Helen Cowie is a senior scientific leader with over 29 years of experience in applied science, regulatory science, and evidence generation across regulated consumer health-related sectors. Her work has focused on the design and oversight of preclinical and clinical research programmes, development of scientific evidence to support product assessment, and engagement with health authorities on regulatory evaluations. She has held senior scientific leadership roles within large, internationally operating organisations. Helen is currently Head of Tobacco Harm Reduction Sciences at British American Tobacco, where she leads multidisciplinary teams spanning clinical, behavioural, population health, and data science, advancing the scientific evidence base for reduced‑risk product assessment.
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Which Oral Nicotine Products Carry the Greatest Risk? | #GFN26ScienceLab
14 Sep 2026
Which oral nicotine products carry the greatest risk to oral health?
In this GFN Science Lab presentation, Helen Cowie examines how the shift from smoking to smokeless and oral nicotine products changes the way tobacco harm reduction should be assessed.
The discussion explores the current evidence on oral health risks across different product categories, including combustible cigarettes, traditional oral tobacco, snus and nicotine pouches. While cigarettes and several traditional oral tobacco products have well-established oral health harms, the presentation highlights evidence suggesting a substantially lower risk profile for oral nicotine pouches compared with smoking.