New Approaches
to Tobacco Control

Vivien Azer is a Managing Director and senior research analyst specializing in beverages, tobacco, and cannabis sectors. Vivien is the first senior Wall Street analyst to cover the emerging cannabis sector, resulting in notable global press coverage across media outlets such as CNBC, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Barron’s and Forbes. Vivien’s coverage of the tobacco and cannabis sectors earned her industry accolades including a spot on Institutional Investor’s All- America Research Team on several occasions. In 2022, Vivien was selected as one of the most influential names in cannabis on Forbes’ “The Cannabis 42.0” list. She was also named to MJBiz Daily’s list of “20 Women to Watch in 2019” and selected by Business Insider as a “Rising Star of Marijuana Investing.” Prior to joining Cowen and Company in 2014, she spent over nine years at Citi covering consumer staples. Vivien holds a BA from the College of William and Mary and an MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business.

Jasjit S. Ahluwalia is a physician and public health scientist at Brown University’s Schools of Public Health and Medicine, and is the Associate Director of the Legoretta Cancer Center. He has been in academic medicine since 1992 and has been a practicing physician, faculty member, department chair, associate dean and center director in medical schools, and dean of the School of Public Health. His primary research areas are smoking cessation and nicotine addiction in African American smokers. He has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health for 25 years and has published more than 350 manuscripts. Ahluwalia has served on the U.S. government’s National Advisory Council on Minority Health and Health Disparities, on the SRNT board of directors and just completed a 3 year term on the federal government’s Interagency Committee on Smoking and Health chaired by the U.S. Surgeon General. Ahluwalia trained at New York University, received a Doctor of Medicine degree and a Master of Public Health degree at Tulane University, a medical residency at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a clinical epidemiology fellowship at Harvard Medical School, where he received a master’s degree in health policy.

Indrani Pal-Chaudhury is a global human rights activist who focuses much of her career on human trafficking and environmental sustainability. She teaches at Princeton University.

“Described by Rolling Stone as "the point man" for drug policy reform efforts and “the real drug czar,” Ethan Nadelmann is widely regarded as the outstanding proponent of drug policy reform both in the United States and abroad. He founded and directed first The Lindesmith Center and then the Drug Policy Alliance from 1994 to 2017, during which time he and his colleagues were at the forefront of dozens of successful campaigns to legalize marijuana and advance harm reduction alternatives to the war on drugs.  Ethan currently hosts the leading podcast on all things drugs: PSYCHOACTIVE.”

Sammi Toorish is a highly motivated cannabis enthusiast with a deep passion for science, the cannabis plant, and the people both can serve. Sammi is a Colgate University alumna where her focus on International Relations prompted a dedicated interest in issue-based politics, particularly public health; human rights; economic development; and community empowerment. Sammi has deep experience in private market due diligence, political and non-profit fundraising, and cannabis-specific market research.Sammi joined Arcadian Capital in 2021, focused on portfolio management, deal origination, and due diligence. Prior to Arcadian, Sammi spent 3+ years supporting 30+ top PE and VC firms in and outside of cannabis. Sammi was most recently at BDSA, a leading market research firm to the cannabis industry, helping investors and operators utilize data for better investment and strategic decision-making. Previously, Sammi spend time at VU Venture Partners, leading four early-stage investments across Consumer and Frontier verticals.

Laurent Manca is an innovator, inventor and strategist focused on disrupting mature industries. He holds 40+ US and international patents as the co-inventor of heat-not-burn product IQOS. Previously, Laurent worked at Philip Morris on IQOS as well as multiple other Reduced Risk Products. He is a co-founder of the tobacco-free nicotine vaporizer company SMOOD. SMOOD has grown into a global vaping business built on sustainability, advanced chemistry, and granted and pending hardware patents. Laurent graduated from Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne (Bachelor), HEC Geneva (MBA), and MIT (FinTech).

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.

Jeannie Cameron is an expert on the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control FCTC, including attending its negotiation in Geneva and the development of its subsequent Protocol on Illicit Trade. As part of an LLM in 2007, Jeannie earned a distinction from King’s College University of London for a dissertation on the topic of Emerging International Public Health Issues – Human Rights, Harm Reduction, and the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Jeannie has been a parliamentary advisor, chief of staff as well as a civil servant in the International Legal Section of the Australian Cabinet participating in international forums including the Copenhagen World Summit for Social Development and the Beijing UN Platform for Action on Discrimination Against Women. She has consulted for the OECD and served as Co-Chair of the OECD’s Charting Illicit Trade Taskforce on Environmentally Sensitive Goods and Wildlife. Jeannie is CEO of JCIC International, a UK based strategic advocacy consultancy founded in 2011 focused on strategic advocacy. Jeannie has consulted for PMI on various global initiatives and formerly headed BAT’s International Political and Regulatory Affairs area. Jeannie took an 18-month break from consulting in January 2020 to work as Vice President, International at Juul Labs. Jeannie is an active commentator on tobacco harm reduction, public administration and governance reform.

Entrepreneur Julien Lacour-Gayet is the CEO of an electronic NRT development company Ventus Medical.  Previously, Lacour-Gayet served as the International Business Developer at Nespresso, and held various senior management roles at Philip Morris. He was founder and CEO of NEXVAP, a global developer of various NRT drug delivery platforms.   Currently, Lacour-Gayet serves on the board of Ventus Medical Ltd, Nexvap SA, and Neia SA.  Lacour-Gayet possesses a scientific background with a B.A.Sc from Ecole Hotelière de Lausanne and an MBA from IMD.

John has a strong background and reputation in the European e-cigarette industry having held senior executive positions in some of the US and Europe’s biggest companies. As managing director of Dyflin Group Consulting, he advises many leading industry analysts, financial institutions and media organisations looking at the vaping and CBD sectors. John is also Director-General and one of the founders of the UKVIA, the UK’s largest vaping Industry association and has advised the UK government All Party Parliamentary Group on Vaping as well as giving evidence before the UK Science & Technology Committee investigation into the Vaping industry, the Australian and Irish Parliaments review on vaping. John regularly appears on national television, radio as well as national and international print media. John is a popular guest speaker at many of the world’s leading conventions.

Patricia I. Kovacevic is a global legal and compliance nicotine and cannabis industry expert. She currently serves as General Counsel, Corporate Secretary and Head of External Affairs at Cryomass Technologies Inc, and advises clients through her own consulting group, RegulationStrategy. Ms. Kovacevic has over twenty years of experience in the highly regulated nicotine, cannabis and cannabidiol industries. Her career includes leading senior legal and regulatory positions at Philip Morris International and Lorillard, among others.  While at Lorillard, in 2012 she was closely involved with the acquisition of blu, at the time the leading vaping company, which was also the first ever acquisition by a tobacco company of a vaping company. Her team also obtained the first-ever premarket authorization for a new tobacco product issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the Tobacco Control Act. At Nicopure Labs as general counsel she spearheaded the litigation challenging the FDA’s so-called “deeming rule.”  Prior to joining Lorillard, Ms. Kovacevic was a partner at Patton Boggs. Her focus includes M&A in highly regulated industries, such as e-cigarette and tobacco, all aspects of nicotine and cannabis regulation in the US and abroad, SOX compliance and all regulatory aspects of marketing/media communications, corporate affairs, criminal investigations, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, trade sanctions, privacy, and product development and launch. Ms. Kovacevic served on the board of directors of the Vapor Technology Association and on the advisory board of the Global Tobacco & Nicotine Forum. She authored several articles on nicotine regulation and is often invited as a keynote speaker and presenter before global conferences and government agencies. She holds a Juris Doctor degree from Columbia Law School and is admitted to practice in New York, before the United States Tax Court, the United States Court of International Trade and the Supreme Court of the United States of America. She speaks fluently seven languages.

Jordan Nof is a Co-founder and Managing Partner at Tusk Venture Partners L.P. and is a member of the firm’s Investment Committee. He has led many of the firm’s investments including Lemonade, Bird, Coinbase, Alma, Sunday, and Wheel. He currently serves on the board of directors of Alma, Sunday, and Wheel.Prior to Tusk Venture Partners, Jordan spent six years as a Director at Blackstone, where he focused on the development of the firm’s corporate venture capital portfolio. During that time, Jordan focused on investing in early-stage technology companies that could accelerate operations across Blackstone and the firm’s underlying portfolio companies.Before joining Blackstone, Jordan spent four years in the institutional investment management division at AllianceBernstein. During that time, he worked with many of the firm’s largest global institutional sub-advisory relationships.Jordan received an M.B.A. from Rollins Graduate School of Business and is a graduate of Florida State University where he received a B.S. in Finance. He is based out of the firm’s New York office.

Dr. Raymond Niaura is a psychologist and an expert on tobacco dependence and treatment, as well as substance use and addiction to alcohol. Dr. Niaura researches the biobehavioral substrates of tobacco dependence, including factors that influence adolescent and early adult tobacco use trajectories. He also evaluates behavioral and pharmacological treatments for tobacco cessation, with a particular interest in cessation in disadvantaged population to address public health disparities in tobacco-related burdens of illness and disability.

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.

Martin Steinbauer is an entrepreneur and investor focused on medical inhalable devices and aerosolization technology. He co-founded the tobacco-free nicotine vaporizer company SMOOD. SMOOD has grown into a global vaping business built on sustainability, advanced chemistry, and granted and pending hardware patents. Prior to SMOOD, Martin was an investment analyst at BlackRock in New York. Martin graduated from Harvard University with a degree in applied mathematics.

Before Becoming the Co-Founder and President of ANDS. Fadi has reached many milestones in his career, most notably as the GM and Chairman of Philip Morris in Jordan and PAA, global sales strategy at PMI HQ in Switzerland, and the head of commercial deployment in KSA. He also earned well-deserved coveted positions in JUUL labs as the Head of Middle East, Africa & Turkey and the Head of EU Travel Retail. Fadi is an expert in staging, communication, and brand building of Electronic nicotine delivery solutions, from the angles of Harm reduction, regulatory challenges, and product innovation and development.

Dr. John Oyston is a trained anesthesiologist, qualifying as a specialist in both the UK and Canada who has served as Chief of Anesthesiology four times. He was an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto as well as a peer assessor for the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. Dr. Oyston has taught anesthesiology in Rwanda and Ethiopia and founded the organization“Stop Smoking for Safer Surgery” in 2007. He retired from anesthesiology in November 2019 to work on smoking cessation and vaping issues. Dr. Oyston graduated from the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK, with a medical degree and an additional degree in medical research. He writes about tobacco and other issues on a blog at www.johnoyston.com.

Derek Yach is currently an independent global health consultant who has focused his career on the holistic advancement of public health around the world. He was the founder and president of the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World and a former Executive Director of the Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health at the World Health Organization (WHO) where Dr. Yach led the development of WHO’s