Are you as excited for #GFN23 as we are? As preparations for this year’s conference in Warsaw (21 – 24 June) intensify, we have a couple of important announcements to make. We know that you’ve been hotly anticipating who will be speaking at #GFN23 – well, without further ado, we are very happy to announce our keynote speakers and the Michael Russell Orator for this year’s conference!

To start things off, we are pleased to welcome Sarah Cooney as our first keynote speaker of #GFN23, who will be delving into “The politics of scientific publishing”. Sarah Cooney is a science engagement specialist focusing on harm reduction and science communication, now running her own consultancy based in the UK. In her earlier career, Sarah held various editorial and publishing roles at leading peer-reviewed journals including Nature, Elsevier and BioMedCentral. She then spent nearly 12 years at British American Tobacco, establishing the company’s science engagement and communication capability to share the science behind less-risky nicotine products. With a BSc in genetics and an MSc in plant genetics, Sarah’s own research has been published in the internationally-renowned journal, Science.

Our second keynote speaker, Paul Newhouse, M.D., will address “The role of nicotinic systems in brain disorders”. Dr Newhouse holds the Jim Turner Chair in Cognitive Disorders at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, US, where he is Professor of Psychiatry, Pharmacology, and Medicine. His research has focused on brain cholinergic mechanisms in cognitive ageing and the role of nicotinic cholinergic receptor systems in normal and impaired cognitive functioning in humans. Dr Newhouse’s work established the importance of brain nicotinic cholinergic receptor systems in normal cognitive processes and established these receptors as a therapeutic target in Alzheimer’s disease and related conditions.

And finally, Dr Roberto Sussman will be giving this year’s Michael Russell Oration! Dr Sussman is a full-time senior researcher and lecturer at the Institute for Nuclear Sciences of the National University of Mexico. His main research areas are General Relativity and Cosmology, but he has conducted research in other areas of Physics, including peer reviewed publications on e-cigarette aerosols. Dr Sussman is also Founder and Director of Pro-Vapeo Mexico, an association representing Mexican consumers of noncombustible nicotine products, and is actively advocating for an appropriate regulation of these products in Mexico. He directs and supervises the effort to spread scientific information about safer nicotine products and advises consumers on countering the misinformation and prejudice about them that is common throughout Latin America. Dr Sussman’s oration, entitled “A rigorous critical evaluation of tobacco and nicotine science”, looks to explore this theme in much-anticipated detail.

GFN FIVES – GET INVOLVED!

We know that many of you reading this have been hard at work with a vast array of THR-related projects this past year. So, why not take the opportunity to join the melting pot of expertise that is GFN, by contributing to #GFNFives? Our take on the usual poster format of other conferences, #GFNFives offers you the chance to speak directly to conference attendees and viewers, and illuminate us all with your nicotine-related research, exciting piece of THR news or your consumer advocacy work. Record and submit a 5 minute video, animation or voiceover before 2 MAY 2023 on any of the following topics: Science and Innovation; Policy, Legislative and Regulatory Issues; and Consumer Advocacy, Regional Updates and General Information. You can find more info on how to apply here. We will publish your #GFNFives videos as soon as we approve them, so the earlier you submit, the more people will see them!

You can view previous #GFNFives entries here – in 2022 we had entries on topics ranging from the debate over flavour bans, to providing THR messaging over community radios. Given the breadth of topics explored last year, we can’t wait to see what you have in store for us this year! Oh, and the best bit? #GFNFives are open to everyone, not just conference attendees! So why not create your own #GFNFive?

REGISTER TODAY

Finally, don’t forget to register for #GFN23! Once you’ve registered, you can go ahead and buy your conference passes for in-person attendance from Wednesday 21 to Saturday 24 June in Warsaw. Registering will also give you access to selected parts of the conference programme online for free. We can’t wait to see you in June, whether that’s online or in person!

Keep your eyes peeled on your inbox, on social media (join us on Twitter and Facebook) and over on GFN•TV for more conference updates and programme reveals, we have loads of exciting news to share!

The GFN Conference Team