Dr. Alan Ao, RPh has over twenty years of retail experience working with patients in unique pharmaceutical markets. As an independent retail pharmacist, he specialized in patient care counseling, medication therapy management, prescription drug compounding, and alternative medicine. His experience with medical cannabis began serving as Vice President/Clinical Pharmacist in one of New Jersey’s first vertically integrated alternative treatment centers.

More recently, Dr. Ao is the founder of Plants and Prescriptions, a medical cannabis consulting firm bridging the gap between cannabis and modern-day healthcare. He's also the founder of Vigor Dispensary, an adult-use retail cannabis dispensary in New Jersey focused on health and wellness with an anticipated launch in 2024.

He is currently the course instructor for dispensary training with the Minority Cannabis Academy as well as NJ Cannabis Certified. Dr. Ao is also actively involved with various professional cannabis organizations including the International Society of Cannabis Pharmacists, Society of Cannabis Clinicians, and the Association for Cannabis Health Equity and Medicine.