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation), has reportedly been transferring chipmaking equipment to Irans military industrial complex, according to two senior Trump...

Google's TurboQuant Algorithm Sends Memory Chip Stocks Tumbling

Major memory chipmakers took a significant hit on Thursday after Google researchers introduced a groundbreaking compression algorithm that threatens to reduce artificial intelligence demand for memory chips. Samsung...

Reflection AI Eyes $25 Billion Valuation in Massive $2.5 Billion Funding Round

Nvidia-backed artificial intelligence startup Reflection AI is in advanced discussions to secure $2.5 billion in fresh funding, with negotiations pointing to a staggering pre-money valuation of $25 billion, according to a...

Nanya Technology Shares Surge 10% After $2.5 Billion Private Placement from Sandisk and Cisco

Shares of Taiwan-based memory chip manufacturer Nanya Technology soared to their daily limit of 10% on Thursday morning following the companys announcement of a major $2.5 billion private placement deal backed by prominent...