We are honoured to welcome Distinguished Professor Emily Banks from the Australian National University.

Distinguished Professor Emily Banks AM is a public health physician and epidemiologist. She works mainly on using large-scale evidence to identify actions to improve health and health care, at an individual and population level. Her main areas of work are in tobacco and e-cigarette control, chronic disease, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and healthy ageing. She is Head of the Centre of Epidemiology for Policy and Practice at the Australian National University, an NHMRC Investigator Fellow, a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, a Visiting Professor at the University of Oxford and a Member of the Order of Australia.

About the lecture

The tobacco and e-cigarette/vaping industries maintain and grow their profits by aggressively recruiting new “customers” and retaining existing ones. They do this by fiercely promoting their interests and maximising product availability, appeal and addictiveness – particularly targeting adolescents and young adults, whose developing brains are prone to addiction. Effective control of tobacco and non-therapeutic nicotine products requires evidence and action to see through and combat predatory industry tactics, including political and policy interference, disinformation, appealing and addictive product design, oversupply and attempts to intimidate and divide the public health community. This presentation considers evidence regarding industry lies, manipulation and exploitation and actions to protect public health.

This public lecture forms part of ASPIRE Aotearoa's 15th anniversary celebrations, and will be followed by our annual symposium on 2 July 2026 at the Nordmeyer Theatre, UOW, Wellington.

Find out more about the symposium

Registration is required for both the symposium and the public lecture. Spaces are limited so please register early to avoid disappointment! Registration for both events closes on 19 June 2026.