New Approaches
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Dr. Derek Yach is an independent global health consultant who has focused his career on advancement of public health around the world. He was the founder and president of the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, former Executive Director at the World Health Organization (WHO) where he led the development of WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), and has held senior positions at Yale, PepsiCo, and the Rockefeller Foundation. He has served on the advisory boards of private, public, and philanthropic organizations and published over two hundred peer review articles.

Andrei Andon-Ionita has been covering the European Consumer Staples sector as a sell-side analyst since 2018. He has initiated coverage of the Global Tobacco sector as the lead analyst in 2025, having previously worked as a European Beverages analyst for Jefferies.

Anand is the CEO of Zanoprima Lifesciences and has been involved in the business since 2022. He has been involved in building the business through years of growth, while leading business development and strategic partnerships.

He received his Master’s in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cambridge. Prior to joining Zanoprima, he had 14 years of experience in Life Sciences & Healthcare strategy consulting/M&A at firms such as LEK, EvaluatePharma and BDO, specialising in building business plans, commercial due diligence and fundraising.

Shem Baldeosingh leads the Global Institute for Novel Nicotine (GINN), championing evidence-based harm reduction through alternative nicotine products. He advocates for comprehensive regulations including age restrictions, product testing, and transparent labelling while countering misleading information that conflates pouch risks with combustible tobacco dangers. At GINN he focuses on establishing industry standards, and ensuring regulatory clarity to support responsible product development and public health priorities

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Azim Chowdhury, Partner at Keller and Heckman LLP, is a leading expert on U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory compliance, particularly in the areas of vapor, nicotine, tobacco products, and cannabis/CBD. He advises domestic and international corporations on navigating complex regulatory frameworks, including the FDA's Deeming Rule and the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. Azim counsels manufacturers, distributors, and trade associations on compliance and public policy initiatives. He is a recognized thought leader, frequently speaking at industry conferences and contributing to publications on tobacco regulatory matters. Azim also spearheads his firm’s annual E-Vapor and Tobacco Law Symposium and serves as editor of The Continuum of Risk blog.

Owen Bennett has been involved in the tobacco and nicotine space for the last 15 years. For the first 14, Owen was a consistently top ranked equity research analyst covering the sector, where he was the first on the street to cover the space globally, and has also witnessed and heavily written on the ongoing shift to reduced risk products ever since its infancy.

For the last year, Owen made the move from banking to the corporate side, and is now VP of strategic finance and investor relations at Plxsur, a pure-play RRP M&A platform.

Owen is a Chartered Accountant (ACA) and a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

Kellsi is the Chief Legal Officer at Black Buffalo, America's leading traditional smokeless tobacco alternative. She has advised companies at all stages of growth in the nicotine and tobacco space, drawing on a decade of experience navigating complex regulatory frameworks to bring innovative products to market. She is well-versed in regulatory, quality, and policy matters, having held a series of progressive roles at Turning Point Brands, Inc. and Juul Labs, Inc. driving key initiatives in these areas. Kellsi is a leader of trade associations and co-founded and serves on the board of the Organization of Women in Nicotine and Tobacco.

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.

Dr. Charles Gardner is a developmental neurobiologist trained at the University of Michigan Medical School. He has held senior positions in the US Department of Health and Human Services, served as a diplomat overseas (Health Attaché at the US Embassy in New Delhi), worked as a Program Officer in three major foundations, and served as a Senior Advisor to the WHO. He now works in tobacco control.

Ben is the Global Technical Specialist for Nicotine Containing Products at Inter Scientific, bringing 15 years of experience across highly regulated industries, including vaccine development, veterinary science, and nicotine product research. He has held senior roles spanning quality assurance, programme management, and commercial strategy.

Ben has extensive expertise in U.S. regulatory frameworks and has led the development and delivery of multiple full-service Premarket Tobacco Product Applications (PMTAs) for a range of nicotine products. He supports manufacturers in navigating the complex regulatory landscape to gain market access in the United States, offering end-to-end guidance from product development through to FDA submission and post-market compliance.

Ben holds a BSc. (Hons) in Biomedical Science and continues to play a key role in advancing regulatory strategies for nicotine delivery systems globally.

Alexander Haeggqvist previously served as Global Head of Oral Pouches at Philip Morris International. Today he is the Founder & CEO of NOAT inc. a nicotine pouch experience and brand.

Katherine Ilkhani is an Iranian-American social entrepreneur and advocate for climate action, human rights, and tobacco harm reduction. She co-founded Zolv, a pioneering startup introducing the first oral nicotine strip in the U.S., as recognized by Global Institute for Novel Nicotine, and featured in outlets like 2firsts and Nicotine Insider. She is also developing an AI-powered consumer transparency tool to educate and empower nicotine users. Katherine’s advocacy has been highlighted by The Georgetowner, and she has spoken at the FDA-NIH Smoking Cessation Meeting and the United Nations Association’s AI for SDGs Series, driving innovation with purposeful, lasting impact.

Tim is an electronics engineer and programme manager at Ventus Medical, which is developing a novel smoking cessation solution representing a new category of electronic Nicotine Replacement Therapy (eNRT). He leads a multidisciplinary team across engineering, R&D, regulatory compliance, and manufacturing to deliver a safe, effective, and fully regulated pathway for smokers to transition away from combustible cigarettes and vapes. By integrating technological innovation with clinical and regulatory rigour, Tim’s work aims to advance harm reduction, improve global public health outcomes, and reduce smoking-related mortality.

Patricia Kovacevic, Esq., is a globally recognized expert in nicotine and cannabis regulation, a Columbia Law School-trained U.S. lawyer with extensive experience in nicotine with large multinationals and nicotine pouch and vaping companies. She obtained the first ever premarket approvals from the FDA for tobacco products, led the legal scientific and regulatory teams responsible for premarket submissions to the FDA. Advises nicotine pouch and vaping clients on all aspects of FDA regulation, other countries’ regulation and market entry. Co-authored treatise and published several articles on taxation and regulation of vaping and nicotine pouches, harm reduction. Admitted to practice in New York, before the US Supreme Court, the Court of International Trade and the US Tax Court.

Kuttruf is the founder and CEO of Evapo, a leading fast growing vaping retail chain in the UK and Germany with over 60 stores. Prior to founding Evapo in 2014, Andrej had a successful career as a professional poker player, ranking among the top 20 worldwide for two consecutive years. Evapo is dedicated to helping smokers quit, has expanded to include a diversified manufacturing plant in Northern Ireland and has become a key supplier with its products to hospitals, Mental Health Trusts, and Stop Smoking Clinics.

Ricky Lee is a seasoned entrepreneur and co-founder of MSTR, an innovative non-tobacco nicotine spray brand built for modern retail and digital channels. A two-time founder and early-stage director, Ricky specializes in building consumer brands from the ground up. As a former U.S. Naval Officer, he brings disciplined leadership and strategic insight to fast-moving ventures. He's driven by creating products that meet modern consumer needs while delivering exceptional retail and digital experiences.

Dr. Ray Niaura is Professor of Social and Behavioral Science at NYU’s School of Global Public Health. A leading expert in tobacco dependence and cessation, he has authored over 400 peer-reviewed articles and led or collaborated on more than 70 NIH-funded grants. His research spans behavioral and pharmacological treatments, biobehavioral mechanisms of addiction, and health disparities. He previously served as Director of Research at the Schroeder Institute, Truth Initiative, and President of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. Dr. Niaura was also a co-investigator on the national PATH Study, a longitudinal cohort tracking tobacco use patterns among over 40,000 individuals aged 12 and older.

Deanna Okun is an international trade lawyer whose former experience as a US ITC Commissioner and Chair informs her legal and strategic international trade policy advice. She supports companies where innovation confronts barriers, such as intellectual property theft, unfair trade practices, or regulatory hurdles.

Deanna’s practice involves all aspects of unfair trade litigation and trade remedy advocacy. Her Section 337 work includes all stages of litigation at the ITC from pre-institution consultation to post-remedy enforcement with Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Her clients range from Fortune 500 companies protecting leading edge technologies to Small and Medium Enterprises confronting rampant infringement by foreign competitors. She also represents companies in Title VII antidumping and countervailing duty investigations before the ITC and Department of Commerce (DOC). Deanna’s work in trade remedy proceedings on behalf of U.S. companies extends to previously rarely used trade statutes, including Section 201, 232, and 301 investigations. Deanna participated in one of only two Section 201 investigations in the past twenty years, winning a successful remedy for her client. She works closely with contacts in the executive, judicial and legislative branches of the government to create innovative solutions to her clients’ legal and business challenges.

Deanna has extensive experience as a top administrator, regulator, enforcer, legislative aide and lawyer. She served two terms as Chairman during her twelve years of service as a member of the ITC. During her tenure as a Commissioner, she ruled on hundreds of cases involving allegations of patent, trademark and copyright infringement, antidumping and countervailing duty, global safeguard investigations under the Trade Act of 1974, including investigations under Section 201 and the China-specific safeguard investigations under Section 421. Prior to her appointment to the ITC, she served as counsel for international affairs to U.S. Senator Frank Murkowski, Chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and senior member of the Finance and Foreign Relations Committees, and practiced international trade law with a large Washington, D.C.-based law firm.

In 2012, Deanna was named the Outstanding Woman of the Year by the Association of Women in International Trade, a chapter of the Organization of Women in International Trade. In 2022, for the tenth consecutive year, Managing Intellectual Property named Deanna one of the Top 250 Women in IP. Deanna is also on the 2022-2023 USMCA Binational Panel Roster.

Lillian Ortega is the Founder and Chief Regulatory Compliance Strategist at WOW Solutions LLC, where she guides businesses through the complexities of FDA regulatory processes. She previously served as Director of Enforcement and Manufacturing at FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, overseeing compliance, inspections, recalls, and import operations. With over a decade at FDA and expertise spanning tobacco, biologics, and clinical research, Lillian combines regulatory insight with strategic consulting. Her background in Microbiology and Public Health Policy strengthens her ability to deliver tailored solutions that position clients for success in a highly regulated environment.

With over three decades of experience in-house and in private practice, Agustin provides cross-functional, multidisciplinary counsel to advertising, marketing and consumer goods and services companies. He brings years of previous experience managing in-house legal teams for a Fortune 200 international consumer packaged goods company. Agustin guides clients as they navigate federal, state and local regulation of the marketing, advertising, and sale of products and services, with a special focus on tobacco, cannabis and other highly regulated spaces. He regularly advises on compliance issues related to Food & Drug Administration (FDA), Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and other product, marketing and advertising regulation, unfair and deceptive trade practices compliance, federal and state excise tax and licensing laws and regulations, and other relevant legislative and rule-making matters. Prior to joining Troutman Pepper Locke, Agustin served as Vice President and Associate General Counsel at Altria Group, Inc.

Christopher Russell, Ph.D. is Director of Russell Burnett Research and Consultancy Ltd (RBRC), based in Glasgow, United Kingdom. RBRC specialises in the design, conduct, and reporting of perception and behavioral research studies of premarket and postmarket non-combustible tobacco products – including but not limited to electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), heated tobacco products, and nicotine pouches – for submission as part of PMTAs, MTRPAs, and other regulatory submissions.

Huub is an independent consultant on business strategy and public policy. Prior to starting his own consultancy, Huub was responsible for leading transformative change at PMI, where he helped steer the company on its path towards a smoke-free future. During his 26 year career at the company, he led PMI’s global product tax strategy, was in charge of economic research and international trade, and became the company’s first Chief Sustainability Officer. Huub is a Dutch national with a degree in Business Econometrics. He is married, has one daughter and lives in Switzerland.

Rachael Schmidt (retired CAPT, USPHS) brings over a decade of experience in regulatory and compliance solutions within the tobacco and nicotine industry. With a distinguished tenure at the FDA, serving as the Assistant Director of Laboratory Compliance & Coordination of the CTP, she spearheaded crucial initiatives to enforce the FSPTCA of 2009. During her tenure at FDA, CAPT Schmidt played a pivotal role in establishing and coordinating FDA tobacco regulatory laboratories, ensuring rigorous adherence to regulatory standards. Her leadership was instrumental in developing and executing comprehensive tobacco product testing programs, encompassing pre-market application reviews, post-market compliance assessments, adverse event evaluations, and the development of tobacco product standards. Schmidt's expertise extends to fostering collaboration with national and international stakeholders to harmonize tobacco enforcement and policy efforts.

Mattocks Swenson has extensive experience investing in and advising companies across technology, media, consumer and cannabis, with a deep knowledge of digital marketplaces and the cannabis ecosystem. Prior to founding L2V, he co-led M&A and Investments for IAC, a $20B+ publicly traded internet company where he was responsible for sourcing, evaluating and executing minority and control transactions across technology and media. At IAC, Mattocks focused on investments in companies that were facilitating the digital transition in large existing industries including, staffing, insurance, video creation and distribution, real estate, health and wellness, dating and others.  While Mattocks has experience investing in technology businesses across several industries, he is keenly focused on identifying companies with business model advantages that drive high capital efficiency and rapid scaling potential to create category leading companies.
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In 2013, Mattocks began evaluating the cannabis industry and made his first cannabis investment in LeafLink in 2015, which has scaled to become one of the largest technology companies in the industry.  In 2020, Mattocks launched L2V to invest in rapidly growing cannabis technology companies and consumer brands.
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Prior to IAC, Mattocks held roles at Guggenheim Partners and Barclays, focused on the technology, media and telecommunications industries. Mattocks started his career at Gelber Group, a global proprietary trading firm, focused on building automated trading strategies across equities, fixed income and currency markets.
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Mattocks currently serves on the Board of Directors of LeafLink and Ripple and is a Board Observer at Vangst and Hoodie Analytics.

Dr. Mark Tyndall is internationally recognized for his contributions to HIV care and prevention, human rights, and drug policy reform. He was formerly the Executive Director of the BC Centre for Disease Control and Professor of Medicine at the University of British Columbia. He has over three decades of community-based research and advocacy experience with a focus on global health, drug use, HIV, and harm reduction. He has authored over 250 peer-reviewed publications, presented a 2017 TEDMED talk on harm reduction, and authored the 2025 book Vaping: Behind the Smoke and Fears.

Dr. Jeffrey Willett is a seasoned leader in tobacco control with over two decades of experience across philanthropy, nonprofits, and government. He has held senior roles at the American Heart Association, Truth Initiative, Kansas Health Foundation, and state tobacco control programs in New York and Ohio. His work has spanned policy, research, evaluation, communications, and cessation. As National VP at AHA, he championed strategies to end the use of all combustible tobacco products. He holds a PhD in Sociology and a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Dr. Christina Young is a Senior Consultant (FDA) and Technical Advisor (IP) at King & Spalding (K&S). For IP clients, Dr. Young’s practice leverages her unique interdisciplinary background in chemistry, applied physics, and EE for technical expertise required for IP disputes. For FDA clients, Dr. Young provides expert advisement navigating FDA regulatory compliance. Prior to K&S, Dr. Young was at FDA for over half a decade, where among her accomplishments at CTP, she served jointly with Dr. Matthew Holman as CTP’s first Federal Government Representatives on ISO/TC 126, instrumental in key development of external (e.g., Rules, Guidances, etc.) and internal (e.g., Reviewer Guides, Memos, etc.) policies, senior scientific substantive review, and early Center leadership instituting FDA’s first compliance lab for CTP. Prior to FDA, Dr. Young held a joint WHO/CDC Post-Doctorate Fellowship leading global efforts in support of the WHO FCTC.