Our short-term thinking is killing us: Geoff Fong at TEDxUW

For most researchers, conducting research in domains that can make a difference in people's lives is a common primary goal. What sets Dr. Geoffrey (Geoff) Fong apart, then, is his second driving objective: to communicate the results of that research so that it can make a difference in people's lives. Fong believes that the end goal of research is a practical one, and that an important part of his job is putting this information in the hands of the people it will affect.

This is a goal that has motivated him since he was an undergraduate student, when his research on the impact of inadmissible evidence in jury decisions was published. Later, as a graduate student at the University of Michigan, he conducted research on reducing errors in everyday decisions, and as a junior faculty member at Northwestern and Princeton, he explored ideas relevant to health behaviours, like methods for reducing risky sex - research that included the first-ever randomized experiments on the impact of abstinence interventions as compared with safer sex interventions.

Over the past decade, Geoff has focused his research on evaluating the impact of tobacco control policies contained in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the first-ever health treaty, which was adopted in 2003 and which has been ratified by 175 countries. As the Founder and Chief Principal Investigator of the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project (the ITC Project), based at the University of Waterloo, Fong has played a pivotal role in conducting a large-scale evaluation of FCTC policies, including smoke-free laws, increases in tobacco taxes, and pictorial health warnings on cigarette packages. The ITC project has involved the collaboration of over 100 researchers across 23 countries --allowing the group to evaluate tobacco control policies that have affected over half of the world's population.

Fong has received numerous awards for his work, including being named an inaugural co-recipient in 2009 of the "Top Canadian Achievement in Health Research Award" from CIHR and the Canadian Medical Association Journal, and two awards directly related to that second driving objective of his, the 2011 CIHR Knowledge Translation Award and the 2012 Lise Manchester Award from the Statistical Society of Canada for "the unique and historic research effort" of the ITC Project. And with some his work having ground-shaking implications, he's more driven than ever to bring his knowledge to people with the ability to act on it.

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In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

[taylorjohnson]

International governments need to make big investments. As they have in economic development situations. And as they have in COVID times. That's what it will take and the private public sector can fill the development with those investments

[nadiromar]

I think this is the most important ted talk of all time.

[MonkeyKong]

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ARE YOU SMOKING YET?