Melanie Wentzel is a multi-award-winning Healthcare Strategist, Director of Clinical Innovation, Bestselling Author, Influential Thought Leader, International Speaker, and is currently undertaking her Masters in Neuroscience.
She is the ‘Top Healthcare Strategist of 2026’ as awarded by the International Association of Top Professionals (IAOTP, USA, 2026), and a ‘Women Changing The World Emerging Global Thought Leader’ (UK, 2024).
She is deeply passionate about women and their communities and believes the reemergence of cannabis as a therapeutic tool is our greatest opportunity to improve patient outcomes and experience and relieve pressure on health systems globally.
Melanie Wentzel has committed her career to health system reform and the improvement of health and care for communities in Australia and abroad. She has a rare talent for the meaningful implementation of innovative, person-centred systems, and is deeply passionate about high-performing healthcare; and the potential of medicinal cannabis to reduce pressure on health systems by addressing chronic condition symptom load, improving quality of life, and creating more activated patients – reducing the requirement for medical intervention.
Melanie builds transformational relationships between public health and the cannabis industry through research, education, and advocacy, connecting the dots for practitioners and patients alike. Prior to specialising in cannabis, Melanie delivered over $10M in government and privately funded healthcare transformation projects, for Federal and State Governments, private and not-for-profits, and for Australia’s Medical Colleges.
The author of Cannabis Queens, and #1 bestselling author of A Love Letter to Women in Business (from Women Making a Difference), she is also twice published in the Medical Journal of Australia.
Mel has been a featured guest on 30 podcasts, and further featured in Forbes Magazine, on the cover of CIO Times, and in over 300 press articles since 2024.
She is an appointed judge of the Australian National Cannabis Industry (Cannabiz) Awards, and is an in-demand speaker at international events including MJBizCon, as the Keynote Speaker for the Icelandic Hemp Association’s National Conference, and as a Program Director for the International Cannabis Symposium working towards United Nations drug policy reform.
Melanie is the Director of Healthcare Partnerships and Clinical Innovation for Medigrowth Australia, a biotech and research organisation delivering cannabinoid therapeutics and clinical care to Australians across the lifespan; A Bachelor of Psychological Science (Griffith University), candidate for a Masters in Neuroscience (University of New England, NSW), and a graduate of The Australian Institute of Company Directors, and the Harvard Medical School Executive Education Program.
