Melanie Böckmann is professor of Global Health at the University of Bremen in Germany. Her tobacco-focused research interests lie with implementation research, smokeless tobacco, and tobacco use in tuberculosis patients, predominantly in South Asia and using qualitative methods. She has previously served as SRNT University Innovations Director, volunteered with the SRNT Health Equity Network, and is collaborating with colleagues in the UK, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Japan.

Dr Amanda Farley is Associate Professor of Public Health and Epidemiology at the University of Birmingham in the UK and has been working as a researcher within the field of nicotine and tobacco for over 20 years. During her career she has worked on and led a number of clinical trials to test interventions for smoking cessation both in the UK and internationally. She has also conducted epidemiological work and systematic reviews to quantify the effect of smoking and smoking cessation on physical and mental health conditions and on weight gain after quitting smoking. Beyond her research work, Amanda teaches epidemiological research methods on the master’s in public health and undergraduate medicine degree and delivers lectures on smoking, smoking cessation and vaping on accredited healthcare professional courses at the University of Birmingham. Amanda is also currently an associate editor of the journal addiction, is a member of the research leadership team for the International Primary Care Respiratory Group (IPCRG) and is a steering group member of the Cancer Research UK (CRUK) electronic cigarette research forum.

After completing his PhD on nicotine addiction under Ian P. Stolerman at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, Mohammed Shoaib embarked on a career dedicated to advancing the science of nicotine dependence. His early postdoctoral work at the Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry in Munich produced influential publications, followed by a prolific period at the Addiction Research Center in Baltimore, where he collaborated with Steve Goldberg on nicotine self-administration studies. In recognition of this work, he received the SRNT Outstanding Young Investigator Paper Session Award in 1996.

Throughout his career, his research has focused on the neurobiological determinants of nicotine dependence, with a particular emphasis on developing translational models to evaluate the clinical efficacy of smoking cessation agents while working as a senior lecturer at Newcastle University, UK. This programme of work has contributed to a deeper understanding of addiction mechanisms and informed strategies for therapeutic intervention, reinforcing his commitment to bridging laboratory science with clinical application.

Stephanie Klosterhalfen is a post-doctoral researcher at the Institute of General Practice at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf. She holds an M.Sc. in Health Economics and a Doctorate in Public Health. With several years of experience in nicotine and tobacco research, she coordinates the German Study on Tobacco Use (DEBRA), a nationwide survey on smoking behaviour in Germany. Her research focuses particularly on shisha consumption, with a special interest in its use among adolescents and young adults.

Dr Catherine Kimber is a senior lecturer and lead of the Nicotine, Tobacco and Vaping research group at London South Bank University (LSBU), London, UK. She is an active researcher with over 10 years’ experience of working in the tobacco control and a track record of publishing high-quality peer-reviewed outputs. Her work includes experimental work to measure puffing topographies, nicotine delivery and absorption, public health messaging on harms related to vaping, and optimising smoking cessation interventions which include e-cigarettes. Her early work focused on exploring the theory of nicotine-titration and compensatory behaviours in vapers and suggested that when switching to lower nicotine concentrations, vapers will change their puffing to compensate for the drop in nicotine thereby potentially increasing their exposure to toxicants. Findings from this research programme were replicated in later studies (in-lab and in a real-world settings), contributing to new body of knowledge around compensatory behaviours in vapers, and furthering the understanding of the health and cost implications of limiting nicotine concentrations in e-liquid. Other areas of her work have focused on health warning labels for e-cigarette product packages, i.e. designing alternative labels that contextualize vaping’s risks to promote harm reduction and correct misperceptions. Her most recent work has focused on developing and optimising digital smoking cessation interventions that incorporate e-cigarettes. Catherine has secured and delivered several funded projects as Principal Investigator and lead researcher, including funding from CRUK and the Medical Research Council (MRC). 

Cynthia Fedler is a doctoral researcher at the Institute of General Practice (ifam) at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Health Management and a Master’s degree in Public Health. Her research focuses on tobacco, nicotine, and cannabis use, with a particular interest in waterpipe smoking and smoking cessation. She contributes to the German Study on Tobacco Use (DEBRA), the SHISHA study on waterpipe use, and the EKOCAN project on cannabis use, using quantitative and qualitative methods.

Nicola Lindson is the lead of the Oxford Tobacco Addiction Group in the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences (NDPCHS), University of Oxford. She received her PhD in Behavioural Medicine from the University of Birmingham in 2012. Her research mainly focuses on the efficacy and safety of treatment for tobacco smoking, in particular in population groups with higher smoking prevalence rates, such as people experiencing financial difficulty, living in social housing and experiencing serious mental health issues. She has particular expertise in systematic reviewing and randomised controlled trials. She also contributes to teaching both the undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum at the University of Oxford, and is a Fellow of Kellogg College, University of Oxford.

Felix is a Professor of Health Psychology within the School of Health Sciences, University of East Anglia, and co-lead of the UEA Addiction Research Group. He has a key research interest in the development and evaluation of mobile phone interventions to promote and support health behaviour change (mHealth), particularly smoking cessation.