Wednesday, January 12, 2022

How science improved the health of millions worldwide

Professors Mary Thompson, Geoff Fong, and David Hammond.

By Kathy Smidt. This article was originally published in the Global Impact Report.

The tobacco industry pulls in hundreds of billions of dollars in profits every quarter, at the cost of more than 8.3 million lives annually. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates the economic cost of tobacco is US$1.4 trillion a year —1.8 per cent of global GDP. 

In response to these sobering statistics, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) was created to turn the tide against the number-one preventable cause of death in the world: smoking.  

When the first WHO treaty was being negotiated, psychology professor Geoffrey Fong realized a research program would be needed to evaluate the impact of tobacco control policies that would be implemented globally because of the FCTC. 

Assembling an interdisciplinary team 

In 2002, three years before the FCTC came into force, Fong, who is cross-appointed to the School of Public Health Sciences, gathered an interdisciplinary team of experts from Waterloo and around the world, creating the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Project. 

With Mary Thompson from Statistics and Actuarial Science in the Faculty of Math, and David Hammond, then a doctoral student and now a professor in the School of Public Health Sciences, the ITC team began its global research to evaluate FCTC policies. 

Their aim was to develop a deep understanding of global smoking habits and trends that would support and defend effective tobacco control policies.

Although it began in Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and Australia, the ITC Project now includes 31 countries, with a team of more than 150 researchers. It is the world’s largest tobacco research program. ITC researchers have conducted more than 180 surveys, involving more than 300,000 people and built a global data set of 150 million data points.   

Recent policies include plain packaging and bans on additives and flavourings such as menthol. The research has led to positive changes, both nationally and internationally. Last year, the U.S. FDA announced it would ban menthol cigarettes, highlighting the ITC study and Fong’s estimates based on Canadian findings that the ban would lead to an increase in more than 900,000 U.S. smokers quitting. 

Science is the antidote 

With more than 600 published articles, the ITC Project has shown that policies, such as higher taxation, comprehensive smoke-free laws, large graphic-warning labels, bans on tobacco marketing and support for cessation programs are effective and save lives.  

The ITC studies, which are widely known for their scientific rigour, have bolstered global implementation of the treaty. But the tobacco industry is projected to hit revenue targets of more than US$888 billion by 2025, so the ITC Project’s path to improving global health has met with resistance. Hammond and Fong have been expert witnesses in many trials and government inquiries, called to present ITC evidence to counteract false or misleading industry claims. 

“Good, timely and well-communicated science is the antidote to this misinformation,” Hammond says. “People said it could never happen — that we’d never get rid of logos or put graphic images on packages. But the power of evidence and perseverance has made one of the most powerful industries bend to public health measures. That’s very rewarding.” 

Distinguished awards 

ITC research has led Canada and other countries to strengthen their tobacco-control efforts, improving the health of millions. In 2021, the ITC Project received a prestigious Governor General’s Innovation Award, which celebrates innovations that have a positive impact on quality of life in Canada. 

Thompson, co-founder of Waterloo’s Survey Research Centre, remembers when Fong approached her to help create the ITC Project. After 20 years, hundreds of studies, millions of dollars in research grants and a long list of awards, Thompson reflects with gratitude on how much they’ve accomplished. 

“The ITC Project has done amazing things — it’s a Canadian research project that has global influence. I’m grateful to Waterloo for its support and proud of the role our institution has played in addressing a public health crisis that requires an interdisciplinary approach to solve.” 

Because of his relentless work, Geoffrey Fong was recently appointed as an officer of the Order of Canada. Officers of the Order of Canada are recognized for an outstanding level of talent and service to Canadians or humanity at large.

Looking to the future

Until recently, cigarettes were the dominant nicotine product, but in the past decade e-cigarettes have risen in popularity. There is debate among researchers, advocates and governments about the potential for e-cigarettes to help smokers quit, which may be counteracted by their negative potential for addicting young people. 

“We are conducting multi-country studies of e-cigarettes and other new nicotine products,” Fong says. “We are measuring the effects of these products, and policies on them, on both youth and adults. The objective is to inform and support evidence-based policies on these new products in Canada and globally. In this sense, we are continuing down the path we began 20 years ago.” 

Remembering John Pezzack

John Pezzack (standing at the TV cart, looking at screen) teaching a Kinesiology biomechanics lab.

A message from the Faculty of Health.

The Department of Kinesiology and Health Sciences regretfully announces the passing of long-time and former staff member, John Pezzack, on December 30, 2021.

Pezzack completed his undergraduate co-op degree in 1973 in the newly formed Department of Kinesiology. During his time as a student, he was also a member of the University’s tennis team and later a coach and President of Waterloo Tennis Club. After his undergraduate degree, he completed his masters in biomechanics and joined the University as a teaching lab demonstrator in 1977.

For the next three decades, Pezzack instructed generations of Kinesiology students in the science of biomechanics, developing and leading hands-on learning experiences to demonstrate how forces act on and are produced by the human body.

“John Pezzack was a talented instructor who loved sharing his passion for biomechanics with Kinesiology undergraduate students,” says Professor Russell Tupling, chair of the Department of Kinesiology and Health Sciences and a former student of Pezzack’s. “I am grateful to have had the opportunity to learn from John as his former student and colleague. John was critically important in the development of the Kinesiology program and the outstanding department we have today.”

An outdoor Celebration of Life for family and friends will be held in the spring. Opportunities to pay tribute in the guest book or make memorial donations can be found in the obituary notice.

Have your say in an employee wellness survey

Do you have ideas for improving employee wellness at the University of Waterloo? Reshma Patel, a fourth-year Health Studies student in the Faculty of Health would love to hear from you.

Reshma is inviting you to participate in a survey as part of her undergraduate academic thesis project focused on enhancing employee wellness. Reshma’s research aims to assess how the wellness needs of employees have changed through the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and understand the gaps surrounding employee wellness at the University of Waterloo. Public health emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic can have adverse effects on the health, safety, and well-being of individuals and communities. Workplace wellness initiatives are one way that the University of Waterloo can support employee wellness during uncertain times. Reshma’s research is solely academic and not affiliated with any wellness office on campus.

Eligibility: Existing employees at University of Waterloo (CUPE employees, staff, faculty, co-op students) and employees who were employed at the University during the pandemic.

Click on the Qualtrics survey link below to learn more and participate. The questionnaire will close on January 31, 2022 and should take approximately 20 minutes to complete. The study is entirely voluntary, and all feedback will remain anonymous in that researchers will not ask for personal identification.

Qualtrics survey link: https://uwaterloo.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bKsHaPgxUiwkk8S

Thank you for sharing your valuable ideas on enhancing employee wellness during the pandemic.

Note: the study and questionnaire are considered academic research and have been given ethics clearance by the University of Waterloo Research Ethics Board. 

Work-Learn Institute director featured on fintech podcast; other notes

Anne-Marie Fannon, director of the Work-Learn Institute, was a guest on the podcast Fintech Fridays hosted by the National Crowdfunding and Fintech Association (NCFA). The podcast episode is called “Global hiring trends: how gen Z talent thrives” and was released on Friday, January 7.

The podcast is part of an initiative to highlight hiring co-op students from the Faculty of Mathematics in the fintech space. On the podcast, Anne-Marie highlights WxL’s research about Generation Z talent. “Gen Z have specific traits that make them uniquely innovative... what organizations need to do as they bring Gen Z talent into their companies is to think again about creating the space and the structures that allow and empower Gen Z to innovate” said Fannon.

Listen to the podcast to learn more about strategies employers can use to help Gen Z talent, including co-op students, to thrive in the workplace.

The School of Social Work at Renison University College is inviting members of the University community to attend the following virtual public presentations from candidates for the tenure-track appointment at the rank of Assistant Professor. All presentations are open to the public and can be attended virtually via the Zoom links provided. Each candidate will present for 40 minutes, followed by a 20-minute Q & A session.

Dr. Jennifer Ma, "Collective Resistance + Resilience: Anti-racist and Anti-colonial Research with BIPOC Communities and Families," January 13, 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

"Dr. Jennifer Ma is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Regina. Her research focuses on systemic oppression and addressing social inequalities through a critical race feminist, anti-colonial framework and multi-method approaches. Her research interests revolve around social justice work with communities that are systemically discriminated against, including Black, Indigenous, People of Colour (BIPOC) communities, racialized migrants and forcibly displaced people, children and families involved with child welfare, 2SLGBTQIA+ people and the intersections among these positionalities. She is currently the Principal Investigator of a SSHRC-funded project, entitled Building Solidarity among emerging BIPOC scholars, practitioners, and activists: Select topics in migration."

Join the Zoom meeting (Meeting ID: 940 5949 2784, Passcode: 434073)

Dr. Manaal Syed, "Tracing racialized older women’s lives through transnational aging and family migration arrangements: Implications for Social Work Research," January 14, 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

"Dr. Manaal Syed is a Sessional Lecturer at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work (FIFSW) at the University of Toronto. She is a recent graduate of the FIFSW PhD program and holds an MSW in Social Justice and Diversity and a Master of Education in Adult Education and Community Development from the University of Toronto. Her research, teaching and practice have centered on community-based, critical and social policy practice and promoting the health, wellbeing and social outcomes of older adults and migrant populations. Her program of research and publications advance critical theorizations about racialized older immigrant women’s identity formations, social exclusion and isolation in various immigrant groups and community-based knowledge dissemination and elder abuse prevention for strengthening gerontological social work practice. She has been awarded numerous competitive interdisciplinary scholarships and award funding to support her research. Notably, in 2018, she was invited to present insights from her doctoral research work to Canadian federal government immigration policy analysts at an academic-government consultation at the University of Toronto. Deeply committed to social justice and equity-informed social work education, she recently served as the Student Advisor for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) at the FIFSW, University of Toronto and is an invited member of several curriculum and EDI committees in higher education. As a result of her contributions to anti-oppressive practice and service, she was the 2020 Recipient of the GADE (CSWE) Doctoral Award for Leadership & Service in Social Work."

Join the Zoom meeting (Meeting ID: 984 0973 3041, Passcode: 324787)

Renée Ferguson, "Seeing is not always believing: Using critical race theory and Black feminist thought to move beyond acknowledgement," January 17, 2022, 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

"Renée Nicole Ferguson lives and works in Tkaronto. She is a mama, wife, sister and cousin within a large extended family. She is also the oldest daughter of migrants; a nurse and photographer from Grenada, the original home of the Kalinago people. Renée is a trained and Registered Social Worker (RSW) and Project Manager Professional (PMP) who has worked in the community mental health sector for over a decade. She holds an MSW from the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto and is completing a PhD (ABD) in Policy Studies at X University. She is curious about the intersections of race and policy and the application of critical race theory and Black feminist thought to policy analyses. A long-time educator, Renée teaches social work at X University and Dalhousie University and in the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program at the University of Toronto, Mississauga."

Join the Zoom meeting (Meeting ID: 927 8510 0606, Passcode: 748444)

Dr. Chizuru Nobe-Ghelani, "Renewing relations with glocal lands: Exploration of Indigenous - Refugee relations with the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture," January 20, 2022, 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

"Chizuru Nobe-Ghelani is a racialized migrant settler who is originally from rural Japan. She is a sessional instructor at the School of Social Work at York University where she completed a doctorate in social work. Her scholarship and pedagogy are informed by extensive social work practice in the area of health and wellbeing with marginalized communities, both locally and internationally. Her research is centered on the politics and policies pertaining to migrant communities, particularly with regards to the colonial and racial politics of Canadian citizenship, historical and contemporary immigration, refugee and citizenship policies, social and structural determinants of migrant health and Indigenous-migrant relations. She deeply cares about Indigenous reconciliation and sovereignty, ethical social work practice, migrant rights, land stewardship and ecological justice. She currently leads a community-based research project with the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture (CCVT) on Indigenous-Refugee relations which aims to facilitate reconciliation and wholistic healing through land-based education. She is a registered social worker and is trained in horticultural therapy and forest therapy."

Join the Zoom meeting (Meeting ID: 958 0542 6919, Passcode: 387369).

The University regrets to announce that the Rapid Antigen Screening site at the Student Life Centre has closed. "We will communicate future eligibility for rapid screening as it becomes available, in line with provincial guidance," is the official word. "Due to demand for take home kits across the province, kits are not avaliable at any of our campuses at this time.""

Employers hosting Virtual Employer Information Sessions (VEIS) next week include Milliman, Thumbtack, Capital One, Persona, BGIS, Thomson Reuters, Bloomberg, Splunk, Verily Canada Corp, Argus Group, Datadog, Genesys, BDO Canada LLP, Rogers, Deloitte, Issac Operations, Capula Investment Management, Canvass AI, OMERS, and AMD. Make sure to register WaterlooWorks and check the calendar for any updates.