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Dr. Derek Yach is an independent global health consultant who has focused his career on advancement of public health around the world. He was the founder and president of the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, former Executive Director at the World Health Organization (WHO) where he led the development of WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), and has held senior positions at Yale, PepsiCo, and the Rockefeller Foundation. He has served on the advisory boards of private, public, and philanthropic organizations and published over two hundred peer review articles.

Mgr. Jindřich Vobořil, Pg.Dip. (born 1966) is one of the leading Czech experts on drug issues, which is evidenced by his nearly 30-year experience with the leadership and development of health care and social services and programmes related to the topic. He has systematically worked from the end of the 1980s on the organisation, development and evaluation of community services, especially in the area of drug prevention, treatment and rehabilitation. From 2000 to 2009 he actively took part in projects financed by the European Commission (the Phare LIEN and Partnership, Asia URBs, Access 2000 programmes).

He has also made good use of his extensive experience in the Czech Republic with the development, management and evaluation of community services and health care agencies on an international level: He has lectured and developed community and social advisories as part of projects in Hungary, Afghanistan, Great Britain, Russia, Bolivia, Columbia, Ecuador and Peru; he has also lectured at a number of universities abroad and at numerous international conferences and workshops. He has worked as a consultant for organisations such as the European Union, the UN and the Open Society Institute.

Before taking the position as National Drug Coordinator (2010 – 2018), Jindřich Vobořil served as the chairman and executive director of Association Podané ruce; under his leadership it became the second largest non-governmental organisation in the Czech Republic in the area of drugs. Podané ruce currently provides a comprehensive system of services - from primary prevention, therapeutic community, substitution and psychotherapeutic assistance, to work with drug users in prison - in nearly 40 centers across the Czech Republic.

In February 2022, former National Drug Coordinator resigned and Vobořil became – for the second time -the new National Drug Coordinator.

Jindřich Vobořil studied education and youth work at the J. E. Purkyně University in Olomouc(Mgr.). He graduated with a PG Dip title from John Moores University inLiverpool in the field of Drug Use and Addiction. He received an advisory qualification certificate from Greenwich College, London University in London. In 2006 he was awarded a postgraduate certificate in systematic psychotherapy from the Institute of Systematic Therapy in Prague.

Jindřich Vobořil speaks English, Spanish and Russian.

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 through to 1 September 2024 with grants from Global Action to End Smoking (formerly known as Foundation for Smoke-Free World), an independent, U.S. nonprofit 501(c)(3) grant making organization, accelerating science-based efforts worldwide to end the smoking epidemic. Neither Marewa nor the Centre have any commercial interests in any nicotine or tobacco products.

Suely Castro is a passionate advocate for harm reduction, who has worked on assessing the impact of international approaches to Tobacco Control, focusing on the experience and real-world effectiveness of alternatives to smoking. She has dedicated nearly two decades to researching and travelling the world advocating for alternative nicotine products to be Accessible, Acceptable, and Affordable to those seeking to quit cigarettes.

Suely works tirelessly to foster collaboration and dialogue across borders. Inspired by her personal experience with the impact that smoking and the absence of alternatives can have on families, she set up Quit Like Sweden after witnessing first-handSweden’s incredible achievement. Her goal is to bring the Swedish Experience to the world to help save and improve the lives of millions of people.

Martin Cullip is a former company director and Senior International Fellow of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance Consumer Center, who has written and blogged on free market and lifestyle consumer issues for over a decade. As a user of e-cigarettes and other safer nicotine products, he is a particularly passionate consumer advocate for all forms of tobacco harm reduction and has a keen interest in the rapidly evolving nicotine market and the politics surrounding it. Martin is a former Chair of UK education charity, The New Nicotine Alliance, and has taken part in parliamentary evidence sessions and consumer, industry, and political events on the subject domestically and internationally.

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Described by Rolling Stone as "the point man" for drug policy reform efforts and “the real drug czar,” Ethan Nadelmann (BA, JD, PhD Harvard) is widely regarded as the outstanding proponent of drug policy reform in the United States and abroad. After teaching politics and public affairs at Princeton University (1987-1994), he founded and directed first The Lindesmith Center (1994-2000) and then the Drug Policy Alliance (2000-2017). He also co-founded the Open Society Institute’s International Harm Reduction Development program. Ethan has published extensively and spoken publicly in roughly forty states and forty countries. His TED Talk has over two million views. 

Ethan and his colleagues were at the forefront of dozens of successful campaigns to legalize marijuana, reduce the incarceration of drug law offenders, advance harm reduction approaches to drug use and addiction, and otherwise promote alternatives to the war on drugs. 

Ethan hosts the leading podcast about all things drugs: PSYCHOACTIVE, and he has become increasingly engaged in the debate over tobacco harm reduction.

Former Attorney General of Iowa,Longest-Serving State Attorney General in US History

Thomas John Miller is an American lawyer and politician who served as Attorney General of Iowa, respectively from 1979 to 1991 and from1995 to 2023. Miller's combined tenure of over 40 years in office makes him the longest-serving State Attorney General in United States history.  AsAttorney General, Miller was instrumental in leading to the creation of theMaster Settlement Agreement (MSA). The MSA’s purpose is to reduce smoking in the U.S., especially in youth. In 1998, 52 state and territory attorneys general signed the agreement to recover billions of dollars in health care costs associated with treating smoking-related illnesses.  Miller chaired The Legacy Foundation, which was created by the MSA and became theTruth Initiative in 2015. He has been a continuous advocate of harm reduction throughout his tenure taking a proactive approach with the FDA as a regulator of global importance. His opinion can be read in the WashingtonPost: Let’s not overreact about e-cigarettes. Miller holds a J.D. degree from Harvard Law School.

Mazen Saleh, MSc is policy director for the Integrated Harm Reduction program at the R Street Institute where his team produces research and commentary on public policy related to various forms of harm reduction including: tobacco, opioids, and sexual health. Mazen has appeared as a subject matter expert in a variety of national media outlets including CNBC, National Review, the Washington Post, Inside Sources, RealClear Policy, The Hill, USA Today and more. Prior to joining R Street, Mazen served in senior positions at the National League for Nursing as senior business director and the Association of American Medical Colleges as director of business strategy and development. He got his start in healthcare at Health Systems Research, Inc. where he coordinated projects addressing homelessness and various HIV/AIDS initiatives. He holds a M.Sc. in global health from University College London and a B.A. from Georgetown University. He currently serves on the board of directors for HIPS, a harm reduction service provider and syringe service program based in Washington, D.C.

David Lawson has spent the past 15 years working within the regulated nicotine containing product space in the areas of innovation, regulation, manufacture, clinical and non-clinical science and is currently an Executive Director at Inter Scientific and Ventus Medical. David was responsible for the development, submission and authorisation of the first medical e-cigarette, e-VOKE in 2015. 9 years later David was responsible for the submission of ENHALE, a next generation e-NRT to aid smokers and vapers to quit. A biochemist by education, David holds a Batchelor of Laws, Master of Business administration, a Post Graduate Diploma in Regulatory affairs and a Post Graduate Diploma in Medical Toxicology. David is a fellow of The Organisation for Professionals in Regulatory Affairs and presents on the MSc Programme for Regulatory Affairs on inhalation medicines at the University of Herefordshire. David is a clinical expert for European medical devices and non-clinical expert for European medicines.

Samuel C. Hampsher-Monk is the Managing Director of BOTEC Analysis, a consultancy that conducts international policy research on cannabis, tobacco, and nicotine products. BOTEC’s clients have included national and state regulators, municipal agencies, law firms, testing labs, research institutions, and philanthropies including Global Action to End Smoking (formerly the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World). Sam has led international and interdisciplinary research teams working to optimize regulations to promote public health and minimize unintended consequences that threaten social justice and civil liberties. Sam is the lead author of Tobacco Regulation, Economics, and Public Health; Clearing the Air on E-Cigarettes and Harm Reduction (Springer Nature, 2024). He was educated in the UK and now lives in California with his wife and two children.

Tony Abboud is an attorney, government affairs expert, and regulatory consultant who represents companies in the tobacco and vapor spaces and who serves as the executive director of the Vapor Technology Association (VTA). VTA is a U.S. trade association representing the alternative nicotine products industry. Abboud was instrumental in founding and growing VTA, which advocates for rational science-based regulations and a well-regulated marketplace for lower risk nicotine products as an alternative to cigarettes. Abboud has extensive experience in law, public policy, government and politics. He has represented companies on legal and regulatory issues for more than 25 years. Abboud left the international law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP in 2010 to found his consulting firm, Strategic Government Solutions, which focuses on companies and associations in heavily regulated industries, including the tobacco and vapor industries, and has advised such companies for more than a decade. Abboud is recognized as a leading voice for essential regulations and a balanced discussion of vapor products. He is a frequent speaker at national symposiums and has been extensively quoted in the media, including national print, television and radio. Tony lives near Chicago with his wife, a former Cook County prosecutor, and their three children. Tony earned his B.A. in Political Science from Carleton College in 1988 and his J.D. with distinction from the University of Iowa College of Law in 1994.

Mr. Ao, Weinuo is the Secretary-General of the Electronic Cigarette Professional Committee of the China Electronics Chamber of Commerce (ECCC), China’s only vaping industry association, and one of the main founders of ECCC.

During his eight years in office, he has been committed to being the coordinator of the global vaping industry, promoting the regulation, leading the formulation of the industry standards, and sparing no efforts to protecting minors and guiding the standardized development of the vaping industry.

Mr. Ao is one of the founders of the Global Vape Alliance and has been invited on behalf of China’s vaping industry to speak at various international vaping forums.

Matthew Hanson, CFA began his career in 2001 as a Financial Analyst at Goldman, Sachs & Co. After two years, he moved to Banc of America Securities LLC where he worked as an Analyst in the Global Corporate and Investment Banking division. In 2005, he joined ThinkEquity LLC as an Analyst in Investment Banking, and later became Head of Corporate Finance. In 2011, he became a Partner at GSV Asset Management. In 2016, he moved to Runway Growth Capital as Partner and Head of Origination. In 2018, he joined Best Associates as Managing Director. Since 2019, he has served as the Chief Growth Officer at Black Buffalo Inc.

Matt obtained his AB in Economics, with Honors, from the University of Chicago in 2001. In 2007, he obtained the Chartered Financial Analyst certification from the CFA Institute.

Matt lives in New York City with his wife, Rebecca, and their 5-year-old daughter (Isabel) and 8-month-old son (Leo).

Dr. William Jackson has a background in chemistry from Imperial College, London, where he obtained his undergraduate degree and PhD in chemistry, followed by postdoctoral research at MIT. After 10 years of medicinal research, Dr. Jackson moved into the generic pharmaceutical industry developing novel processes for existing drugs. For the last 20 years he has operated an independent laboratory with his work spanning several areas for various clients. He had been working closely with Zanoprima for several years prior to becoming an employee in 2021.

Frankie Chen is LOST MARY's Head of Communications for the Americas. LOST MARY is a global innovator dedicated to setting the trend and benchmarking the quality for the vaping industry. As a vaper, Frankie is a strong harm reduction advocate who has long championed vaping as an alternative to smoking, giving adults who smoke access to reduced-risk products, amid alignment with regulations and public awareness. Frankie received his B.A. in Communications Arts-Rhetoric from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a M.S. in Public Relations and Corporate Communications from New York University.

Erika Karp is the Executive Director of the Finance Leaders Fellowship at The Aspen Institute, where she leads efforts to transform the finance industry through a shared vision of sustainability and impact. With over 25 years in finance, Erika has pioneered the integration of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors into investment strategies. She founded Cornerstone Capital Group, scaling it to $1.3B AUM before its merger with Pathstone, where she served as Executive Managing Director and Chief Impact Officer. Erika has advised the UN Global Compact and the Clinton Global Initiative, advocating for a more regenerative and inclusive global economy. She holds an MBA from Columbia University and resides in Manhattan with her wife and three daughters.

Huub is an independent consultant on business strategy and public policy. Building on his extensive corporate experience, network, and learnings from external board roles, his advisory work concentrates on (1) Climate change and the energy transition, (2) Public health and nicotine policy, and (3) Fiscal policy for the 21st century. 

Prior to starting his own consultancy, Huub was responsible for leading transformative change at PMI, where he helped steer the company on its path towards a smoke-free future. During his 26 year career at the company, he led PMI’s global product tax strategy and was the architect of the company’s risk-based approach to excise taxation. Following the launch of IQOS in 2014, he initiated a project to evaluate how this new product could change the direction of the company. Early 2016 he recommended company leadership to consider a fundamental change: to see these new, lower risk products not as a line extension to the existing product portfolio, but as a way to strategically disrupt and replace the cigarette market, benefitting consumers and creating long term business value. During his final years at PMI, Huub became the company’s first Chief Sustainability Officer, crafting PMI’s innovative sustainability strategy and purpose.

Following his retirement from PMI in 2020, Huub joined civil society groups concerned about climate change, has been teaching at university and started his own business strategy and public policy consultancy.

Huub is a Dutch national with a degree in Business Econometrics from the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. He is married, has one daughter and lives in Switzerland.

Douglas Teitelbaum is the founder of Homewood Capital. Doug is a well-regarded turn-around specialist and serial entrepreneur.Doug previously co-owned and managed Bay Harbour Management, winning the Absolute Return Award as the 2006 Hedge Fund of the Year. Doug’s had significant background in multiple industries. In the telecom arena, his notable investments and turn-around successes include the restructuring of NextWave Telecom, PCTV, and Motient; funding and growing the then startup NextG Networks, which established the DAS industry (a then new way to architect cellular network towers); and the purchase, turn-around and sale of CLEC Telcove (formerly Adelphia Business Solutions.) Other significant successes under Doug’s ownership include Barneys New York, Planet Hollywood and the Planet Hollywood Resort andCasino (formerly the Aladdin), American Banknote, and Island One Int’l.  

Doug founded NJOY, Inc. to purchase and grow the assets of the former NJOY. Serving as the Executive Chairman of the fastest growing independent eCigarette brand, Doug played a key role in the overwhelmingly positive harm-reduction benefits that millions of former smokers have experienced. NJOY was sold in 2023 to Altria and Doug remains focused on future endeavors in the harm reduction field.

Doug is also a philanthropist with a primary focus on health issues. His work has included the fight against the obesity epidemic as a board member of Project Hope (the Harris Obesity Prevention Effort), and he supports ovarian and prostate cancer research. Doug also led a turn-around of the American Jewish Congress, the oldest American charitable organization, as its CFO and Board Member, for which he received their coveted Isaiah Award.  Doug has won a Drama Desk Award for the Gary Sinise revival of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and a Tony Award as a producer of the 2002 Best Musical Thoroughly Modern Millie. In 2023, Doug was awarded a Medallas de Oro Mayte Spinola for his work in harm reduction in tobacco.

Doug and his wife, Agatha Herrero Pidal, live in Madrid with their two daughters, ages 12 and 9. Doug also has three adult children, a 29-year-old and 26-year-old twins.

Christopher Russell, Ph.D. is a psychologist and Director of Russell Burnett Research and Consultancy Ltd (RBRC), Glasgow, United Kingdom. In his role, Dr. Russell leads the design, conduct, and reporting of perception and behavioral research studies of reduced-risk tobacco and nicotine products, including e-cigarettes/vaping products, heated tobacco products, and modern oral tobacco products. Premarket and post-market studies are designed to yield a range of cross-sectional, experimental, and real-world observational data and information, including but not limited to: (i) the likelihood that tobacco users and non-users will initiate and adopt use of a new product in addition to, in place of, or instead of other, potentially more harmful tobacco/nicotine products; (ii) how adult consumers actually use a new product in their everyday lives in real-world settings; (iii) how cigarette smoking behavior changes following adoption of a new product (e.g., product switching, dual use, use reduction, cessation); (iv) behavioral intentions, appeal, risk perceptions, and subjective effects of a new product; and (v) consumer understanding of product labels, labelling, and marketing materials. These sources of evidence can inform regulatory evaluations of the potential impact of marketing a new tobacco/nicotine product on future tobacco use behavior and population health.

Rachael Trimpert Schmidt (retired CAPT, USPHS) brings over a decade of experience in regulatory and compliance solutions within the tobacco and nicotine industry. With a distinguished tenure at the FDA, serving as the Assistant Director of Laboratory Compliance & Coordination of the CTP, she spearheaded crucial initiatives to enforce the FSPTCA of 2009. During her tenure at FDA, CAPT Schmidt played a pivotal role in establishing and coordinating FDA tobacco regulatory laboratories, ensuring rigorous adherence to regulatory standards. Her leadership was instrumental in developing and executing comprehensive tobacco product testing programs, encompassing pre-market application reviews, post-market compliance assessments, adverse event evaluations, and the development of tobacco product standards. Schmidt's expertise extends to fostering collaboration with national and international stakeholders to harmonize tobacco enforcement and policy efforts.

Dr. Ian Jones received his B.S. Psychology from Southeastern University followed by a M.S. Psychology at Oklahoma State University in 2021 and graduated with his Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology (Specializing in Cognitive & Social Psychology, with a quantitative concentration) from Oklahoma State University. While at OSU, Ian was awarded the Experimental Research and Scholarship Award for the research he conducted as a Graduate Research Assistant. Ian has academia experiences teaching introductory to psychology and lab courses in statistics at the graduate and undergraduate level.

Ian has worked on several nationally funded projects across multiple psychological disciplines, including developmental, social, and personality psychology. Jones specializes in theoretical psychology / quantitative psychology, and person-centered data analysis techniques. Jones has acquired broad human-focused disciplines including social, personality, developmental, and cognitive psychology, emphasizing a deeper understanding of cause-and-effect in experimental research.

Pete Thurlow is an accomplished patent attorney with extensive experience in developing strategic frameworks to safeguard intellectual property for inventors, startups, and multinational corporations. His practice encompasses a wide range of services, including patent application preparation, freedom-to-operate analyses, and patent litigation.

In addition to his legal practice, Pete plays an active role in fostering innovation through investor relations. He regularly organizes meetings that connect pioneering companies with family office investors and collaborates with organizations such as the Center for Advancing Innovation to drive investment in transformative technologies.

His leadership experience includes serving as President of the New York Intellectual Property Law Association, and he was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to the Patent Public Advisory Committee at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Furthermore, Pete provides strategic guidance to DARPA on the commercialization of defense technologies and the establishment of strategic partnerships, drawing on his military background and comprehensive legal expertise.

With over three decades of experience in-house and in private practice, Agustin provides cross-functional, multidisciplinary counsel to advertising, marketing and consumer goods and services companies. He brings years of previous experience managing in-house legal teams for a Fortune 200 international consumer packaged goods company. Agustin guides clients as they navigate federal, state and local regulation of the marketing, advertising, and sale of products and services, with a special focus on tobacco, cannabis and other highly regulated spaces. He regularly advises on compliance issues related to Food & Drug Administration (FDA), Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and other product, marketing and advertising regulation, unfair and deceptive trade practices compliance, federal and state excise tax and licensing laws and regulations, and other relevant legislative and rule-making matters. Prior to joining Troutman Pepper, Agustin was a Vice President and Associate General Counsel at Altria Group, Inc.

Azim Chowdhury, Partner at Keller and Heckman LLP, is a leading expert on U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory compliance, particularly in the areas of vapor, nicotine, tobacco products, and cannabis/CBD. He advises domestic and international corporations on navigating complex regulatory frameworks, including the FDA's Deeming Rule and the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco ControlAct. Azim counsels manufacturers, distributors, and trade associations on compliance and public policy initiatives. He is a recognized thought leader, frequently speaking at industry conferences and contributing to publications on tobacco regulatory matters. Azim also spearheads his firm’s annual E-Vapor and Tobacco Law Symposium and serves as editor of The Continuum of Risk blog.

Tim Andrews is the Director of Consumer Issues at Americans for Tax Reform and the Tholos Foundation. Prior to moving to the United States he was the President of the Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance, and the founder of the Australian “Legalize Vaping” campaign. A graduate of the University of Sydney with degrees in Economics, Law, and a Masters of Public Policy, he has been published throughout the United States and Australia. In 2022 he ran the“We Vape We Vote” bus tour throughout the United States.

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Dr. Roxana Weil leads the Business Development and Scientific Engagement team and serves as Chief Regulatory Science Officer for McKinney Specialty Labs. Roxana holds a PhD in Pharmacology and Physiology from the University of Florida, a MSc and BSc in Biology from University of Waterloo, Canada. She is a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology (DABT) with specialized expertise in human health risk assessment and toxicology, and extensive experience spanning across U.S. FDA and Global Regulatory Strategy, Organizational Development, Risk Management and Tobacco Regulatory Science and Policy. Prior to joining McKinney Specialty Labs, Roxana successfully lead and implemented JUUL Lab Inc.’s Product Integrity function and Toxicology programs, and served as a Lead Toxicologist at the U.S. FDA Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) where she was responsible for leading an interdisciplinary team of scientists, providing science-policy recommendations and developing the scientific basis to support regulations, guidance and review of tobacco product applications via all regulatory pathways.