Danielle began working in the vaping industry in 2013 as a Graphic Designer and about a year later she was finally able to quit a 10 year smoking habit. In 2015 she created a popular series of videos on YouTube called “The Truth About Vaping” which launched her journey into Tobacco Harm Reduction advocacy. She served on the board of Not Blowing Smoke from 2016-2017 and joined the board of the Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association (CASAA) in 2019. In 2021 she was elected President of the Board of CASAA. Danielle is passionate about harm reduction, advocacy, and making sure the consumer voice is represented in policy debates and decisions. She frequently creates educational graphics for circulation on social media, in addition to researching and writing on the politics and misinformation surrounding vaping.
Dov is a seasoned tax and regulatory attorney with over 20 years of experience in state and local tax and regulatory matters with a focus on tobacco, vapor, CBD and cannabis products.
He has advised clients in the areas of federal and state, cigarette, tobacco, cannabis and vapor excise tax, licensing and regulatory matters. Dov regularly advises clients on all aspects of compliance with the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act (“PACT Act”).
Dov acts as primary excise tax and regulatory counsel for a broad range of companies. He represents clients before various regulatory agencies including: the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) and state taxing authorities.
Christopher Russell, Ph.D. is a behavioral 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 conducts prospective observational cohort studies to characterize adults’ longitudinal tobacco product use transitions, including patterns of using the same products, switching products, adding products, initiating products, and stopping use of products. RBRC also designs and conducts consumer experience testing, flavor preference and impact studies, and studies of potential consumers’ risk perceptions, behavioral intentions, and understanding of the labels, labelling, and advertising of candidate THR products. 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.
Sarah is a science engagement specialist focusing on harm reduction and science communication. She joined BAT in 2010 to establish R&D’s science engagement team to better communicate the science behind less-risky nicotine products to regulatory and general audiences. She drove a real change in BAT’s publishing strategy and created the visitor programme, science exhibition and a series of award-winning science reports – which showcased the company’s reduced risk product research in an accessible way. Prior to BAT, she held various publishing roles at Nature, Elsevier, Wiley and BioMedCentral. She holds a BSc in genetics and an MSc in plant genetics both from the University of Toronto, and her research has been published in Science. She is also dedicated to choral singing!
Vicki Crowder is the President of Custom Technologies which is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. She is also the President and Co-Founder of Custom Teleconnect, Inc. which has provided software solutions and services to the adult correctional industry for more than 20 years. Upon the request of Sheriff’s and jail administrators in 2012, Custom Technologies with the help of law enforcement, designed a jail/prison specific eCigarette ~ eCig4Inmate to replace traditional tobacco products being sold in jail and prison commissaries, and to meet the very specific safety requirements needed for incarcerated adults suffering from nicotine withdrawal in a very stressful environment. eCig4nmate has significantly reduced the use of dangerous black-market contraband being smoked in “smoke-free” jails and prisons as well. Over the past 10 years, Vicki has become a fierce harm reduction advocate for this vulnerable adult population. Her dream would be to one day provide educational materials on harm minimization between tobacco products to the incarcerated population, with the hope they will not return to the more harmful options upon release. Vicki belongs to many State and National Law Enforcement and Vaping/Harm Reduction associations.
TBD
Biography coming soon.
Aimee is a European Registered Toxicologist. With a 14 year career at BAT, spanning BAT’s multiple product categories. Currently focusing on vapour products and working with her team to deliver toxicological risk assessments to support reduced risks products.
Biography Coming Soon!
An experienced legal, regulatory & compliance department leader, Patricia I. Kovacevic’s career comprises leading senior legal & regulatory positions with tobacco & cannabis corporations, including Philip Morris International & Lorillard, as well as partner roles with premier global law firms. Her expertise includes senior management roles & leading multinational, cross-disciplinary teams, with focus on corporate law, FDA & EU regulatory, compliance, M&A, US & global food, drug, nicotine & consumer goods regulation, cannabis/CBD regulation, external affairs & the legal framework applicable to marketing, media communications, investigations, FCPA, trade sanctions, privacy, intellectual property, product development & launch. She also led cross-disciplinary teams engaged in scientific research efforts. Kovacevic served on various trade association bodies & conference advisory boards. She authored several articles on nicotine regulation, co-authored an academic treatise, “The Regulation of E-Cigarettes” & is often invited as a keynote speaker or panelist before global conferences & government agencies public hearings. Kovacevic is an attorney admitted to practice in New York, before the U.S. Tax Court, before the U.S. Court of International Trade & before the Supreme Court of the United States. She holds a Juris Doctor (doctor of law) degree from Columbia Law School in New York & completed the Harvard Business School “Corporate Leader” executive education program.
Bio Coming Soon
Dr. Niaura is Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences and Epidemiology at the School of Global Public Health, New York University. From 2009-2017, he was Director of Research at the Schroeder Institute, Truth Initiative (formerly the American Legacy Foundation). He has extensive expertise in tobacco dependence and treatment, and he has published over 400 peer-reviewed articles and several book chapters in this area. His interests include studying the biobehavioral substrates of tobacco dependence; evaluating behavioral and pharmacological treatments for cessation; and understanding and addressing public health disparities in tobacco-related burdens of illness and disability. He has been Principal Investigator (PI) or co-Investigator of over 30 NIH-funded grants, and he is the former President of the Society of Nicotine and Tobacco Research. He was also PI of one of the NIH-sponsored Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Centers (TTURC), and is currently a co-I of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study (PATH, funded by National Institute on Drug Abuse/Center for Tobacco Products, FDA), a national, longitudinal cohort study of more than 40,000 users and non-users of tobacco products ages 12+, including adolescents and young adults.
Biography Coming Soon!
Azim Chowdhury advises domestic and international corporations on regulatory compliance with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and its global counterparts, particularly focusing on vapor, nicotine, tobacco product and cannabis/CBD regulation, as well as food-contact materials.
He counsels tobacco, e-cigarette, e-liquid and CBD manufacturers, distributors, retailers, suppliers, and trade associations on matters relating to regulatory compliance, as well as public policy initiatives. Azim is nationally recognized as an expert on the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which amended the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to give FDA authority over tobacco products, as well the Agency’s “Deeming Rule” which extended those authorities to previously unregulated products such as electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), e-liquids, cigars, hookah/shisha, and heat-not-burn tobacco products. Azim also advises companies and trade associations on state and global law compliance, including in Canada, the United Kingdom, the EU, and China.
Biography to come!
Bio coming soon.
Bethea (Annie) Kleykamp, M.A., Ph.D. is a scientist, writer, and harm reduction advocate committed to removing the barriers that separate the public from health research and policy. Annie owns and operates BAK and Associates, LLC, which provides expert guidance on science communication, biomedical research methods, and systematic review development. She was most recently the Senior Director of Quality and Science at the American Society of Addiction Medicine. Since completing her training in behavioral pharmacology ten years ago, Annie has worked in the public, private, and non-profit sectors with a focus on evidence-based medicine and substance use/addiction. Annie has published over 65 scholarly publications, systematic reviews/meta-analyses, and popular press articles covering a range of topics in healthcare, including tobacco and opioid use, older adults, chronic pain, research integrity, and clinical trial design. She has also presented over 50 invited conference presentations and held positions at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, the University of Maryland College Park, Goucher College, and the United States Naval Academy.
In the 12 years in between then and now, I’ve been lucky enough to travel the globe attending vape shows, meeting and talking with fellow ex-smokers. I’ve organized a few vape shows myself. I’ve had the honor of sitting on panel discussions regarding vape legislation and harm reduction with people like Dr Marewa Glover and Alex Wodak. I racked up over 300,000 subs on YouTube somehow and uploaded over a thousand videos and livestreams, with over 83million views. 160K #GrimmArmy fam on Instagram, 45K Twitter followers. I’ve been on TV a few times, I got to be in a feature length documentary You Don’t Know Nicotine. I’ve been featured in The Guardian, Twice. I also Ended up in Rolling Stone magazine and in Vice as well for some reason. All just because I wanted to quit smoking and help other smokers quit.
Neil McKeganey Ph.D. FRSA is co-director of the Center for Substance Use Research which he set up at the University of Glasgow in 1994. In 1997 McKeganey was awarded a personal professorship in substance use research at the University of Glasgow. In 2011 the Centre for Substance Use Research became a fully independent centre focusing on tobacco harm reduction with multiple studies focused on assessing the public health impact of new tobacco and nicotine products including e-cigarettes. Neil McKeganey is the author/editor of 8 books and more than 200 academic papers. McKeganey has acted as an advisor to a wide range of national and international public bodies including the UK Medical Research Council, the U.K. Economic and Social Research Council, the World Health Organisation, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and the U.S. Department of Justice. McKeganey is a sociologist specializing in qualitative research although in recent years he has been associated with various large-scale quantitative studies. McKeganey has undertaken extensive research assisting companies seeking regulatory approval for their products through applications submitted under the PMTA process to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Biography Coming Soon
Biography Coming Soon!
Tim Phillips is managing director of ECigIntelligence, the leading source of independent data for the e-cigarette and vaping sector globally, providing unbiased information to numerous leading international companies together with government regulators such as the FDA and the UK government. He is also managing director of a sister publication, CBD-Intel, which is a business intelligence service providing professional, independent market analysis and regulatory tracking for the growing cannabidiol sectors worldwide.
He is a U.K.-qualified attorney, having worked at the European Commission, Herbert Smith, BSkyB, AOL Europe, and as director of public affairs at Betfair as it went through its £1.5bn IPO in 2010. He was also a partner in a New York venture capital-funded startup in the diamond sector. Phillips qualified as a lawyer at the College of Law, London, and holds an MA in Geology from Oxford University.
Biography coming soon.
Pete Lomas has over 25 years’ experience in product development, most notably with medical devices and ENDS products. Before joining Broughton as a consultant, Pete was responsible for the development of electronic vapor and heated tobacco products at Imperial Brands. He has a proven background in novel and innovative product development, with over 80 published patent applications to his name. Pete has also been involved with several PMTA and MAA submissions related to ENDS products.
Martin Steinbauer is an entrepreneur and investor focused on aerosolization technology. He co-founded the non-tobacco nicotine company SMOOD. SMOOD has grown into a global 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 an A.B. degree in Applied Mathematics.
Cheryl K. Olson, MPH, Sc.D. is a behavioral scientist internationally recognized for her work on health risk behaviors (including tobacco harm reduction) and the influence of media on youth. She earned a doctorate in health and social behavior from the Harvard School of Public Health, and a Postdoctoral European Certificate in Pharmaceutical Medicine from the University of Basel (Switzerland). She spent 15 years on the psychiatry faculty of Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, where she co-directed the Center for Mental Health and Media.
Dr. Olson developed the QuitAssist smoking cessation program for PMUSA/Altria. She has written/edited a half-dozen popular books on health and several dozen scientific articles. Her monthly column on public health appears in Tobacco Reporter. Her 2019 ENDS US presentation was “End the Tribal Warfare: Productive Conversations Between Industry and Public Health.” She consults on nicotine product perception and behavior research through McKinney Regulatory Science Advisors, LLC.
Yoryos is a co-founder and Executive Director of GEAM Advisors P.C., a consultancy company focussed on providing assessments of human behaviors in individual and population levels. Furthermore, the company is supporting the pharmaceutical and the medical device industries in the discovery and development of new products for human use on the field of CNS.
He is also a Professor of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychopharmacology, Head of the Dual Diagnosis University Psychiatric Clinic at the General Hospital "Agioi Anargyroi", Athens Greece.
Samy Hamdouche, Ph.D., is a co-founder and Chief Operating Officer at LUCY, a modern oral nicotine company whose mission is to reduce tobacco related harm to zero. Prior to LUCY, Samy helped to start and build a number of biopharmaceutical companies, including Avidity Biosciences and Kura Oncology, where he discovered and developed drugs to treat serious diseases. Samy earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics from the California Institute of Technology.
