Australian healthcare strategist Melanie Wentzel has been named Top Healthcare Strategist of 2026 by the International Association of Top Professionals (IAOTP), an invitation-only US organisation.
IAOTP said Wentzel was recognised for her leadership, industry impact, and sustained contribution to healthcare strategy, policy, and reform.
Wentzel has worked across healthcare reform, public policy, and the global cannabis sector for more than a decade, delivering projects for government and private organisations internationally.
In 2025, she published Cannabis Queens, an independent project examining the role of women in the global cannabis industry. The book has since been distributed across 16 countries and referenced by clinicians and policymakers.
Wentzel told Cannabiz the award was determined by a small IAOTP board, with recipients unable to nominate, apply, or pay for consideration.
“It’s a pretty incredible honour and has already boosted my US visibility,” she said.
She will be formally inducted at IAOTP’s annual awards in New York in December.
Neurotech International
Neurotech has had clinical and mechanistic data for its broad-spectrum cannabinoid drug therapy NTI164 published in the peer-reviewed journal Neurotherapeutics.
The publication reported results from a sub-cohort of patients in the firm’s Phase I/II trial in paediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome (PANS), alongside multi-omics analysis of immune and epigenetic pathways.
Managing director and chief executive Dr Anthony Filippis said the publication represented another key piece of validation for both Neurotech and NTI164.