Sessions Hero

Global Vape Forum Agenda

Sessions

Wednesday 12th June 2024

Time Session title
13:00
|
13:05

Welcome from the organisers and the chair of the forum

Speaker

John Dunne

Director General

UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA)

John has a strong background and reputation in the European e-cigarette industry, having held senior executive positions in some of the US and Europe’s biggest companies. As Managing Director of Dyflin Group Consulting, he advises many leading industry analysts, financial institutions and media organisations looking at the vaping and CBD sectors. John is also Director-General and one of the founders of the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA), the UK’s largest vaping Industry association and has advised the UK governments All Party Parliamentary Group on Vaping as well as giving evidence before the UK Science & Technology Committee investigation into the Vaping industry and the Australian Parliaments review on vaping.

John regularly appears on national television, radio as well as national and international print media. John is a popular guest speaker at many of the world’s leading conventions.

UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA)

13:05
|
13:15

Keynote address by the sponsor

Welcome to the UAE

Why we are here and what to expect

Laying the ground of the issue of harm reduction

Middle East treatment of ENDS

Speaker

Mohammad Agrabawi

Group Director of Corporate Affairs & Communications

ANDS


Mohammad is an expert in Regulatory and fiscal affairs in the Tobacco and ENDS category, started as a diplomat and was Head of Consular Section in Jordanian embassies in both Cairo and Abu Dhabi before finally landing the role as the Head of External Affairs (JOR & PAA) at Philip Morris International in Jordan, followed by leading the Government affairs Function in JUUL Labs, and today the Group Director of Corporate Affairs and Communications at ANDS.

ANDS

13:15
|
13:30

Keynote address: The case of flavours in tobacco harm reduction and e-cigarettes

Speaker

Konstantinos Farsalinos

Senior Researcher

School of Public Health at the University of West Attica

Konstantinos Farsalinos, medical doctor and Master of Public Health is a physician and a research associate at the University of Patras and the School of Public Health-University of West Attica in Greece. His field of expertise is public health. He has been conducting laboratory, clinical and epidemiological research on smoking, tobacco harm reduction and nicotine products as principal investigator since 2011. He authored the first systematic review on e-cigarette safety/risk profile, published in 2014. Additionally, he has performed research and published studies on heated-tobacco products.

His findings have been presented in major international scientific congresses and his studies were used in preparing the regulatory framework on e-cigarettes by the European Union. As of early2023, he has published approximately 100 studies and articles in international peer-reviewed scientific journals about smoking, tobacco harm reduction and alternative-to-smoking nicotine products. Farsalinos has presented in more than 80 international conferences. He was the handling editor and author of a book titled "Analytical assessment of e-cigarettes",published by Elsevier in 2017. In November 2020, he was declared a Highly Cited Researcher 2019 by the Web of Science, a list of researchers (6,200 scientists out of 9 million examined) with the highest impact in global science in 21 scientific fields in the past decade. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he published six peer-reviewed studies and several pre-prints about COVID-19, including the association between smoking, nicotine and COVID-19

School of Public Health at the University of West Attica

13:30
|
13:45

Keynote address: New technologies can accelerate an end to the rising burden of tobacco-related disease in the Middle East

  • Some of the highest smoking rates in men in the world occur in the Middle East.
  • Recent projections suggest sharp increases in several cancers will occur in the ME over the next 2 decades
  • The rising human and economic costs will impose challenges to health systems.
  • Technology advances are underway in the Middle East that will deliver better diagnostics and treatments for tobacco related cancers, and are delivering a range of tobacco harm reduction products able to cut deaths.
  • Greater investment in science and technology in the region will lead to healthier and wealthier populations.
Speaker

Derek Yach

Global Health Strategies LLC

Derek Yach (MBCHB MPH) has played a central role in tobacco control for decades. First in his home country of South Africa in getting early legislation adopted by the Mandela government. Second by steering development of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, and thirdly, by launching and leading the Foundation for a Smoke Free World to accelerate access to better cessation and effective harm reduction products. He has published over 200 peer review articles on global health issues and served on Boards of the NIH, Wellcome Trust, Clinton Global Initiative and World Economic Forum.

Global Health Strategies LLC

13:45
|
14:00

Global vape overview: opportunities for the sector in 2024 and beyond

The vape sector has had a roller coaster ride as a new product category, with early predictions of it replacing combustible cigarettes still a way off and health scares in the US and increasingly restrictive regulation affecting its growth. But despite the controversies surrounding it, the sector continues to expand gloabally. This presentation will put the vape sector into context, with an eye on how global changes are likely to affect growth in the Middle East region. It will reflect the market size and growth patterns around the world, and what other harm reduction products are available to consumers. In addition, it will delve into some of the key issues affecting the category currently, including the extent to which disposables now dominate the product formats, the features and likely future development of disposables, consumers preferences in the category, and the impact of regulation, and in particular how the outcome of the multiple elections may affect global policy going forwards

Speaker

Tim Phillips

Managing Director

Tamarind Intelligence

Tim Phillips is the Managing Director of Tamarind Intelligence, a global independent market and regulatory intelligence service providing data for businesses operating in a number of fast-moving consumer sectors facing regulatory change, including vape, cannabis and tobacco alternatives. Tamarind Intelligence provides market-leading insights and regulatory tracking for clients ranging from governments and academic institutions to multinational companies and professional service providers.


Phillips is a UK-qualified attorney, having worked at the European Commission, international law firm Herbert Smith Freehills, media companies BSkyB and AOL, and Betfair (now Flutter Entertainment), where he ran global public affairs as the company went through its IPO. He was also a partner in a New York venture capital-funded start-up in the diamond sector. Tim holds a postgraduate diploma in legal practice from the University of Law, London, and a master's degree in geology from Oxford University. He has run Tamarind Intelligence for the past 9 years

Tamarind Intelligence

14:00
|
14:15

Networking break

14:15
|
15:15

Panel discussion: Vaping and harm reduction, an evidence update

In this session, we sit down with experts to examine the latest science and research around vaping as a potentially reduced risk product, and a smoking cessation tool and exchange views on how this might shape public health strategies, government policy and regulation. We also look at where gaps in the evidence remain, what could be done better and how the future looks for the industry.

Speaker

Sairah Salim - Sartoni BSc MSc CPsychol

Founder

Salim - Sartoni Associates Ltd

Sairahis a chartered health psychologist and award-winning stop-smoking clinician with 20 years of experience within the smoking cessation and tobacco harm reduction sector.

She is currently the managing director of Salim-Sartoni Associates(SSA).

A passionate and effective category leader and expert,Sairah provides successful scientific/clinical engagement/project management/regulatory and external affairs support for the vaping industry in addition to providing category training to healthcare professionals onthe evidence base to decrease misinformation and increase confidence in vaping as a stop smoking tool.

More recently she has supported the onboarding of clients onto the Swap to Stop platform and is excited to be part of a national programme that focuses on giving the most vulnerable smokers in our society a potential exit from tobacco. She is an accomplished advocate and public speaker on tobacco harm reduction with the inspirational goal of leaving nonsmoker behind

Salim - Sartoni Associates Ltd

Speaker

John Dunne

Director General

UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA)

John has a strong background and reputation in the European e-cigarette industry, having held senior executive positions in some of the US and Europe’s biggest companies. As Managing Director of Dyflin Group Consulting, he advises many leading industry analysts, financial institutions and media organisations looking at the vaping and CBD sectors. John is also Director-General and one of the founders of the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA), the UK’s largest vaping Industry association and has advised the UK governments All Party Parliamentary Group on Vaping as well as giving evidence before the UK Science & Technology Committee investigation into the Vaping industry and the Australian Parliaments review on vaping.

John regularly appears on national television, radio as well as national and international print media. John is a popular guest speaker at many of the world’s leading conventions.

UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA)

15:15
|
15:30

Networking break

15:30
|
16:30

Harm reduction versus challenges of vaping; minors use, environment, and more

Join a panel of key industry stakeholders who explore the trade-off between vaping, potential harm reduction and current trends, issues and challenges.

Speaker

Tim Liddicoat

Managing Director

Inter Scientific

An Analytical Chemist by training, having worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 10 years, analytical contract research organisations for 7 years, and ten years in large life science solution providers with 4 years in the nicotine space. Tim has a broad background in pharma, medical devices, and nicotine and has worked in science, commercial support, product management, and various leadership roles across his career.


During his time at Inter Scientific as managing director, Tim has engaged with customers across the nicotine space, media outlets and other stakeholders to assist, inform and educate in support of the industry.

Inter Scientific

Speaker

Eve Wang

Vice President

Shenzhen Smoore Technology Co. Ltd

Eve Wang serves as the Executive Director of Smoore International Holdings Limited and also holds the position of Vice President at Shenzhen Smoore Technology Co., a leading atomization manufacturer with its own consumer facing brand, Vaporesso and ODM division to serve industry customers for both vape and heated tobacco products. In Smoore, Ms Eve Wang is responsible for coordinating strategy implementation and coordinating management of international affairs, including access to key global markets, international cooperation, etc. Prior to Smoore, she worked for Huabao, the largest tobacco flavor maker in Asia. Before joining the tobacco industry, Wang also spent years in consumer electronics and other sectors for all aspects of marketing worldwide.

Shenzhen Smoore Technology Co. Ltd

Speaker

Damien Bove

Chief Regulator Officer and Scientific Advisor

ADACT Medical

Our founder and Chief Regulatory Officer is Damien Bové BSc (Sci. Hons), MSc (Sci. Open), ICR who today leads ADACT’s team of global regulatory compliance experts for the electronic cigarette, vaping, CBD and herbal medicinces industries.

The building blocks of a career

Damien started training and working as a pharmaceutical technician in 1992 before heading to the University of Bradford’s School of Pharmacy, from which he graduated with an honours degree in 2000. After this, Damien immediately went to work in the pharmaceutical industry where he worked for both a large pharmaceutical company and a global contract research organisation where he worked in both R&D and regulatory compliance functions.

Growth through evolution

Taking these learnings, he left in 2004 to build on his knowledge and skills to set up his own independent R&D and regulatory compliance consultancy, ADACT Medical Ltd, while also obtaining his masters degree in scientific communication. Since then, ADACT has evolved in form and function several times with the changing demands of the marketplace, and today offers world class regulatory compliance services to electronic cigarette, vaping, herbal medicines, medical cannabis, CBD and hemp industries.

Today, Damien leads ADACT through his role as Chief Regulatory Officer whilst continuing to nurture his passion for medical sciences by sitting on the Electronic and E-liquids Committee of the British Standards Institute (BSI) and being a registered member of the Institute of Clinical Research and UKVIA.

ADACT Medical

16:30
|
16:45

Networking break

16:45
|
17:45

Panel discussion: Middle East smoking trends, harm reduction and the way forward

As the world is going through a long debate around smoking, harm reduction, vaping and much more, where does the Middle East fall in between these debates, especially given that countries like Jordan and Lebanon have a staggering numbers of smoking rates?

Is that relevant to the fiscal and regulatory frameworks? Where do we go from there?

Speaker

Derek Yach

Global Health Strategies LLC

Derek Yach (MBCHB MPH) has played a central role in tobacco control for decades. First in his home country of South Africa in getting early legislation adopted by the Mandela government. Second by steering development of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, and thirdly, by launching and leading the Foundation for a Smoke Free World to accelerate access to better cessation and effective harm reduction products. He has published over 200 peer review articles on global health issues and served on Boards of the NIH, Wellcome Trust, Clinton Global Initiative and World Economic Forum.

Global Health Strategies LLC

Speaker

Mohammad Agrabawi

Group Director of Corporate Affairs & Communications

ANDS


Mohammad is an expert in Regulatory and fiscal affairs in the Tobacco and ENDS category, started as a diplomat and was Head of Consular Section in Jordanian embassies in both Cairo and Abu Dhabi before finally landing the role as the Head of External Affairs (JOR & PAA) at Philip Morris International in Jordan, followed by leading the Government affairs Function in JUUL Labs, and today the Group Director of Corporate Affairs and Communications at ANDS.

ANDS

Speaker

Dr Cother Hajat

Professor of Public Health, Director

Real World Health, Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, UK, Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health, UK

Dr Hajat is the Director of Real World Health, a Professor of Public Health and Epidemiology, Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and of the Faculty of Public Health in the UK.

Cother’s work focuses on lifestyle risk factors and prevention of chronic disease. Her work has featured at the UN General Assembly Meeting, TEDx, the World Health Assembly, the World Economic Forum, the Economist Magazine as well as numerous scientific journal articles, books, magazines, newspaper editorials and blogs.

Real World Health, Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, UK, Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health, UK

Speaker

Dr Ahmad Abdul Malik

Family Medicine Consultant, Family Med Department

Ahmadi Hospital, Kuwait

Dr Ahmad Abdul Malik M.B. B.Ch. B.A.O. B.A., int MRCGP graduated from Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and is a member of Royal College Of General Practitioners in London, UK.

Currently working as Family Medicine Consultant at Ahmadi Hospital - Family Medicine Department in Kuwait.

His writes for Al - Kuwaityah Newspaper - http://www.alkuwaityah.com and is the author of five books.

His first book ( Medical Myth's ) was published in November 2015. His second book (This Or That ? Choose For Your Health ) was published in November 2016 and his third Book ( Health Rules ) came out the following year. In November 2018 he published Do Bald Men Need Shampoo ? and a year later his fifth book, Good or Bad? was released.

Dr Ahmad Abdul Malik is an activist on social media in spreading health awareness. @DRDIVERQ8 – has more than 1.5 million followers.

Ahmadi Hospital, Kuwait

Speaker

Cheryl K. Olson

Public Health Researcher

Cheryl K. Olson, MPH, Sc.D. is 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. 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. She has authored dozens of academic papers, and writes a monthly column on public health for Tobacco Reporter. Dr. Olson consults on nicotine product behavior research through McKinney Regulatory Science Advisors.

17:45
|
17:50

Closing remarks from the chair of the forum

Speaker

John Dunne

Director General

UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA)

John has a strong background and reputation in the European e-cigarette industry, having held senior executive positions in some of the US and Europe’s biggest companies. As Managing Director of Dyflin Group Consulting, he advises many leading industry analysts, financial institutions and media organisations looking at the vaping and CBD sectors. John is also Director-General and one of the founders of the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA), the UK’s largest vaping Industry association and has advised the UK governments All Party Parliamentary Group on Vaping as well as giving evidence before the UK Science & Technology Committee investigation into the Vaping industry and the Australian Parliaments review on vaping.

John regularly appears on national television, radio as well as national and international print media. John is a popular guest speaker at many of the world’s leading conventions.

UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA)

Thursday 13th June 2024

Time Session title
13:00
|
13:05

Opening remarks from the chair of the forum

Speaker

John Dunne

Director General

UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA)

John has a strong background and reputation in the European e-cigarette industry, having held senior executive positions in some of the US and Europe’s biggest companies. As Managing Director of Dyflin Group Consulting, he advises many leading industry analysts, financial institutions and media organisations looking at the vaping and CBD sectors. John is also Director-General and one of the founders of the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA), the UK’s largest vaping Industry association and has advised the UK governments All Party Parliamentary Group on Vaping as well as giving evidence before the UK Science & Technology Committee investigation into the Vaping industry and the Australian Parliaments review on vaping.

John regularly appears on national television, radio as well as national and international print media. John is a popular guest speaker at many of the world’s leading conventions.

UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA)

13:05
|
14:00

Panel discussion: Vaping and youth access

How can we ensure products are not promoted or sold to those under-age and young adults while recognising the role of vaping as a valuable aid to quit smoking?

This discussion will consider approaches needed to respond to this challenge from regulations, education and enforcement.

  • How do we control youth access while not making it more difficult for adult smokers to access vape?
  • What does the evidence show us about youth vaping?
  • Banning disposable vapes, tackling illicit products, tightening restrictions on display, packaging and flavours to tackle teenage vaping. In terms of controls and regulations to tackle youth access, what existing models are working and what should be considered before deciding between them?
  • What measures are needed to crack down on illicit vapes and rogue traders who sell vapes to those underage?
  • What is the role and responsibility of industry and what support can government give?
Speaker

Patricia Kovacevic

Es q. Global Legal and Regulatory Strategist, General Counsel, Head of External Affairs

Cryomass Technologies Inc

Cryomass Technologies Inc

Speaker

Mohammad Agrabawi

Group Director of Corporate Affairs & Communications

ANDS


Mohammad is an expert in Regulatory and fiscal affairs in the Tobacco and ENDS category, started as a diplomat and was Head of Consular Section in Jordanian embassies in both Cairo and Abu Dhabi before finally landing the role as the Head of External Affairs (JOR & PAA) at Philip Morris International in Jordan, followed by leading the Government affairs Function in JUUL Labs, and today the Group Director of Corporate Affairs and Communications at ANDS.

ANDS

Speaker

Damilola Fajuyigbe, PhD

Head of Scientific Engagement MEA

Phillip Morris International

Damilola Fajuyigbe is Head of Scientific Engagement for the Middle East & Africa at Philip Morris International where she leads the company's regional efforts towards a smoke-free future.

Nigerian born and UK-raised, Damilola holds a PhD in Molecular Biology from King's College London and a B.Sc in Medical Biochemistry from the University of Leicester. She has published scientific articles in various high-impact journals.

Prior to her current role, Damilola served as the Head of Scientific and Medical Affairs for Africa at L'Oréal. There, she led scientific projects while constantly liaising between local and international teams in the beauty industry. One of her most impactful campaigns focused on reducing harm caused by skin bleaching practices.

Now, Damilola has taken her passion for harm reduction to Philip Morris International, where she strategizes the scientific engagement of the markets she oversees. She particularly hopes to drive change towards a smoke-free future in places where information may not always be accessible.

Throughout her academic career and many conversations with doctors, Damilola knows that fixing a health problem is a lot harder than preventing one.

Driven by her passion for improving public health outcomes, she has devoted her efforts to bridging the gap between scientific research and the general public.

Phillip Morris International

Speaker

Mark Oates

Director

We Vape and the Snus Users Association

Mark Oates is the Director of We Vape and the Snus Users Association. Which are both consumer groups standing up for the right for individuals to use safer nicotine products. He advocates for evidence-based harm reduction in a range of areas from tobacco to drug policy, a subject he has written on for the Institute of Economic Affairs & the Adam Smith Institute where he is a Fellow. He also provided consumer evidence in the 2018 ECJ case to overturn the ban of snus across the European Union and worked on the successful 2018 campaign to legalise medical cannabis in the UK. Mark worked for 6 years as a political Researcher in the House of Commons.

We Vape and the Snus Users Association

14:00
|
14:15

Networking break

14:15
|
15:15

Panel discussion: Next level of harm reduction

A significant body of evidences shows that e-cigarettes and vaping products are both effective for smoking cessation and much less harmful than combustible cigarettes. Join this session as a panel of experts discuss what can be done to increase the harm reduction potential further.

What are the latest innovations and emerging trends in making vapes safer? Which regulatory approaches best serve harm reduction?

How do alternative nicotine delivery such as oral pouches and heated tobacco products compare?

Speaker

Dr. Jessica Zdinak

Chief Research Officer (CRO)

Applied Research and Analysis Company, LLC (ARAC)

Dr. Jessica Zdinak builds trusted partnerships by providing a unique perspective of behavioral science research principles as it relates to complex business dimensions supporting rigorous, scientific objectives.

Eastern Shore Virginia native, Zdinak received her B.S. in Psychology from Christopher Newport University followed by an M.S. & Ph.D. in Quantitative Experimental Psychology from Oklahoma State University. While attending OSU, was awarded the Women's Research Award due to demonstration of exemplary abilities and research contributions.

Jessica served as Social Scientist at the National Institutes of Health followed by Director of Applied Research and Evaluation at a consulting firm. Research Program Evaluation Responsibilities led to the design of a one-of-a-kind U.S. e-learning curriculum that trained 7,000+ healthcare professionals on the Intimate Partner Violence/Domestic Violence Prevention and Response. Dedicated 5-years within the Federal Government sector-leading research evaluation teams with a focus on CDC, NIH, NSF, FDA, and other large-scale grants and projects.

Following public health, Dr. Zdinak spent 6-years at Altria where she was 1:3 researchers in the Perception & Behavior Program. Served as Lead Principal Scientist for first-everPerceptions & Behavioral Intentions Study which led to the development and validation of the Intentions to Use Scale, published in a leading scientific journal.Highly proficient with ITP, PMTA, MRTPA, and SE, as well as, product innovation, and future tobacco harm reduction opportunities.

Award-winning publisher of foundational research and recognized for her unique research contributions, Zdinak travels worldwide as a keynote speaker to various U.S. and international conferences and forums. In 2015, Dr. Zdinak launched Applied Research and Analysis Company as Owner and research officer. Internal team of psychologists, statisticians, and behavioral scientists offer tailored services of unbiased integrity and exceptional client experience for government, education, business, and nicotine and tobacco harm reduction industry

Applied Research and Analysis Company, LLC (ARAC)

Speaker

Dr Rosalia Emma

Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine

Center of Excellence for the acceleration of HArm Reduction (CoEHAR) - Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania – Italy

R. Emma, PhD in Translational Biomedicine, is assistant professor of Internal Medicine at the Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine of the University of Catania. She is also a researcher of the Center of Excellence for the acceleration of Harm Reduction (CoEHAR) of the University of Catania. Her research activity deals with respiratory diseases, harm of cigarette smoking and health benefits of quitting. She has experience in toxicological in vitro studies and in exposure methods to smoke/aerosol using automated instruments (smoking/vaping machines).

Center of Excellence for the acceleration of HArm Reduction (CoEHAR) - Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania – Italy

Speaker

Pete Lomas

Director

Capseca Limited

Pete Lomas is the Founder of Capseca Limited – a Product Development Consultancy specialising in Next Generation Products (NGP) within the nicotine industry. He assists his clients with concept generation, prototyping, evaluation, Intellectual Property, Regulatory compliance, and manufacturing of NGP products.

Pete has a background in Electro-Mechanical Engineering, having worked in Product Development for nearly 30 years. He has specialised in NGP Product Development for the last seven years, initially spending four years at Imperial Brands leading the engineering team working on NGP device development (including Blu and Pulze devices). Pete spent a further two years as Managing Consultant at Broughton Life Sciences, before setting up Capseca Limited.

Pete is passionate about Product Development and finding novel and innovative solutions to engineering problems. He believes in questioning and challenging everything, constantly striving for improvement. As a result, he is named as inventor on over 80 published patent applications, the majority of which are in the NGP field.

Capseca Limited

Speaker

Shem Baldeosingh

Director-General

Global Institute for Novel Nicotine (GINN)

Shem has extensive global experience across the spectrum of international affairs, communications, government relations, stakeholder engagement, regulation mitigation and public affairs. His international experience was gained at the highest levels of government and a large multinational company. He has developed and implemented successful public affairs and engagement strategies within highly regulated environments and across complex bureaucracies.

As Director-General for the recently established Global Institute for Novel Nicotine (GINN), Shem and the team at GINN advocate for members involved in the manufacture, sale and research of non-combustible nicotine products. GINN seeks to promote these products in harm reduction strategies as it engages with policy-makers, regulators, and scientific/medical professionals. GINN also aims to dispel misconceptions around nicotine and to provide the public, especially adult smokers who wish to continue using nicotine, with clear, evidence based and accurate information on nicotine pouches, heated tobacco, and other emerging nicotine products.

Global Institute for Novel Nicotine (GINN)

15:15
|
15:30

Networking break

15:30
|
16:30

Panel discussion: The flavours debate

Many countries have adopted restrictions on sales of flavoured e-cigarettes to deter those who are underage from vaping. This debate will welcome a range of experts to explore the evidence and exchange views on the approach to vape flavours for public health. Hear from the panel on the underlying reasons for bans and get to grips with the risk of unintended consequences.

  • What lessons can be learnt from jurisdictions that have banned flavours?
  • How are flavour restrictions globally impacting young people and adults?
  • What are alternative policy options available?
  • To what extent can industry play a role? What do we need to plan for if this is to happen?
Speaker

Konstantinos Farsalinos

Senior Researcher

School of Public Health at the University of West Attica

Konstantinos Farsalinos, medical doctor and Master of Public Health is a physician and a research associate at the University of Patras and the School of Public Health-University of West Attica in Greece. His field of expertise is public health. He has been conducting laboratory, clinical and epidemiological research on smoking, tobacco harm reduction and nicotine products as principal investigator since 2011. He authored the first systematic review on e-cigarette safety/risk profile, published in 2014. Additionally, he has performed research and published studies on heated-tobacco products.

His findings have been presented in major international scientific congresses and his studies were used in preparing the regulatory framework on e-cigarettes by the European Union. As of early2023, he has published approximately 100 studies and articles in international peer-reviewed scientific journals about smoking, tobacco harm reduction and alternative-to-smoking nicotine products. Farsalinos has presented in more than 80 international conferences. He was the handling editor and author of a book titled "Analytical assessment of e-cigarettes",published by Elsevier in 2017. In November 2020, he was declared a Highly Cited Researcher 2019 by the Web of Science, a list of researchers (6,200 scientists out of 9 million examined) with the highest impact in global science in 21 scientific fields in the past decade. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he published six peer-reviewed studies and several pre-prints about COVID-19, including the association between smoking, nicotine and COVID-19

School of Public Health at the University of West Attica

Speaker

Dustin Dahlmann

President & Co-Founder

Independent European Vape Alliance (IEVA)

Dustin Dahlmann from Hamburg, Germany is the president of the Independent European Vape Alliance (IEVA), the German vaping industry association BfTG (Bündnis für Tabakfreien Genuss e.V.) and owner of the successful e-cigarette wholesale InnoCigs. He fights for an autonomous regulation of vaping products as a means to harm reduction independent from tobacco industries throughout Europe.

Independent European Vape Alliance (IEVA)

Speaker

Rob Burton

Group Scientific and Regulatory Director

Plxsur

Rob Burton is Plxsur’s Group Scientific and Regulatory Director and has 11 years of experience in the vaping industry.

Rob was previously Senior Consultancy & Compliance Officer at Nerudia, sold to Imperial Brands in 2017, where he helped grow the Company into a global, science-led business, in a highly-regulated space. This included development of scientific and regulatory engagement platforms across Vape, Oral Nicotine, Heated Tobacco and CBD. Spending a period of time based in Washington D.C., Rob was responsible for developing the Company’s FDA multi-platform engagement strategy. During his time at Nerudia, Rob developed a close working relationship with Co-Founders David Newns and Chris Lord.

Prior to this, Rob headed up Corporate and Regulatory Affairs at US-based electronic cigarette company White Cloud, which he joined after five years at BAT as Group Head of Public Health and Scientific Affairs. At BAT, Rob led a team of industry-respected scientists focused on delivering the Company’s global external scientific engagement.

Before joining BAT in 2008, Rob spent over 20 years in the pharmaceutical sector working for AstraZeneca and SmithKline Beecham (GSK). During this time, Rob held several senior, international, commercial and scientific roles, including Global Commercial Director for Respiratory Products at AstraZeneca and General Manager and Area Director for Eastern European markets at SmithKline Beecham and AstraZeneca.

He has also held non-executive roles with several biotech start-up companies and regularly consults in both Commercial and Regulatory disciplines in the UK and Europe.

Rob is on the Advisory and Scientific Boards for Cannabis For Children (a US not-for-profit organisation), is an Advisory Board member for Blossom Genetics and is a Director and Board Member of AAN Medical and a member of the Medical Cannabis Clinicians Society.

An industrial chemist by training, Rob began his career working in the laboratories of Reckitt & Coleman, before moving into sales and marketing functions within Beecham’s UK. Throughout his global career Rob has spent over 13 years living in the USA, Sweden, Czech Republic and Estonia.

Plxsur

Speaker

Dr Nveed Chaudhary

Dr Nveed Chaudhary has over 20 years of experience in lung disease with a focus on Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), asthma and Pulmonary Fibrosis across the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and nicotine industries.

Having had several senior roles in global multinational companies, most recently Nveed was the Chief Scientific and Regulatory Officer at a consultancy firm, advising international clients on nicotine and other drug delivery to the lung. At British American Tobacco, Philip Morris International, Imperial Brands and latterly at Broughton Life sciences, Nveed had significant roles in the development and assessment of reduced risk nicotine products, across Heated Tobacco Products, E-cigarettes and nicotine pouches and he has been involved in the PMTA and UK MAA processes of over 20 individual product lines covering over 100 different SKUs.

Nveed has had an international career, working in Germany, Italy, UK, Singapore, Switzerland and since Jan 2024, has taken a position as Vice President for Technology and Innovation at Medad Technologies based in Abu Dhabi.

Speaker

Vivien Wenzel

Hertz & Selck

Vivien Wenzel is not just an expert in the flavour industry, but also lives her passion with heart and soul for vape flavors.

After qualifying as a chemical technician in Berlin, her professional career led her to Institut Kirchhoff Berlin GmbH, a company of the Mérieux NutriScience Corporation.

Her area of responsibility there was first in food analysis and later also in smoke and enviromental analysis. Further she has also worked for 5N Plus Inc. a pharmaceutical company and later at Hela Gewürzwerk Hermann Laue GmbH, one of the largest and oldest spice houses in Europe.

Since 2017, Vivien has been at Hertz & Selck GmbH & Co. in Hamburg, one of the longest-established aroma houses in Germany.

Among other things, she is responsible for the Vape division, global sales and development.

Hertz & Selck

Speaker

Barbara Zhavoronkova

Co-founder and Managing Partner

INFLAVE

Barbara Zhavoronkova is a Co-founder and Managing Partner of the INFLAVE company. INFLAVE is one of the leading brands of e-cigarettes in Russia entering international markets. Along with the development of its own portfolio of strong brands and products, INFLAVE provides services of product development to other companies and aims to supply a high-quality alternative to classical tobacco products compliant with government regulations and ethical standards.

INFLAVE

16:30
|
16:45

Networking break

16:45
|
17:45

Panel Discussion: The growing global concern

Speaker

Ao Weinou

Secretary General

Electronic Cigarette Professional Committee of China Electronics Chamber of Commerce

Ao, Weinuo, the founder and general secretary of the Electronic Cigarette Professional Committee of China Electronics Chamber of Commerce, devoting himself to China's vaping industry for 8 years, serving as the bridge between the authority and enterprises, and encouraging the whole industry both at home and abroad towards compliance, minor protection and technological innovation.

Electronic Cigarette Professional Committee of China Electronics Chamber of Commerce

Speaker

John Dunne

Director General

UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA)

John has a strong background and reputation in the European e-cigarette industry, having held senior executive positions in some of the US and Europe’s biggest companies. As Managing Director of Dyflin Group Consulting, he advises many leading industry analysts, financial institutions and media organisations looking at the vaping and CBD sectors. John is also Director-General and one of the founders of the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA), the UK’s largest vaping Industry association and has advised the UK governments All Party Parliamentary Group on Vaping as well as giving evidence before the UK Science & Technology Committee investigation into the Vaping industry and the Australian Parliaments review on vaping.

John regularly appears on national television, radio as well as national and international print media. John is a popular guest speaker at many of the world’s leading conventions.

UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA)

Speaker

Derek Yach

Global Health Strategies LLC

Derek Yach (MBCHB MPH) has played a central role in tobacco control for decades. First in his home country of South Africa in getting early legislation adopted by the Mandela government. Second by steering development of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, and thirdly, by launching and leading the Foundation for a Smoke Free World to accelerate access to better cessation and effective harm reduction products. He has published over 200 peer review articles on global health issues and served on Boards of the NIH, Wellcome Trust, Clinton Global Initiative and World Economic Forum.

Global Health Strategies LLC

Speaker

Dustin Dahlmann

President & Co-Founder

Independent European Vape Alliance (IEVA)

Dustin Dahlmann from Hamburg, Germany is the president of the Independent European Vape Alliance (IEVA), the German vaping industry association BfTG (Bündnis für Tabakfreien Genuss e.V.) and owner of the successful e-cigarette wholesale InnoCigs. He fights for an autonomous regulation of vaping products as a means to harm reduction independent from tobacco industries throughout Europe.

Independent European Vape Alliance (IEVA)

17:45
|
17:50

Closing remarks from the chair of the forum

Speaker

John Dunne

Director General

UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA)

John has a strong background and reputation in the European e-cigarette industry, having held senior executive positions in some of the US and Europe’s biggest companies. As Managing Director of Dyflin Group Consulting, he advises many leading industry analysts, financial institutions and media organisations looking at the vaping and CBD sectors. John is also Director-General and one of the founders of the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA), the UK’s largest vaping Industry association and has advised the UK governments All Party Parliamentary Group on Vaping as well as giving evidence before the UK Science & Technology Committee investigation into the Vaping industry and the Australian Parliaments review on vaping.

John regularly appears on national television, radio as well as national and international print media. John is a popular guest speaker at many of the world’s leading conventions.

UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA)

Friday 14th June 2024

Time Session title
13:00
|
13:05

Opening remarks from the chair of the forum

Speaker

John Dunne

Director General

UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA)

John has a strong background and reputation in the European e-cigarette industry, having held senior executive positions in some of the US and Europe’s biggest companies. As Managing Director of Dyflin Group Consulting, he advises many leading industry analysts, financial institutions and media organisations looking at the vaping and CBD sectors. John is also Director-General and one of the founders of the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA), the UK’s largest vaping Industry association and has advised the UK governments All Party Parliamentary Group on Vaping as well as giving evidence before the UK Science & Technology Committee investigation into the Vaping industry and the Australian Parliaments review on vaping.

John regularly appears on national television, radio as well as national and international print media. John is a popular guest speaker at many of the world’s leading conventions.

UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA)

13:05
|
14:00

Panel discussion: Policy, regulation and impact: what’s happening around the world?

How are approaches to regulation and compliance from around the globe shaping up?

In terms of market share by country, are there any shifts to the industry in 2024?

What worldwide trends and outlook on vaping can we expect in the year ahead?

Speaker

Tim Phillips

Managing Director

Tamarind Intelligence

Tim Phillips is the Managing Director of Tamarind Intelligence, a global independent market and regulatory intelligence service providing data for businesses operating in a number of fast-moving consumer sectors facing regulatory change, including vape, cannabis and tobacco alternatives. Tamarind Intelligence provides market-leading insights and regulatory tracking for clients ranging from governments and academic institutions to multinational companies and professional service providers.


Phillips is a UK-qualified attorney, having worked at the European Commission, international law firm Herbert Smith Freehills, media companies BSkyB and AOL, and Betfair (now Flutter Entertainment), where he ran global public affairs as the company went through its IPO. He was also a partner in a New York venture capital-funded start-up in the diamond sector. Tim holds a postgraduate diploma in legal practice from the University of Law, London, and a master's degree in geology from Oxford University. He has run Tamarind Intelligence for the past 9 years

Tamarind Intelligence

Speaker

Patricia Kovacevic

Es q. Global Legal and Regulatory Strategist, General Counsel, Head of External Affairs

Cryomass Technologies Inc

Cryomass Technologies Inc

Speaker

Tim Liddicoat

Managing Director

Inter Scientific

An Analytical Chemist by training, having worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 10 years, analytical contract research organisations for 7 years, and ten years in large life science solution providers with 4 years in the nicotine space. Tim has a broad background in pharma, medical devices, and nicotine and has worked in science, commercial support, product management, and various leadership roles across his career.


During his time at Inter Scientific as managing director, Tim has engaged with customers across the nicotine space, media outlets and other stakeholders to assist, inform and educate in support of the industry.

Inter Scientific

Speaker

Fred Roeder

Managing Director

Consumer Choice Centre

Fred Roeder is a consumer advocate at heart. He has been working in the field of grassroots activism for over ten years. He is a Health Economist from Germany and has worked in healthcare reform in North America and Europe. One of his passions is to analyze how disruptive industries and technologies allow consumers more choice at a lower cost. He also loves researching how innovation makes our lives better.

Fred is very interested in consumer choice and regulatory trends in the following industries: Consumer Goods, Healthcare, Sharing Economy, Airlines.

Among many op-eds and media appearances, he has been published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Wirtschaftswoche, Die Welt, the BBC, BILD, ABC Portland News, Montreal Gazette, Daily Mail, Handelsblatt, Huffington Post Germany, CityAM. L’Agefi, and The Guardian.

Consumer Choice Centre

Speaker

Mohammad Agrabawi

Group Director of Corporate Affairs & Communications

ANDS


Mohammad is an expert in Regulatory and fiscal affairs in the Tobacco and ENDS category, started as a diplomat and was Head of Consular Section in Jordanian embassies in both Cairo and Abu Dhabi before finally landing the role as the Head of External Affairs (JOR & PAA) at Philip Morris International in Jordan, followed by leading the Government affairs Function in JUUL Labs, and today the Group Director of Corporate Affairs and Communications at ANDS.

ANDS

13:45
|
14:00

Networking break

14:00
|
15:00

Product compliance and technical regulations

Speaker

Mohammad Agrabawi

Group Director of Corporate Affairs & Communications

ANDS


Mohammad is an expert in Regulatory and fiscal affairs in the Tobacco and ENDS category, started as a diplomat and was Head of Consular Section in Jordanian embassies in both Cairo and Abu Dhabi before finally landing the role as the Head of External Affairs (JOR & PAA) at Philip Morris International in Jordan, followed by leading the Government affairs Function in JUUL Labs, and today the Group Director of Corporate Affairs and Communications at ANDS.

ANDS

Speaker

Damien Bove

Chief Regulator Officer and Scientific Advisor

ADACT Medical

Our founder and Chief Regulatory Officer is Damien Bové BSc (Sci. Hons), MSc (Sci. Open), ICR who today leads ADACT’s team of global regulatory compliance experts for the electronic cigarette, vaping, CBD and herbal medicinces industries.

The building blocks of a career

Damien started training and working as a pharmaceutical technician in 1992 before heading to the University of Bradford’s School of Pharmacy, from which he graduated with an honours degree in 2000. After this, Damien immediately went to work in the pharmaceutical industry where he worked for both a large pharmaceutical company and a global contract research organisation where he worked in both R&D and regulatory compliance functions.

Growth through evolution

Taking these learnings, he left in 2004 to build on his knowledge and skills to set up his own independent R&D and regulatory compliance consultancy, ADACT Medical Ltd, while also obtaining his masters degree in scientific communication. Since then, ADACT has evolved in form and function several times with the changing demands of the marketplace, and today offers world class regulatory compliance services to electronic cigarette, vaping, herbal medicines, medical cannabis, CBD and hemp industries.

Today, Damien leads ADACT through his role as Chief Regulatory Officer whilst continuing to nurture his passion for medical sciences by sitting on the Electronic and E-liquids Committee of the British Standards Institute (BSI) and being a registered member of the Institute of Clinical Research and UKVIA.

ADACT Medical

Speaker

Dr Nveed Chaudhary

Dr Nveed Chaudhary has over 20 years of experience in lung disease with a focus on Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), asthma and Pulmonary Fibrosis across the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and nicotine industries.

Having had several senior roles in global multinational companies, most recently Nveed was the Chief Scientific and Regulatory Officer at a consultancy firm, advising international clients on nicotine and other drug delivery to the lung. At British American Tobacco, Philip Morris International, Imperial Brands and latterly at Broughton Life sciences, Nveed had significant roles in the development and assessment of reduced risk nicotine products, across Heated Tobacco Products, E-cigarettes and nicotine pouches and he has been involved in the PMTA and UK MAA processes of over 20 individual product lines covering over 100 different SKUs.

Nveed has had an international career, working in Germany, Italy, UK, Singapore, Switzerland and since Jan 2024, has taken a position as Vice President for Technology and Innovation at Medad Technologies based in Abu Dhabi.

Speaker

Dr Hamed Jamal

Founder and CEO

RACS QUALITY CERTIFICATES ISSUING SERVICES (RACS)

Dr. Hamed Jamal is the Founder and CEO of RACS QUALITY CERTIFICATES ISSUING SERVICES (RACS), an accredited and recognized worldwide quality conformity assessment body serving inspection, verification and certification requirements of clients throughout UAE, GCC, and worldwide, delivering high-quality services to help clients meet the growing challenges of quality and social responsibility. Simultaneously, he founded Holistic International Testing Services accredited from GAC (Gulf Accreditation Center), EIAC (Emirates International Accreditation Center and ENAS - Emirates National Accreditation System which is involved in verification, and testing services covering Chemistry, Microbiology and Molecular Biology, food, cosmetics, cigarette, tobacco, and vaping Laboratories.

HITS is a leading lab in testing and RD of product safety. HITS lab is accredited for vapes and e-cigarette testing and is introducing new methodologies to ensure vaping products safety. HITS work closely with authorities to ensure compliance of vaping products.

RACS QUALITY CERTIFICATES ISSUING SERVICES (RACS)

15:00
|
15:15

Networking break

15:15
|
16:15

Panel discussion: Vape in retail - The challenges and opportunities

We are joined by brands and retail groups from the UAE and around the world to discuss the vape category in more detail, focusing particularly on the future of the industry and the work they are doing to support their retailers.

  • How has vape retail changed over the last year and what can we expect over the coming months?
  • How are convenience stores and supermarkets tackling the challenges faced by the category?
  • What is the true cost of illicit trade in vape products and what needs to be done to stop it?
Speaker

Chris Kelly

CEO & Founder

Phoenix 2 Retaill

Phoenix 2 Retaill

Speaker

Fadi Maayta,

Co-founder & President

ANDS

Before becoming the Co-Founder and President of ANDS. Fadi has reached many milestones in his career, most notably as the GM and Chairman of Philip Morris in Jordan and PAA, global sales strategy at PMI HQ in Switzerland, and the head of commercial deployment in KSA. He also earned well-deserved coveted positions in JUUL labs as the Head of Middle East, Africa & Turkey and the Head of EU Travel Retail.

Fadi is an expert in staging, communication, and brand building of Electronic nicotine delivery solutions, from the angles of Harm reduction, regulatory challenges, and product innovation and development.

ANDS

Speaker

Leigh Vance

Senior Buying Manager - Tobacco & Tobacco Alternatives,

Wm Morrison Supermarkets Limited

Wm Morrison Supermarkets Limited

Speaker

Aron Byrne-Carter

Managing Director

NGP Trends

Through his company, NGP Trends, Aron provides businesses with valuable technical insights on the latest developments across vape, heat-not-burn and oral nicotine products. These insights, which support and enable the portfolio development of consumer centric products in this space, are shared through monthly reports, consulting and workshops. His solution for this fast-moving and tech driven category is to unlock consumer value from technology benefits.

NGP Trends

Speaker

John Dunne

Director General

UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA)

John has a strong background and reputation in the European e-cigarette industry, having held senior executive positions in some of the US and Europe’s biggest companies. As Managing Director of Dyflin Group Consulting, he advises many leading industry analysts, financial institutions and media organisations looking at the vaping and CBD sectors. John is also Director-General and one of the founders of the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA), the UK’s largest vaping Industry association and has advised the UK governments All Party Parliamentary Group on Vaping as well as giving evidence before the UK Science & Technology Committee investigation into the Vaping industry and the Australian Parliaments review on vaping.

John regularly appears on national television, radio as well as national and international print media. John is a popular guest speaker at many of the world’s leading conventions.

UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA)

16:20
|
17:00

Panel discussion: Taking action for a sustainable vape industry

With the rise in single-use vapes, there are concerns over the sector’s environmental impact. Around 844 million vapes are thrown away worldwide every year, yet like any other electrical products, vapes should be recycled. This session will explore the responsibilities and actions for the retail sector, consumers, product design, the waste industry and regulators to create a greener future for vaping.

Speaker

Eve Wang

Vice President

Shenzhen Smoore Technology Co. Ltd

Eve Wang serves as the Executive Director of Smoore International Holdings Limited and also holds the position of Vice President at Shenzhen Smoore Technology Co., a leading atomization manufacturer with its own consumer facing brand, Vaporesso and ODM division to serve industry customers for both vape and heated tobacco products. In Smoore, Ms Eve Wang is responsible for coordinating strategy implementation and coordinating management of international affairs, including access to key global markets, international cooperation, etc. Prior to Smoore, she worked for Huabao, the largest tobacco flavor maker in Asia. Before joining the tobacco industry, Wang also spent years in consumer electronics and other sectors for all aspects of marketing worldwide.

Shenzhen Smoore Technology Co. Ltd

Speaker

Bernard Juster

Senior Director, Product Design & Technology

ANDS

An Electronic Engineer by training, Bernard manages the Product Design and Technology department at ANDS, a Dubai-based leading player in the vaping space.

Bernard has played key roles in the vaping industry since 2012. Bernard served as Head of Product Management in Green Smoke (Miami, FL), one of the leading first-generation electronic cigarette providers. Following Green Smoke’s acquisition by Altria in 2014, he served as Director of Future Technologies in Altria (Richmond, VA) for five years, where he led and participated in many innovative developments in the vaping space. After leaving Altria, and prior to joining ANDS, Bernard founded Cannopeia Ltd, where he invented and developed an innovative injection-based vaping technology with an investment by British American Tobacco (BAT).

Bernard is an inventor with over 10 patents in the vaping space and received an inventor’s award in Altria’s Annual Granted Patents event in 2017. Some of his inventions focus on technologies that increase the safety of vaping products via control of temperature and liquid flow using software algorithms.

Having worked with major tobacco companies that sell traditional cigarettes alongside reduced-risk products, as well as companies dedicated exclusively to reduced-risk alternatives, Bernard is a passionate believer in the crucial role of reduced-risk technologies in fostering a better world.

ANDS

Speaker

Vismands Menjoks

Co-Founder

Wingo Deposit

Wingo Deposit

Speaker

Youssef Chehade

Managing Partner

Ecyclex International Recycling / ReLoop

Youssef Chehade is passionate about sustainability, conserving resources, and helping everyone in making recycling habits easier. He co-founded Ecyclex International Recycling with 3 recycling facilities in UAE, as well as ReLoop, a one-stop digital recycling solution that everyone can use to recycle from their companies and homes and contribute to a circular economy.

Ecyclex International Recycling / ReLoop

Speaker

Sal Younis

Global Sales Manager

VGOD

Sal Younis is an American from an Arab decent and lives in Los Angeles, California.

Sal carries 20 years plus of experience in sales & management and has been in the vape industry since 2017.

Sal witnessed the vape industry mature through the years globally and has attended, interacted and worked with clients in 30 plus different countries. In his personal life, Sal is an athlete that maintains a balanced lifestyle between his career and living a healthy life. This way he stays focused on growing in his career while maintaining a healthy life.

VGOD

Speaker

Pete Lomas

Director

Capseca Limited

Pete Lomas is the Founder of Capseca Limited – a Product Development Consultancy specialising in Next Generation Products (NGP) within the nicotine industry. He assists his clients with concept generation, prototyping, evaluation, Intellectual Property, Regulatory compliance, and manufacturing of NGP products.

Pete has a background in Electro-Mechanical Engineering, having worked in Product Development for nearly 30 years. He has specialised in NGP Product Development for the last seven years, initially spending four years at Imperial Brands leading the engineering team working on NGP device development (including Blu and Pulze devices). Pete spent a further two years as Managing Consultant at Broughton Life Sciences, before setting up Capseca Limited.

Pete is passionate about Product Development and finding novel and innovative solutions to engineering problems. He believes in questioning and challenging everything, constantly striving for improvement. As a result, he is named as inventor on over 80 published patent applications, the majority of which are in the NGP field.

Capseca Limited

17:00
|
17:30

Closing statements and concluding remarks

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