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Contact Details

Phone
+64 3 479 7692
Email
janet.hoek@otago.ac.nz

University Links

Position
Professor of Public Health and Co-Director ASPIRE 2025
Department
Department of Public Health (Wellington)
Qualifications
BA(Hons - first class), MA(Distinction), Dip.Bis.Admin(Distinction), PhD
Research summary
Janet’s research tests measures designed to achieve the Government's Smokefree 2025 goal

Research

Janet Hoek is a Professor of Public Health at the University of Otago, Wellington. She gained a first class honours degree and a master's with distinction in English Literature, and later completed a postgraduate diploma in marketing and a PhD examining question wording effects in surveys. She was a Professor of Marketing from 2003 until 2019, when she became a Professor of Public Health.

Janet is Co-Director of ASPIRE 2025, a University of Otago Research Centre whose members undertake research supporting the Government’s smokefree 2025 goal. Her research examines how policy measures could more effectively reduce the appeal, availability and accessibility of tobacco products.

She has led several Health Research Council projects and is currently PI of the Whakahā o Te Pā Harakeke programme and co-PI of a project exploring roll-your-own tobacco use. She also leads a Royal Society Marsden funded grant exploring smoking to vaping transitions and previously led a Marsden project examining claims smoking is an "informed choice". She is currently mentoring a Marsden Fast start recpient examining tobacco industry claims of transformation. In total, she has received approximately $10 million in research funding as PI or co-PI.

Her work informed legislation on plain (or standardised) packaging and on-pack tobacco warnings within New Zealand and internationally. She is currently examining users’ experiences of tobacco products, including ritualistic behaviours associated with roll-your-own tobacco and has undertaken several studies into uptake and use of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS or vapes).

Janet has received several awards for her research, including the Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy Best Overall Conference paper Award on three separate occasions. She has also received several awards recognising her excellence as a reviewer. She is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, and Drug and Alcohol Review, and serves on the Editorial Review Boards of several other journals, including Tobacco Control. She also serves on several NGO and government advisory groups and was Deputy Chair of the PBRF Business and Economics panel in 2018.

Janet has received a Fulbright Award and in 2019 was a Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Study, Durham University. She has also held visiting positions at the University of California San Francisco and the University of Edinburgh. In 2009, she was made a Distinguished Member of the Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy; in 2021 she was elected a Fellow of the Society for Research into Nicotine and Tobacco.

Publications

Ball, J., Nip, J., Edwards, R., & Hoek, J. (2024). Oral tobacco and nicotine products: Quitting aid or teen addiction risk? The Briefing, (3 April). Retrieved from https://www.phcc.org.nz/briefing/oral-tobacco-and-nicotine-products-quitting-aid-or-teen-addiction-risk Journal - Research Other

Hoek, J., Edwards, R., & Waa, A. (2024). Smokefree laws: Reducing tobacco outlets will decrease crime. The Briefing, (26 February). Retrieved from https://www.phcc.org.nz/briefing/smokefree-laws-reducing-tobacco-outlets-will-decrease-crime Journal - Research Other

Hoek, J., Edwards, R., Waa, A., & Ozarka, E. (2024). High regret among people who smoke reinforces strong support for smokefree legislation. The Briefing, (20 February). Retrieved from https://www.phcc.org.nz/briefing/high-regret-among-people-who-smoke-reinforces-strong-support-smokefree-legislation Journal - Research Other

Bullen, C., Hoek, J., Gregan, M.-J., Phyo, P. P., Waa, A., & Edwards, R. (2024). False zombie arguments about illicit tobacco shouldn't be given any more oxygen. The Briefing, (12 February). Retrieved from https://www.phcc.org.nz/briefing/false-zombie-arguments-about-illicit-tobacco-shouldnt-be-given-any-more-oxygen Journal - Research Other

Hoek, J., Edwards, R., & Waa, A. (2024). Tobacco industry interference: Is the new Government meeting its international obligations? The Briefing, (1 February). Retrieved from https://www.phcc.org.nz/briefing/tobacco-industry-interference-new-government-meeting-its-international-obligations Journal - Research Other

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