Tobacco is the deadliest consumer products in human history. Globally, it kills 8 million people each year. In Australia, it is the No. 1 preventable cause of disease, costing the economy $137billion dollar a year.
Despite decades of effort, there are still over 2 million daily smokers in Australia and billions around the world. By taking lessons from other countries with different policies and quantifying the impact of various policies on smoking and vaping, Dr Chan’s research aims at finding the best policy mix to accelerate our transition into a tobacco-free society.
Gary has been actively engaging the public to disseminate my research. He has been interviewed on TV (e.g., ABC) and radio (e.g., ABC, SBS) over 50 times to comment on various drug related issues and policies. His research on the public health impact from alcohol, tobacco and cannabis has been reported in over 300 news outlets globally. He has also been invited to 5 schools in Brisbane and Toowoomba to present to over 1000 high school students on the harms of vaping, provided advice to the YMCA Queensland Youth Parliament on strategy on combating youth vaping, and led 3 public submissions to the Australian Government and Parliamentary committees on drug related policies.
Gary completed his PhD in June 2014 at the University of Queensland. He is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research, University of Queensland