Geoffrey Fong

Senior Investigator

Research Description

While advances in early cancer detection and treatment have led to improved cancer outcomes for patients, primary prevention remains by far the best tool to reduce the cancer burden at the population level. Notably, reducing smoking rates at the population level leads to substantial and cost-effective reductions in cancer. OICR recognizes the importance of research designed to inform population approaches to reducing smoking prevalence.
Professor Geoffrey Fong is the Founder and Chief Principal Investigator of the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project (the ITC Project). The ITC's main objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of population-level policies designed to control tobacco use. Such tobacco control policies are the subject of the first-ever health treaty, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The ITC Project is conducting large-scale longitudinal prospective cohort studies in 17 countries, inhabited by 50 per cent of the world's population, 60 per cent of the world's smokers, and 70 per cent of the world's tobacco users. The results of the ITC Project's evaluation efforts are being used by countries that have already ratified the FCTC (to date, 160 countries of the world have made the FCTC their national law). ITC findings are supporting the implementation of evidence-based tobacco control policies throughout the world in a collaborative effort between the ITC Project and policymakers, researchers, and NGOs to reduce the burden of the global tobacco epidemic, which is projected to kill one billion people in the 21st Century, with over 70 per cent of the deaths occurring in developing countries.
ITC Project findings are also informing tobacco control efforts in Canada and in Ontario. In addition to his work in global cancer control and prevention, Professor Fong is also assisting in the creation of the Ontario Health Study, which is supported by OICR.

Contact Information

Telephone
+1 (519) 888 4567 ext. 33597
Mailing Address
Department of Psychology
University of Waterloo
200 University Avenue West
Waterloo, Ontario
Canada, N2L 3G1
Website
Dr. Fong's website
ITC Project website

Current

2007 - Senior Investigator, Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR).
2007 - Professor of Health Studies and Gerontology, University of Waterloo.
2007 - Professor of Psychology, University of Waterloo.

Background

1998Visiting Scholar, Psychology Department, Stanford University.
1993 - 2007Associate Professor of Psychology, University of Waterloo.
1993 - 1999Visiting Research Collaborator, Psychology Department, Princeton University.
1990 - 1993Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of Waterloo.
1988 - 1990Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of Waterloo.
1987 - 1988Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology, Psychology Department, Princeton University.
1984 - 1988Assistant Professor of Psychology, Northwestern University.
1984PhD, Social Psychology, University of Michigan.
1983 - 1984Lecturer in Psychology, Northwestern University.

Selected Bibliography

  • Hammond D, Fong GT, Borland R, Cummings KM, McNeill A, Driezen P. Text and graphic warnings on cigarette packages: Findings from the International Tobacco Control Four Country Study. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2007;32:202-209.
    • Hall PA, Fong GT. Temporal self-regulation theory: A model for individual health behavior. Health Psychology Review. 2007;1:6-52.
      • Fong GT, Hyland A, Borland R, Hammond D, Hastings G, McNeill A, Anderson S, Cummings KM, Allwright S, Mulcahy M, Howell F, Clancy L, Thompson ME, Connolly G, Driezen P. Changes in exposure to tobacco smoke pollution and support for smoke-free public places following the implementation of comprehensive smoke-free workplace legislation in the Republic of Ireland: Findings from the ITC Ireland/UK Survey. Tobacco Control. 2006;15(Suppl III), iii51-iii58.
        • Fong GT, Cummings KM, Borland R, Hastings G, Hyland A, Giovino GA, Hammond D, Thompson ME. The conceptual framework of the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Policy Evaluation Project. Tobacco Control. 2006; 15(Suppl III), iii3-iii11.
          • Fong GT, Hammond D, Laux FL, Zanna MP, Cummings KM, Borland R, Ross H. The near-universal experience of regret among smokers in four countries: Findings from the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Survey. Nicotine and Tobacco Research. 2004;6 (Suppl. 3), S341-S351.