Kelley Lee and Eric Crosbie's commentary on the relationship between neoliberalism and the commercial determinanats of health was published by International Journal of Health Policy and Management online December 2019.

PMI’s proxy trade dispute with Thailand, Ross MacKenzie and Kelley Lee's analysis of PMI's role in the ongoing Thai-Philippines tobacco trade dispute was published in Tobacco Control, Online First 12 December, 2019.

The Promoting Indigenous Led Action on Respecting Tobacco Project (PILAR) and Kelley Lee were featured in Global health leader works with First Nations on tobacco control, Victoria News 18 November, 2019.

Tom Novotny was interviewed on Viewpoints Radio on 3 November 2019 Why Are People Still Dumping Their Cigarettes On The Ground?

Tom Novotny co-authored the BMJ editorial No more butts  with May van Schalkwyk and Martin McKee. (23 October 2019;367:l5890)

Ross MacKenzie, Jennifer Fang, Julia Smith assessed the public health impacts of China Tobacco International's recent public share offering. China: CTI’s quiet expansion strategy should be a concern for global public health. Tobacco Control Blog 12 October 2019.

Tom Novotny delivered a seminar entited Tobacco and the Environment: From Growing to Post-Consumption Waste at the Faculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. 8 Ocotber 2019.

Kelley Lee was interviewed by Brigitte Tousignant for La nouvelle flamme des cigarettiers in Le Devoir 28 September 2019. Elle a dit "L’industrie de la nicotine est loin d’être morte, elle évolue"

Jennifer Fang and Kelley Lee's Tobacco Control blog (26 September) PMI-funded Foundation for a Smoke-Free World adding insult to injury analyses Foundation for a Smoke-Free World activities in New Zealand, Malawi and China, and suggests a pattern as to how the FSFW is seeking footholds with underserved populations.

Kelley Lee was interviewed for Jusneel Mahal's article Is Vancouver Headed for an Outbreak of Vaping-Related Illnesses? in Vancouver Magazine, 20 September 2019.

Tom Novotony took part in Smoke alarm: what are the risks of vaping?  panel discussion on BBC Radio 4, 19 September 2019.

Professor Jeff Reading gave a presentation on Tobacco and Indigenous Populations at the 2nd World Indigenous Cancer Conference in Calgary, Alberta;  16 -19 September.

Julia Smith called for the health concerns around vaping to be addressed as an issue in the Canadian federal election campaign in Rachael D’Amore's Global News report “Trump calls for ban on flavoured e-cigarettes - what is Canada’s stance on vaping?”  13 September 2019.

Jennifer Fang's article in the The Conversation on China Tobacco's funding of schools in the country was reprinted by SBS Australia 17  August; The Print  (New Delhi) Tobacco companies in China are opening schools, and the Chinese welcome it, 15 August; Mondiaal Nieuws (Belgium), Een tabaksfabrikant die een basisschool sponsort: in China is het normaal, and by Newsweek Japan 27 August 2019 たばこ会社が教育を支援「喫煙大国」中国の危ない実情.

Convocation speaker Sheryl Thompson BA (Hons) is the 2019 Gordon M. Shrum Medal recipient.  SFU’s most prestigious undergraduate prize, the Shrum Medal recognizes high scholastic standing and extracurricular activities demonstrating outstanding qualities of character and unselfish devotion to the university. Sheryl is graduating with a BA (Hons) from the Faculty of Health Sciences. 

Tom Novotny was featured in 'Ban the Butt campaign fights waste from cigarettes' on CGTN America, 23 Apr 2019.

Jennifer Fang presented China National Tobacco Corporation: An emerging dragon?  as part of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Institute for Global Tobacco Control's Innovations in Tobacco Control Lecture Series. April 15, 2019. See China Tobacco looks to take on global cigarette makers. Financial Times 4 April 2019 for related coverage.   

In March, six Community Research Associates from five BC First Nations communities attended a training workshop at Simon Fraser University as part of the Promoting Indigenous Led Action on Respecting Tobacco Project (PILAR) led by Faculty of Health Sciences Professor Kelley Lee and Dr. Evan Adams from the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA).   Further details of the project are at Community Research Associates join PILAR Tobacco Project.

Tom Novotny was interviewed for the Audubon magazine article Cigarette Butts Are Everywhere. Is Banning Filters a Viable Solution?  7 March 2019.

Kelley Lee, Julia Smith and Jennifer Fang presented papers at the 25th SNRT conference in San Francisco, 20-23 February  2019. Symposium 24 The Growing Public Health Risks From Aspiring Transnational Tobac­co Companies.

December
Ross MacKenzie was among the authors of a statement published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health (2018;42: 506-507) calling for tobacco control researchers to reject PMI-funded Foundation funding: Australian researchers oppose funding from the Foundation for a Smoke‐Free World.

19 November
SFU University Communications media release   
Globalization and Health published two studies by researchers from the Global Tobacco Control Research Programme at Simon Fraser University on the history of the cigarette trade via Paraguay from the 1960s to 2003, and the subsequent rise of Paraguay’s Tabacalera del Este (known as Tabesa) from the 1990s. In both papers, the illicit trade of tobacco products has figured centrally, thus undermining global tobacco control efforts.

• From transit hub to major supplier of illicit cigarettes to Argentina and Brazil: the changing role of domestic production and transnational tobacco companies in Paraguay between 1960 and 2003.
• “We think globally”: the rise of Paraguay’s Tabacalera del Este as a threat to global tobacco control

October
Jappe Eckhardt and Arlo Poletti were guest editors of Global Policy Special Issue: New Perspectives on Global Value Chains: Bringing Institutions Back In. Articles include  Eckhardt J, Poletti A. Introduction: Bringing Institutions Back in the Study of Global Value Chains. Glob Policy 2018; 9: 5-11 and  Eckhardt, J. and Lee, K. (2018), Global Value Chains, Firm Preferences and the Design of Preferential Trade Agreements. Glob Policy 2018; 9: 58-66.

Ross MacKenzie
is participating in a two-year South Eastern Sydney Local Health District / Cancer Institute NSW project aimed at increasing awareness of health risks of waterpipe use among 18-35 year-olds from Arabic-speaking backgrounds in Sydney as well as family, friends and social networks of the primary target group.

18 October
Tom Novotny was interviewed on the Jefferson Public Radio's The Jefferson Exchange: Cigarette Butts Become Greatest Plastic Concern On Beaches. Transcript online.

15-17 October
Tom Novotny presented Tobacco Product Waste: Tiny Trash  Can Be Controlled at the Source at the 14th Annual Conference of the  California Storm Water Quality Association in Riverside, California.

4 September
The Global Tobacco Control Research Programme made its submission to Health Canada's consultation on “Plain and standardized packaging”.

July
Tom Novotny joined the Editorial Committee of Public Health Reports, the official journal of the Office of the U.S. Surgeon General and the U.S Public Health Service - first published in 1878. 

Benoît Gomis joined the Editorial Board of the Journal of Illicit Economies and Development  (LSE Press).  The journal publishes peer-reviewed  research and policy  commentary on the complex relationship between illicit markets and development.

June
Tom Novotny was named a Project Coordinator on a new research project funded by the California Tobacco-related Disease Research Program entitled "A Randomized Crossover Clinical Trial of Unfiltered Cigarettes". This pilot study will evaluate biomarkers, behavior change, intention to quit, and smoking topography when smokers switch from filtered to unfiltered cigarettes.

12-13 June
Kelley Lee took part in Canada and Global Public Health: Moving from Strategy to Action at the University of Manitoba 12-13 June 2018. @GairdnerAwards.

8 May
Tom Novotny presented:"The Filter Fraud, Adenocarcinoma, and Banning Sales of Filtered Cigarettes in California” to the UCSF Cancer Center Tobacco Control Program.

4 April
Tom Novotny presented "Water Quality, Tobacco Product Waste, and Toxicity: What to Do About the Butts", to the San Francisco Chapter of Surfrider on April 3, 2018, and to the San Francisco Department of the Environment.

7-9 March
GTC Programme researchers Jennifer Fang, Kelley Lee and Tom Novotny presented at the 7^th World Conference on Tobacco or Health Cape Town, South Africa.

9 February
Robert Marten and Ben Hawkins published their commentary Stop the toasts: the Global Fund's disturbing new partnership in The Lancet, on the decision of the Global Fund to fight HIV,
Tuberculosis and Malaria to enter into partnership with Heineken.

2 February
Jennifer Fang  attended the Bloomberg Initiative partners' meeting in Beijing.

11-15 December
Jennifer Fang is an invited speaker at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health – World Health Organization-China Tobacco Control Leadership Programme in Guangzhou China; she presented  “’Pro-tobacco propaganda’: A case study of tobacco industry-sponsored elementary schools in China” and “The China National Tobacco Corporation: From domestic to global dragon?”

4-5 December
Jappe Eckhardt and Kelley Lee are presenting "Global value chains, preferential trade agreements and firm preferences: rhetoric versus reality" at the New Perspectives on Global Value Chains and Global Production Networks: Bringing Institutions Back in, University or York.

1 December
Benoît Gomis. Beware of Tobacco Industry Funding; How transnational tobacco companies are rebranding
themselves as legitimate policy actors on illicit trade. Canadian International Council  

24 October
Benoît Gomis delivered a talk on the global drug trade, including lessons from the illicit tobacco trade, as part of a Canadian International Council / University of Toronto panel on security threats in an uncertain world. Toronto, October 24, 2017.

27 September
Benoît Gomis speaking at SFU Harbour Centre  555 W Hastings St, 27 September 2017. 
Measuring 'success' in the fight against terrorism. Information @ http://tinyurl.com/y7f4tvxp

25 September
Curran L, & Eckhardt J. Influencing trade policy in a multi-level system - understanding corporate political activity in the context of global value chains and regime complexity. Business & Politics.

25 August
Gomis B, Lee K, MacKenzie R. Tobacco Control
A missed opportunity: The US Helsinki Commission hearing on the illicit tobacco trade in the OSCE region

10 August
Benoît Gomis in conversation with Insight Crime Senior Editor Mike LaSusa on terrorism, drug trafficking, and the illicit tobacco trade in Latin America.

27 July
Holden C. Graduated sovereignty and global governance gaps: Special economic zones
and the illicit trade in tobacco products. Politicial Geography  2017; 59:72e81

27 May
Lee K, Eckhardt J.
Looming threat of Asian tobacco companies to global health. The Lancet 2017:389;1958–1960.

17 May
Julia Smith, Sheryl Thompson and Kelley Lee.
Death and taxes: The framing of the causes and policy responses to the illicit tobacco trade in Canadian newspapers.
Cogent Social Sciences 2017, 3.

27 April
Freeman B, MacKenzie R, Daube M. Should tobacco and alcohol companies be allowed to influence Australia’s National Drug Strategy? Public Health Res Pract 2017;27(2):e2721714.

8 March
Fooks GJ, Smith J, Lee K, Holden C. Controlling corporate influence in health policy making? An assessment of the implementation
of article 5.3 of the World Health Organization framework convention on tobacco control. Globalization and Health 201713:12

31 January
Global Public Health's special issue "The Emergence of Asian Tobacco Companies: Implications for Global Health Governance", guest-edted by Kelley Lee and Jappe Eckhardt, analyzes five Asian tobacco companies: Japan Tobacco International, Korea's KT&G, China National Tobacco Corporation, Taiwan Tobaccoand Liquor Corporation, and the Thailand Tobacco Monopoly. 

4 January
Curran L, Eckhardt J. Smoke screen? The globalization of production, transnational lobbying and the
international political economy of plain tobacco packaging. Review of International Political Economy 2017; 87-118.
 

14 November
Wallbank L, MacKenzie R, Beggs P J. Environmental impacts of tobacco product waste:
International and Australian policy responses. Ambio (March 2017; 361-370).

22 August
In their commentary on the Canadian government's deliberations on plain cigarette packaging legislation, Julia Smith and Kelley Lee underline the importance of being prepared for tobacco industry strategies to influence the process in their 2016 CMAJ commentary.
 

31 May
The theme of World No Tobacco Day 2016 theme is Get Ready for Plain Packaging; the FHS team has put together a display of cigarette packs look around the world that underlined the need for plain packaging in all countries.   

9 February
Benoît Gomis and Natalia Carrillo Botero's article in Foreign Affairs, "Sneaking a Smoke: Paraguay's Tobacco Business Fuels Latin America's Black Market", has received significant media attention in Paraguay. See Cartes sigue siendo accionista de Tabesa. abc. 9 February 2016; and Cartes y el contrabando, otra vez. abc. 9 February 2016.