In the field of harm reduction, there are a lot of women who stand for the smokers’ right to choose safer alternatives to quit smoking. Some of them are leading experts in fields such as research, communication and law.
Despite the gender equality is one of the goals of the UN SDGs, women and girls are excluded from a full participation in science.According to English studies, the gender gap between male and female regarding the attitude towards scientific subjects at school occurs around the age of 6: an interesting statistics, if we consider that at that age kids are usually studying the basics of each subject.Although the data confirm a decrease in the trend, female researchers must face the differences in treatment in the workplace, where they deal with underpaid contracts and the difficulty in reconciling home, family and work.
Unfortunately, even today, stereotypes and prejudices make women’ careers an obstacle. Only 16.5% of young women between the ages of 25 and 34 graduate from a scientific-technological faculty, compared with a percentage that is more than double for males (37%). Women that can have a career inside labs or research centers are equal to 30%.However, in the field of harm reduction, women who are examples of excellence are growing in number, rewarded for their skills in analysis and precision.Smokers usually deal with a lot of misinformation surrounding the concept of tobacco harm reduction and many researchers dedicate their life to share data that prove the potential benefit of switching from combustible cigarette to low risk products.Thanks to the opportunity of managing international research projects, these renewed experts, some of them part of the CoEHAR team, gained the chance to be listened during international conferences all around the World.
Projects like In Silico Science or the Replica Project give to these young talented women the possibility to express their full potential in the smoking cessation field: their commitment contributes every day to the work of harm reduction advocates who struggle to be listened by decision makers and public health sector.
Here is a list of some of the most distinguished names in the field of scientific research on smoking harm reduction, among them many young girls:
- Marewa Glover, Director of the Centre of Research Excellence on Indigenous Sovereignty and Smoking
- Sree Sucharitha, Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Tagore Medical College Hospital, Chennai, India
- Caitlin Notley, professor at Norwich Medical School at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England
- Carrie Wade, Director of Harm Reduction Policy, R Street Institute
- Sharon Cox, Senior Research at University College London
- Louise Ross, vice-chair of the New Nicotine Alliance
- Pooja Patwardhan, Medical Director Centre for Health Research and Education UK
- Renee O’Leary, project leader In Silico Science, CoEHAR, University of Catania
- Tatiana Betson, Toxicology manager at BAT
- Patricia Kovacevic, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Nicopure Labs
- Eliana Golberstein, Chemist and a Pharmacist from New Zealand with studies in Public Health in the Taipei Medical University
- Marilena Maglia, Clinical and health psychologist and researcher at the CoEHAR University of Catania and LIAF Italian Antismoking League
- Lynne Dawkins, Professor of Nicotine and Tobacco Studies, London South Bank University
- Karolien Adriaens, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Leuven
- Anastasia Barbouni, Professor of Public Health and Disease prevention, Department of Public and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of West Attica, Athens
- Rosalia Emma, Lab manager and Data manager Replica project, CoEHAR, University of Catania
- Amaliya Amaliya, PhD in Dentistry-Periodontology, Universitas Padjadjaran
- Venera Tomaselli, Associate Professor of Social Statistics, University of Catania
- Margherita Ferrante, Professor of General and Applied Hygiene, University of Catania
- Cother Hajat, Professor of Public Health, Epidemiology and Medical Advisor, Royal College of Physicians, London
- Emma Stein, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Communications
- Jennifer di Piazza, PhD, Doctoral Lecturer at Hunter College School of Nursing and a Board Certified Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner
- Maria Salvina Signorelli, Psychiatrist, Psychotherapist, University of Catania
