Waterloo’s ITC Project honoured with 2021 Governor General’s Innovation Award
By Wendy Philpott
David Hammond, a professor in the School of Public Health and Health Systems, along with Geoffrey Fong (Psychology) and Mary Thompson (Statistics and Actuarial Science), were jointly awarded a 2021 Governor General’s Innovation Award for the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Project.
The ITC Project is headed by Fong and conducts research into effective tobacco control policies such as graphic health warnings, smoke free laws, advertising bans and tobacco taxes. The Award celebrates excellence in innovation that makes a positive impact on quality of life in Canada.
“It’s a wonderful surprise and a testament to the importance of basic public health research and the importance of international collaborations to understand how global risk factors for chronic disease can be addressed,” Hammond said.
“I became involved with the study 20 years ago as a graduate student,” he added. “The Project sent me around the world learning how to conduct surveys on the back of mopeds in Taiwan and with school kids in China.” Today, he leads the component that examines youth and young people, including how vaping and newer tobacco products are influencing smoking initiation.
Read the whole story on Waterloo News.