Rate My Professor Ben Wamamili

Dr. Ben Wamamili is an Assistant Research Fellow in the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Christchurch, at the University of Otago, within the Division of Health Sciences. Previously, he was a PhD candidate in the School of Health Sciences at the University of Canterbury, where he conducted research as part of his thesis on the prevalence and patterns of cigarette smoking and electronic cigarette use among university students. Wamamili's research examines tobacco and nicotine product use among young people in New Zealand, including prevalence rates, usage motivations, perceptions of harm, attitudes toward tobacco control policies, and the effects of legal and educational interventions.

Wamamili has published extensively on these topics in peer-reviewed journals. Key publications include "Cigarette smoking among university students aged 18–24 years in New Zealand: results of the first baseline of two national surveys" (BMJ Open, 2019), which documented smoking trends; "Electronic cigarette use among university students aged 18–24 years in New Zealand: results of a 2018 national cross-sectional survey" (BMJ Open, 2020); "Change in smoking intentions of university students in New Zealand following simulated cigarette price increases: results of the 2018 International Tobacco Control Policy Survey" (New Zealand Medical Journal, 2020); "Attitudes towards the New Zealand Government's Smokefree 2025 goal among university students who smoke: results of a 2018 national cross-sectional survey" (Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 2020); "Cigarette smoking and e-cigarette use among university students in New Zealand before and after nicotine-containing e-cigarettes were legalised: results of a national cross-sectional survey" (New Zealand Medical Journal, 2021); "Cigarette smoking and e-cigarette use among university students in Queensland, Australia and New Zealand: results of a 2018 national cross-sectional survey" (BMJ Open, 2021); "Factors Associated with Having Family/Whānau or Close Friends Who Used Alcohol or Other Drugs in Harmful Ways among University Students in New Zealand" (International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2021); "Factors associated with support for reducing and ending tobacco sales among university students in New Zealand" (Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 2022); and "The effect of an educational intervention on high school students' knowledge about vaping-related risks and expressed desire to quit vaping" (New Zealand Medical Journal). He presented research at the tenth Cancer Research Workshop.