Dr Adriana Blanco Marquizo is the Head of the Secretariat of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control since March 2020. She is a medical doctor with a master’s degree in Policies to Prevent Addictions in Children and Adolescents from the Latin American Centre of Human Economy (CLAEH). Over the past two decades, Dr Blanco Marquizo has worked in the region of the Americas, supporting tobacco control activities in many countries of the Region, including her home country, Uruguay. Before joining the Convention Secretariat, Dr Blanco Marquizo worked at the Pan American Health Organization as Tobacco Control Regional Advisor and later as Chief of the Risk Factors and Nutrition Unit in the Department of Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health.

Prof Nuntavarn Vichit-Vadakan, Dr. P.H., a professor of Public Health at Thammasat University currently serves as the director of the WHO FCTC Knowledge Hub for Article 5.3. For many years, she was as the lead negotiator for Thailand at the Conference of the Parties (COP) for the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and chaired major committees at the Conference of the Parties which led to the successful adoption of guidelines and the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products. She was awarded with WHO World No Tobacco Day Award for Southeast Asia Region in 2011.

Mr Yodhim Dela Rosa is an international development professional and researcher with nearly a decade of experience in policy advocacy, monitoring, and civic engagement across the Global South. Since 2020, he has been engaged in monitoring tobacco industry interference and is currently the Global Research Coordinator at the Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control (GGTC). In this role, he oversees research on how governments in over 100 countries protect public health policies from the undue influence of the tobacco industry. He holds a master’s degree in Development Studies from the International Institute of Social Studies (part of Erasmus University Rotterdam) and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of the Philippines.

Ms Hanna Ollila, MSSc, senior specialist in the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), leads the WHO FCTC Knowledge Hub on Surveillance promoting research, surveillance and information exchange under the Article 20 of the WHO FCTC. Ms. Ollila has contributed to several WHO FCTC Global Progress Reports, and she has experience of the development and evaluation of Finnish tobacco control initiatives. She is a theme-coordinator for tobacco in the JAPreventNCD-project supporting the implementation of effective tobacco control measures in Europe, and in the Joint Action on Tobacco Control 2 -project she led a work package on tobacco endgame.

Dr Raouf Alebshehy is Managing Editor of Tobacco Tactics (tobaccotactics.org) at the University of Bath Tobacco Control Research Group. He is a public health consultant with a background in international public health policy, medicine and healthcare reform. Through Tobacco Tactics he strives to enhance the effectiveness of tobacco control policies by monitoring and countering the influence of the tobacco industry. Dr Alebshehy received the World Health Organization (WHO) World No Tobacco Day Award in 2024, and previously worked with the WHO and the Secretariat of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

Dr Hala Alaouie is Monitoring Coordinator at Tobacco Tactics at the University of Bath Tobacco Control Research Group. Her PhD in Social & Policy Sciences from the University of Bath examined contextual factors, mainly having a state-owned tobacco monopoly, to provide critical insights to improve tobacco control measures. Dr Alaouie has undertaken tobacco control policy work in Lebanon since 2012 and holds a Master’s of Public Health from the American University of Beirut. She has also engaged in advocacy, monitoring, evaluation, and training for stakeholders and vulnerable groups.

Dr Duncan A. Thomas is Policy and Knowledge Exchange Lead at the University of Bath Tobacco Control Research Group, supporting achieving useful impact from the TCRG’s work. Before entering the field of tobacco control, he previously developed UN endorsed massive open online teaching materials on water supply and sanitation policy in low- and middle-income countries, and was a member of several international centres studying and evaluating research quality, and science and innovation policies. He has worked at universities in the UK and Denmark, and for research organisations in Norway and Sweden.

Dr Ye Htut Oo is a dedicated public health researcher with experience in tobacco control, drug and alcohol abuse, non-communicable diseases, and mental health. Currently working with the Knowledge Hub for Article 5.3, Dr. Ye contributes to the implementation of WHO FCTC Article 5.3 by supporting countries in protecting tobacco control policies from industry interference. As a Doctor of Public Health candidate with master’s degrees in public health (global health) and rural development management, he combines academic expertise with practical insights.

María Pérez is a senior reporter with The Examination. There, she has reported on stories like how groups that say they represent consumers of nicotine products received tobacco funding or how PMI and BAT are releasing capsule cigarettes in sweet, kid-friendly flavors while they say they want to encourage smokers to quit or switch to new tobacco products. Recently, she has revealed how top government officials in the Philippines sought to protect the tobacco industry’s economic interests at COP10. Before joining The Examination, María covered issues affecting immigrant communities and public health for USA Today, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Naples Daily News, and El Nuevo Herald, winning the 2017 George Polk Award for her investigation into Florida companies that profited from undocumented workers and, once they were injured, reported them to prosecutors instead of paying workers compensation.

Matthew Chapman is a senior reporter at The Examination. His recent work has included an investigation into industry attempts to overturn the U.K’s generational smoking ban, and an expose about the Kenyan government watering down health warnings after threats by British American Tobacco. He previously worked at The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) where he led numerous cross-border investigations into the Big Tobacco industry. At TBIJ, he also delivered the organization’s first-ever podcast, an award-winning and critically-acclaimed eight-part series into a spy ring run by British American Tobacco. Matthew’s work has also included an investigation into human rights abuses at Del Monte’s pineapple plantation in Kenya.