The Global Forum on Nicotine 2026 team is delighted to announce our first speaker

and the person who will be delivering this year’s Michael Russell Oration: Dr Alex

Wodak AM.

Our Michael Russell Orator is a retired physician who was President of the

Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation for many years. He has worked full time on

drug law reform and then tobacco harm reduction (THR) as a volunteer in his

retirement. Together with colleagues, he started the first needle syringe programme

(1986) and the first medically supervised injecting centre (1999) in Australia when

both were pre-legal. Dr Wodak was President of the International Harm Reduction

Association (1996-2004). He has been interested in THR since 1992 but only active

in THR in recent years. Dr Wodak helped to start the National Drug and Alcohol

Research Centre (1987).

Linking to our conference theme, Prohibition and Public Health, Alex plans on

addressing the inevitability of safer nicotine products to completely displace

combustible tobacco products. He will explain how safer nicotine products address

more than just the health impact of tobacco, and how harm reduction advocates will

be vital in shaping how these disruptive technologies will be legislated for in the post-

tobacco world.

“I think it will be a talk that provokes a lot of discussion at the conference,” Alex

promised us, with undertakings of victory and how this relates to Charles Darwin’s

Origin of Species!

Watch Dr Wodak’s previous GFN contributions

Alex has made many essential contributions to previous conferences. In 2020, he

detailed how investment can pay a significant health and social dividend. The

Michael Russell Oration 2017 was delivered by Ethan Nadelmann, to which Alex

delivered a riveting response – highlighting the incredible cost tobacco places on

society.

You can find his many other speeches and contributions on the GFN YouTube Channel.

The Michael Russell Oration is an annual event, delivered to honour the work and

memory of Professor Michael Russell, a pioneer in the study of smoking behaviour,

clinical interventions and public policy action, who died in 2009. You can rewatch our

previous Michael Russell Orations at the Global Forum on Nicotine on the GFN website.

GFN Science Lab Submissions

GFN Science Lab is back for GFN26 and offers up the opportunity to showcase the

academic successes of our new and established scientists in the GFN community.

Have you begun planning your entry?

Create a five-minute video outlining your latest research exploring tobacco harm

reduction and safer nicotine products and be in with a chance of presenting your

science in-person at GFN Science Lab, live at GFN26 in Warsaw.

For further inspiration or submission details:

• The official GFN Science Lab page

• Science Lab discussions 2025

• Science Lab videos 2025

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The GFN26 Team