Associate Professor Kathryn Steadman - University of Queensland
- Pippa Starr
- Jul 18, 2023
- 2 min read
Research Interests:
Non-cigarette sources of nicotine
• Electronic nicotine delivery devices have potential to reduce tobacco use among smokers. We are interested in the regulation of nicotine vaping devices as medicines in Australia, their safety and their effectiveness as a nicotine replacement therapy for smoking cessation.
• Leaves from Australian species of Nicotiana are mixed with wood ash for chewing/sucking as a source of nicotine (commonly called pituri or mingkulpa) by some Australian Aboriginal people. We are interested in pituri use, and chemical components of the pituri plants.
• While for most smokers it is the non-nicotine nasties in tobacco smoke that are the primary cause of detrimental health effects of smoking or chewing, the nicotine is also a problem for the babies, children and youth. We are investigating the influence of nicotine from all sources (e.g. vaping, pituri, patches, gums as well as smoking) during pregnancy on weight and health of babies.
Kathryn completed a Bachelor of Pharmacy at Kings College London, followed by pre-registration and subsequent employment as a pharmacist with Boots the Chemists in Central London. With a PhD in plant biochemistry with Royal Holloway College, University of London, and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, she moved first to Cornell University, USA and then The University of Western Australia for postdoctoral research. Kathryn moved to the School of Pharmacy at The University of Queensland in 2007.
Following a number of years in plant research, her current research interests generally link back to plants in some way. Many of my projects develop in response to requests for help from healthcare professionals, and so I have a strong focus on answering clinical questions using pharmaceutical science methods. See my research interests for more information.
Kathryn teaches into the Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours) in the areas of pharmaceutics, compounding and complementary medicines. She also teaches the clinical drug development course for our Master of Pharmaceutical Industry Practice. She is currently the Director of Teaching, Learning and Student Experience for the School of Pharmacy. She has also supervised 28 PhD students to completion, and over 60 undergraduate and masters independent research project students.
20 September 2020
Access to nicotine vaping products: more conversation needed
THE regulation of vaping products that contain nicotine (nicotine vaping products [NVPs]), differs markedly between Australia and other similar countries (the United Kingdom, New Zealand, the United States, Canada), where NVPs are sold as consumer goods so people can buy them to use as a lower risk alternative to cigarettes or a smoking cessation aid. Full Article>>
