Richard Edwards

Head of Public Health

College of Medicine and Public Health

richard.edwards@flinders.edu.au

Health Sciences

Professor Richard Edwards is the Head of Public Health of the College of Medicine & Public Health. He is internationally recognised public health practitioner and researcher with a particular focus on tobacco control and achieving the smoking epidemic 'endgame'.

Richard trained in the UK in Medicine and Public Health, and held posts at the Universities of Newcastle upon Tyne and Manchester, before moving to the Department of Public Health, University of Otago, Wellington in Aotearoa New Zealand where he co-founded the ASPIRE Aotearoa Research Centre and was head or co-head of department for around ten years.

His main research interests are in tobacco use epidemiology and tobacco control policy, particularly research to help achieve an end to significant tobacco use. He is co-principal investigator on the New Zealand arm of the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Evaluation project and President Elect of the Oceania branch of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT).

Qualifications

BA, MBBChir, MRCP, FFPHM, MPH, MD

Honours, awards and grants

Richard has received many awards for teaching and research such as an outstanding contribution award from the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons for work on redesigning the CLEAR clinical epidemiology course in 2019 and the Health Research Council Liley Medal in 2023, as a member of a team carrying out Rheumatic Fever epidemiology research. ASPIRE Aotearoa has also received several awards including being awarded Research Centre status (the University of Otago's highest award for excellence for a research group) and the President’s award of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand. He was one of the first elected fellows of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) in 2019.

Key responsibilities

Richard has numerous appointments to academic, public health and tobacco control leaderships posiitons, committees and expert advisory groups. Current or recent examples include: President Elect SRNT-Oceania; Co-editor, Public Health Expert blog/Public Health Communication Centre Briefing; Chair Advisory board for the University of Otago Public Health Communication Centre (2021—2024); Member of SRNT Nicotine Standard Working Group; Member Smokefree Expert Advisory Group, Health Coalition Aotearoa; Member National Tobacco Control Advocacy Service Advisory Group, Hapai Te Hauora Māori Public Health; Member NZ Cancer Society's National Scientific Advisory Committee (2018 - 2023); Deputy Editor, Nicotine and Tobacco Research Journal (2014-2023); CLEAR course committee, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (2011-2024).