Nigar Nargis

Ph.D.

Dr. Nigar Nargis is a Senior Scientific Director at the Surveillance & Health Equity Science department of the American Cancer Society (ACS). She leads the Tobacco Control Research team of seven researchers. She joined ACS in 2015 with over a decade of experience in the economics of tobacco and tobacco control. She and her team collaborate extensively with internal and external partners including the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), multiple universities, research institutions, and international organizations. She has extensive experience in mentoring young researchers and students and building capacity in tobacco control research in low- and middle-income countries.

Dr. Nargis received her PhD in economics from Cornell University, Ithaca, and postdocoral fellowship in tobacco control research from the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) at the University of Waterloo, Canada. Prior to joining ACS, she held a Senior Economist position at the Department of Prevention of Noncommuncable Diseases of the World Health Organization (WHO) Headquarters and an Assistant Professor at the Department of Economics, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. She is currently the ACS representative to the Convention Secretariat of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) where ACS holds an independent NGO Observer status.

Dr. Nargis’ current research focuses on economic and public health policies and interventions concerned with tobacco use as a major behavioral risk factor for cancer. She has devoted two decades of her career in tobacco control research with the specific aim of generating scientific evidence to inform tobacco control policy decisions at local, national, and global levels.

Institution Link: https://www.cancer.org/