Riccardo Polosa is the Founder of the Center of Excellence for the acceleration of HArm Reduction (CoEHAR - University of Catania, Italy). Dr Polosa is Full Professor of Internal Medicine for the same University and Director of the Center for Smoking Prevention and Treatment at the University Hospital "Policlinico-V. Emanuele” of Catania. Dr. Polosa and the CoEHAR team of researchers conduct several high-profile clinical and behavioral research in the field of smoking-related diseases. According to a bibliometric analysis, Professor Polosa is considered the most productive scientist in the world in the field of electronic cigarette research.

Dr. Moira Gilchrist leads the global strategic and scientific communications for Philip Morris International (PMI). From bringing to life PMI’s fast-pace progress as it evolves into a smoke-free business and expands in areas outside the tobacco and nicotine space, to translating the science behind PMI’s smoke-free alternatives into information that policymakers and the public can easily understand, Moira and her team are at the heart of the company’s historic evolution. She regularly engages with public health authorities, media, and decision-makers around the world, demonstrating the benefits of scientifically substantiated, smoke-free products for those adults who would otherwise continue smoking and calling for risk-proportionate regulation that affords these people accurate information about and access to these better alternatives. In short, she plays a vital role in PMI’s transition away from cigarettes and its journey toward a better, smoke-free future.

Prior to her current role, Moira held several positions within PMI, including leading the
Reduced-Risk Products Corporate Affairs team, serving as director of Scientific
Engagement within the R&D function, and working in both product development and
commercialization.
Before joining PMI in 2006, Moira worked in the pharmaceutical sector for more than a
decade. She was a principal consultant within PwC’s and IBM’s pharmaceutical industry
consulting groups and held positions within both industry and nonprofit organizations as
a developer of drug formulations.
Moira holds a degree in Pharmacy and a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences, both from the
University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland.

Christopher Russell, Ph.D. is a psychologist and Director of Russell Burnett Research &

Consultancy Ltd (RBRC), a contract research organization that specializes in the design,

conduct, and reporting of perception and behavioral studies of the potential population health

risks and benefits of candidate tobacco harm reduction (THR) products, such as ENDS,

heated tobacco products, and modern oral tobacco products. RBRC designs studies to

characterize adults’ use and perceptions of new tobacco products, longitudinal tobacco

product use transitions, and understanding of product labels, labelling, and marketing

materials. Results of these studies help to inform PMTA, MRTPA, and other applicable

regulatory assessments of the potential impact of candidate THR products on future tobacco

use behavior and population health.

David Sweanor is an adjunct professor, Faculty of Law, and chair of the advisory board of the Centre for Health Law, Policy & Ethics at the University of Ottawa and has been actively involved in tobacco and health policy issues since the beginning of the 1980s. He has worked globally, and with numerous groups, including the International Union Against Cancer, World Health Organization, World Bank and the Pan American Health Organization and played a key role in achieving many global precedents in tobacco policy. He currently focuses much of his tobacco and nicotine related efforts on risk reduction strategies.

Christopher Russell, Ph.D. is a psychologist and Director of Russell Burnett Research &

Consultancy Ltd (RBRC), a contract research organization that specializes in the design,

conduct, and reporting of perception and behavioral studies of the potential population health

risks and benefits of candidate tobacco harm reduction (THR) products, such as ENDS,

heated tobacco products, and modern oral tobacco products. RBRC designs studies to

characterize adults’ use and perceptions of new tobacco products, longitudinal tobacco

product use transitions, and understanding of product labels, labelling, and marketing

materials. Results of these studies help to inform PMTA, MRTPA, and other applicable

regulatory assessments of the potential impact of candidate THR products on future tobacco

use behavior and population health.

Professor Marewa Glover is one of New Zealand’s leading tobacco control researchers. She has worked on reducing smoking-related harm for 31 years. She is recognized internationally for her advocacy on tobacco harm reduction; and locally was a Finalist in the New Zealander of the Year Supreme Award in 2019 recognising her contribution to reducing smoking in NZ. In 2018, Dr Glover was appointed Tobacco Section Editor for the Harm Reduction Journal. In that year she also established the Centre of Research Excellence: Indigenous Sovereignty & Smoking an international program of research aimed at reducing smoking-related harms among Indigenous peoples globally. The Centre’s research was funded with grants from the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, Inc. (“FSFW”), a US nonprofit 501(c)(3) private foundation.

David Sweanor is an adjunct professor, Faculty of Law, and chair of the advisory board of the Centre for Health Law, Policy & Ethics at the University of Ottawa and has been actively involved in tobacco and health policy issues since the beginning of the 1980s. He has worked globally, and with numerous groups, including the International Union Against Cancer, World Health Organization, World Bank and the Pan American Health Organization and played a key role in achieving many global precedents in tobacco policy. He currently focuses much of his tobacco and nicotine related efforts on risk reduction strategies.

Konstantinos Farsalinos, MD, MPH, is a physician and a research associate at the University of Patras and the University of West Attica in Greece. His field of expertise is Public Health. He has been conducting laboratory, clinical and epidemiological research on smoking, tobacco harm reduction and nicotine products as principal investigator since 2011. He authored the first systematic review on e-cigarette safety/risk profile, published in 2014. Additionally, he has performed research and published studies on heated tobacco products. His findings have been presented in major international scientific congresses and his studies were used in preparing the regulatory framework on e-cigarettes by the European Union in 2014. As of early 2024, he has published more than 100 studies and articles in international peer-reviewed scientific journals, mostly about smoking, tobacco harm reduction and alternative-to-smoking nicotine products. He has presented in more than 80 international conferences and he was the handling editor and author of a book titled "Analytical assessment of e-cigarettes", published by Elsevier in 2017. In November 2020, he was declared a Highly Cited Researcher 2019 by the Web of Science, a list of researchers (6200 scientists out of 9 million examined) with the highest impact in global science in 21 scientific fields in the past decade. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he has published 10 peer-reviewed articles and several pre-prints about COVID-19, including the association between smoking, nicotine and COVID-19.

Stefanie Miller is vice president of external affairs at Juul Labs Inc. Prior to joining Juul Labs, Miller spent more than a decade as a Wall Street analyst with expertise in political and policy risk to financial markets and companies therein, including the nicotine and tobacco industries. Miller began her career working for a former U.S. senator from her home state of Nebraska. She received her Master of Business Administration degree from Georgetown University and her Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and political science from the University of Nebraska.

CECILIA KINDSTRAND-ISAKSSON, SWEDEN Cecilia Kindstrand is Director of Public Affairs for Swedish Match, a company with tobacco harm reduction at the core of its business. The company divested its cigarette business in 1999 and is now offering products that are recognized as safer alternatives to cigarettes. She is based in Brussels and has worked extensively with the EU regulatory matters, especially the TPD 2014/40 a legislation banning the ‘proof of concept’ of tobacco harm reduction in 26 of the 27 Member States.

Scott J. Leischow, Ph.D. joined the Mayo Clinic in 2012, where he leads the Research on Health Equity and Community Health (REACH) Program at Mayo Clinic Arizona, and co-leads Cancer Prevention and Control within the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center. He was formerly University of Arizona and also served as Senior Advisor for Tobacco Policy in the US Department of Health and Human Services and Chief of the Tobacco Control Research Branch at the National Cancer Institute of NIH. Dr. Leischow completed his doctorate in Health Education from the University of Maryland, and a postdoctoral fellowship in Behavioral Pharmacology from Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Leischow has received several awards, including the NIH Director’s Award. Most of Dr. Leischow’s research and publications focus on pharmacologic and behavioral treatments for tobacco dependence, along with systems and network approaches to public health. Dr. Leischow is past President of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT).

Colin Mendelsohn has worked as a medical practitioner, academic and researcher in smoking cessation and tobacco harm reduction for 40 years. He is the Founding Chairman of the Australian Tobacco Harm Reduction Association and was a Conjoint Associate Professor in the School of Public Health and Community Medicine at the University of New South Wales. He is a member of the expert advisory group that develops the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners’ national smoking cessation guidelines. He is actively involved in teaching, writing, researching and advocating for tobacco harm reduction.

David Sweanor is an adjunct professor, Faculty of Law, and chair of the advisory board of the Centre for Health Law, Policy & Ethics at the University of Ottawa and has been actively involved in tobacco and health policy issues since the beginning of the 1980s. He has worked globally, and with numerous groups, including the International Union Against Cancer, World Health Organization, World Bank and the Pan American Health Organization and played a key role in achieving many global precedents in tobacco policy. He currently focuses much of his tobacco and nicotine related efforts on risk reduction strategies.

Riccardo Polosa is the Founder of the Center of Excellence for the acceleration of HArm Reduction (CoEHAR - University of Catania, Italy). Dr Polosa is Full Professor of Internal Medicine for the same University and Director of the Center for Smoking Prevention and Treatment at the University Hospital "Policlinico-V. Emanuele” of Catania. Dr. Polosa and the CoEHAR team of researchers conduct several high-profile clinical and behavioral research in the field of smoking-related diseases. According to a bibliometric analysis, Professor Polosa is considered the most productive scientist in the world in the field of electronic cigarette research.