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Professor Richard Edwards image 2020

Honorary Professor of Public Health, ASPIRE Aotearoa Research Centre; Department of Public Health, University of Otago Wellington

MB BChir, MRCP, FCPHM(NZ), MPH, MD

Contact details  

Email richard.edwards@flinders.edu.au

Research interests and activities  

Richard trained as a public health physician in the United Kingdom, and came to Wellington in November 2005 to join the Department of Public Health, where he was Head of Department for several years. He moved to Flinders University in Adelaide in January 2025 to take up the position of Head of the Public Health Discipline Group.

He has over 25 years experience in tobacco control practice and research in the UK , New Zealand and Australia. His main research interests are in tobacco use epidemiology and tobacco control.
Visit the ASPIRE Aotearoa website

His current research focus is on tobacco control policy research, particularly in relation to achieving the ‘endgame’ of eliminating harm related to tobacco use.

He is a member of the ASPIRE Aotearoa Research Centre including on the Evidence for Achieving Smokefree Aotearoa Equitably (EASE) study (New Zealand arm of the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Evaluation project) and the Te Tupu o te Harakeke HRC Research Programme.

Publications

Waa, A., Hoek, J., Gartner, C., Edwards, R., Leigh, L., Nip, J., & Teddy, L. (2026). Responding to illicit tobacco trade but not at the expense of sound tobacco control policy. The Briefing, (13 May). Retrieved from https://www.phcc.org.nz/briefing/responding-illicit-tobacco-trade-not-expense-sound-tobacco-control-policy Journal - Research Other

Shirley, P. P., Forsberg, B., Bullen, C., Edwards, R., & Savage, C. (2026). Through the haze: How the tobacco control community in New Zealand influenced policy change. Tobacco Control. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1136/tc-2025-059780 Journal - Research Article

Reid, J. L., Burkhalter, R., Ball, J., Cummings, K. M., East, K., Edwards, R., … Hammond, D. (2025). Awareness and use of oral nicotine pouches among youth and young adults, 2022-2024: Repeat cross-sectional surveys in Canada, England, the USA and New Zealand. BMJ Public Health, 3, e003457. doi: 10.1136/bmjph-2025-003457 Journal - Research Article

Ball, J., Hoek, J., Edwards, R., Teddy, L., & Waa, A. (2025). Are we there yet? Aotearoa’s Smokefree 2025 goal and what comes next. New Zealand Medical Journal/Te ara tika o te hauora hapori, 138(1627), 9-12. doi: 10.26635/6965.e1627 Journal - Research Other

Edwards, R., Nip, J., Hoek, J., Waa, A., & Ball, J. (2025). Vaping prevalence and trends: Findings from the 2024 NZ Health Survey. The Briefing, (3 December). Retrieved from https://www.phcc.org.nz/briefing/vaping-prevalence-and-trends-findings-2024-25-nz-health-survey Journal - Research Other

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