Dr. Frank Henkler-Stephani is the senior director of tobacco harm reduction at the German Association of the Tobacco Industry and New Products (BVTE). He is a trained biochemist who earned his doctorate from Imperial College London, with a strong academic background in carcinogenesis and inflammation. Since 2021, he has been with the BVTE, advocating for risk-based regulation of tobacco and nicotine products.

From 2008 to 2021, Henkler-Stephani worked at the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, where he was involved in the initial authorization of heated tobacco products and conducted risk assessments for both conventional tobacco and e-cigarettes until 2019. He also served as a member of the WHO-FCTC working group, which developed policy recommendations for regulating the contents of tobacco products (Articles 9 and 10).