Electronic Cigarette Association

Interview Sources and Bios

The following nationally and globally recognized individuals are making themselves available to the media for discussion on the topic of electronic cigarettes. To arrange interviews contact:

Emily Barna
(M) 602-663-2467
(O) 602-395-5850 x168
Email Emily Barna

Amy Linert
(M) 480-529-8326
(O) 602-395-5850 x169
Email Amy Linert

Matthew James “Matt” Salmon
President, Electronic Cigarette Association

Matt Salmon is a former member of the US House of Representatives from Arizona (1995-2001). Today he is the president of the Electronic Cigarette Association (ECA), following on a path of life’s work in the public health arena that has included pushing through a law in the state of Arizona that was among the first public smoking bans, and later in 2000, being named Congressman of the Year by the American Cancer Society.

Prior to his current position, Salmon was President of the Competitive Telecommunications Association, another Washington, D.C.-based trade association. Matt began his public service as a member of the Arizona legislature in 1991 and served as assistant majority leader of the Arizona State Senate (1993-95) before being elected to the first of five terms in Congress in the fall of 1995. While he was a Congressman, term limits were a high profile issue, and he was one of the few to honor a campaign pledge to not run for re-election after three terms.

Salmon was instrumental in the release of U.S.-based academic researcher Song Yongyi from a China detention center in 2000. He left Congress in 2001 and began a successful second career as a public policy leader in Washington, D.C. Salmon’s role in the ECA is influenced by watching a family member battle emphysema and cancer after a lifetime’s use of using tobacco products. He received an undergraduate degree from Arizona State University in 1981 and a master’s in public administration from Brigham Young University in 1986.

Clifford Bundy “Cliff” Stearns, Sr.
Member, U.S. House of Representatives

Cliff Stearns is among a number of Congressional members from both sides of the House who have personally used electronic cigarettes, and find their acceptance beneficial to themselves and to public health.

Well known for fiscal responsibility, Stearns in 2007 was one of only 48 House members to receive an “A” rating from the National Taxpayers Union. Stearns is the Republican Leader on the Communications, Technology and the Internet Subcommittee, and from 2001 until 2007, he was Chairman of the Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection Subcommittee and he is still on the Subcommittee. He has served on the Veterans Affairs Committee throughout his career and is a member of the Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee in the Energy & Commerce Committee and a member of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus.

Stearns is Co-Chairman and Co-Founder of the U.S. Air Force Caucus, leading a congressional delegation to Iraq in 2005; and he is Co-Chairman and Co-Founder of the Congressional Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Caucus. He is extremely accessible to constituents, having held more than 500 town meetings across North Central Florida.

David Sweanor B.A., J.D.
Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa
Special Lecturer, Division of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Nottingham

David Sweanor is an attorney and a crusader in the non-smoking movement in Canada. He has played a key role in Canadian efforts regarding tobacco taxation, advertising restrictions, package labeling, environmental tobacco smoke, smoking cessation and product regulation. Since 1983 he has worked in public health efforts, specializing in tobacco issues and focusing on how legal measures can greatly impact upon population health.

His active involvement includes successfully advocating for public policy changes in Canada. Per capita cigarette consumption in Canada has declined by roughly 60%, much of which can be directly tied to policy interventions. The organization where he did most of his Canadian work in his capacity as counsel, the Non-Smokers’ Rights Association, received significant international recognition for many groundbreaking public health advances. He has worked with the International Union Against Cancer, World Health Organization, World Bank, Pan American Health Organization and numerous governments, foundations, law firms, companies making smoking cessation products and health agencies.

David has been widely published in peer-reviewed scientific journals as well as having authored work for major national and international health and social service organizations. He has spoken at conferences in numerous cities around the world, and has been a frequent guest on major media in Canada and other countries. He has testified before parliamentary committees in Canada and elsewhere in the world, including both Senate and House committees in the United States. Various awards for his work include a ‘Public Health Hero’ lifetime achievement award from the Pan-American Health Organization.

Sweanor received an undergraduate degree from the University of Western Ontario in 1978, his law degree from the University of Toronto in 1981, and was called to the bar of the Law Society of Upper Canada in 1983. He is currently an Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa and Special Lecturer, Division of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Nottingham.

Joel L. Nitzkin, MD, MPH, DPA, FACPM
Chair, Tobacco Control Task Force
American Association of Public Health Physicians

Dr. Nitzkin is a public health physician, board certified in public health/general preventive medicine. Nitzkin holds a doctorate in public administration, and operates a consultancy firm based on the use of medical, public health, policy and management skills to address causation, prevention and quality of service issues.

He has been actively involved in tobacco control since the late 1970’s, has been part of the Tobacco Control Task Force (currently chairs) of the American Association of Public Health Physicians since the 1990s, and has authored many letters and participated in a variety of interviews about the public policy of tobacco and electronic cigarettes.

Nitzkin has served as the director of an urban health department in Rochester, NY, and was appointed to the Louisiana State Health Office as Director in 1989 where he led the public health agency. He has been an active member on boards of directors in health insurance, hospital, long term care and mental health entities and taken on a number of assignments dealing with correctional health, leprosy, healthcare quality, telemedicine, home care and community outreach. In 1997, Nitzkin incorporated JLN, MD Associates, LLC., his consultancy.

Nitzkin has been president of two national public health organizations, The National Association of County and City Health Officials 1988-89 and the American Association of Public Health Physicians 1996-1998, as well as multiple national advisory committees and commissions since the mid 1980s. His additional professional associations include American College of Preventive Medicine, American Medical Association, American Public Health Association and American Society for Public Administration.

Bill Godshall
Executive Director, SmokeFree Pennsylvania
Bill Godshall is founder and executive director of Smokefree Pennsylvania.

Since 1990, Smokefree Pennsylvania has advocated policies to reduce tobacco smoke pollution indoors, increase cigarette taxes, reduce tobacco marketing to youth, preserve civil justice remedies for cigarette victims, expand smoking cessation services, and inform smokers that smokefree tobacco/nicotine products are far less hazardous alternatives to cigarettes.

Mr. Godshall has also served as public health educator for the Allegheny County Health Department, director of education for the American Cancer Society in Pittsburgh, and government affairs chair for Stop Teenage Addiction to Tobacco. Godshall earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Penn State University in 1980, and a Masters of Public Health degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1985.

David Baron, MD
President, Primary Caring of Malibu Medical Group
Chief of Staff, Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center & Orthopaedic Hospital

Dr. Baron is the president, founder and family physician of Primary Caring of Malibu Medical Group. Currently the Chief of Staff at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center & Orthopaedic Hospital, Dr. Baron has worked in family medicine since 1991 and has been a member of the UCLA medical community since 1997.

His professional memberships include vice-chief attending medical staff and executive medical board member at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center (2001-2005); fellow at the American Academy of Family Physicians, and member of the California Academy of Family Physicians, American Medical Association and the California Medical Association.

Dr. Baron received an undergraduate degree and graduated summa cum laude from Amherst College, in Amherst, Mass., and received his doctorate from University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He serves on the board for SmokeStik, Inc., an electronic cigarette company.

Download Text Version
Download PDF Version