Jean-François Etter is Professor at the Institute of Global Health (ISG) of the University of Geneva. He is Director of the Master in Public Health and he researches in the field of tobacco prevention. 

He obtained a PhD in political science and a master degree in public health from the University of Geneva. He is an internationally recognized expert in the study of tobacco dependence and the development and evaluation of interventions to prevent smoking. He is a pioneer in research on electronic cigarettes, a new nicotine delivery system. He is also a pioneer of individualized interventions and automated support for behavior change using the Internet and applications on mobile devices. He was one of the first to explore some new indications for nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), including NRT use to reduce tobacco use among smokers who cannot or do not want to stop smoking. He is the author of over 150 peer-reviewed publications and of a book on electronic cigarettes.