Title: Associate Professor and Research Associate
Company: University of Georgia
Location: Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia
Dr. George Bakhturidze, Associate Professor and Research Associate at the University of Georgia, Head of the Research Department at the FCTC Implementation and Monitoring Center, and Department Head at the Georgian Health Promotion and Education Foundation, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Educators for dedication, achievements and leadership in Higher Education, Public Health and Tobacco Control.
Dr. Bakhturidze has established himself as a leading expert in public health, health policy and tobacco control in the country of Georgia and internationally, spanning more than 25 years. Since 2015, he has served as the head of the research department at the FCTC Implementation and Monitoring Center in Georgia. In this capacity, Dr. Bakhturidze leads efforts to monitor compliance with tobacco control laws, advocates for regulatory changes and coordinates research initiatives that address noncommunicable disease prevention. He has also served as the head of the department at the Georgian Health Promotion and Education Foundation since 2015, where he directs scientific-educational activities aimed at advancing public health education.
Affiliated with the FCTC Implementation and Monitoring Center in Georgia since 2003, Dr. Bakhturidze served as the organization’s director from 2003 to 2015, during which he played a pivotal role in shaping national tobacco control policies.
In addition to these roles, Dr. Bakhturidze has served as an associate professor and research associate at the University of Georgia since 2017, where he teaches courses, conducts research on eastern and alternative medicine, and, among other responsibilities, oversees training and strategic planning programs in public health and health promotion. Dr. Bakhturidize was notably an assistant professor in health promotion and policy on campus from 2015 to 2017, after initially serving as an invited professor between 2013 and 2015.
Beyond his primary engagements, Dr. Bakhturidze has been chairing both the Georgian Health Promotion Alliance and the Tobacco Control Alliance in Georgia since 2015. He has also been an active member of the scientific-consultative body for disease prevention and health promotion at the Parliament of Georgia since 2017 and the deputy chairman of the NCD Alliance in Georgia since 2018.
From 2023 to 2025, Dr. Bakhturidze completed a postdoctoral research associate fellowship at Georgia State University, further enhancing his expertise in health policy and promotion. He also served as a consultant to the World Health Organization (WHO) between 2017 and 2022 and to the World Bank Group from 2017 to 2018. Dr. Bakhturidze’s earlier consultancy with the WHO, from 2010 to 2012, focused on supporting evidence-based interventions for smoking cessation and prevention.
Between 2000 and 2005, Dr. Bakhturidze served as a diplomat in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia within the international law department as an attorney. This experience provided him with valuable insights into international relations and lawmaking processes that have informed his later advocacy work.
Dr. Bakhturidze’s professional journey also included numerous other related roles. From 2015 to 2020, he was the director of the primary health care clinic Medeuro. He also headed the strategic development department at Imedi Maternity Pediatric and Gynecology Clinic between 2010 and 2014, was the executive director of the National Counter Tobacco Center from 2000 to 2003, headed the head medical laboratory at the Educational-Scientific Center Akaki Tsereteli State University between 1994 and 2000, worked as a scientist at the Laboratory of Cosmophysical Researches Kutaisi Polytechnic Institute from 1991 to 1994, and maintained a private medical practice for 10 years, starting in 1990. In academia, Dr. Bakhturidze served as an invited professor at Tbilisi State Medical University from 2010 to 2012 and from 2012 to 2016 as an invited professor of health promotion and policy. He was also an assistant professor in public health at New Vision University from 2015 to 2016.
Throughout his career, Dr. Bakhturidze has demonstrated expertise in health policy, public policy, lawmaking, advocacy and international relations, as well as smoking cessation and prevention. He is recognized for actively campaigning for plain packaging through the Tobacco Control Alliance amid repeated postponements and for leading the national launch of the Tobacco Industry Interference Index in Georgia across multiple years. Dr. Bakhturidze has also supported evidence-based tax increases by co-organizing national conferences on healthy taxation with international experts and government stakeholders. Among other career highlights was his leadership in tobacco control, achieving compliance rates nearing 95%. Dr. Bakhturidze continues to address emerging threats, such as e-cigarettes, vapes and heated tobacco products, while working toward an endgame strategy for tobacco control in Georgia. His efforts extend into broader noncommunicable disease prevention, including cardiovascular diseases, cancer, pulmonary diseases and diabetes.
Dr. Bakhturidze’s academic background includes a master’s degree and a Doctor of Philosophy in public health education and promotion from the University of Bergen in Norway. He previously received a diploma in biomedicine from Akaki Tsereteli State University in Kutaisi, Georgia, in 1997. Dr. Bakhturidze’s professional development is further distinguished by fellowships, including one with IHME at the University of Washington in Seattle and a global tobacco control fellowship from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland, in 2015.
Active professionally, Dr. Bakhturidze is affiliated with the Georgian Bar Association, the Tobacco Control Center, the Georgian Health Promotion and Education Foundation, the Global Alliance for Tobacco Control, and the European Network for Smoking and Tobacco Prevention, among others.
Dr. Bakhturidze’s achievements have been recognized through numerous awards, including the Alton Ochsner Award in 2003, an Achievement Award for tobacco control from the Parliament of Georgia in 2018, and an award for tobacco control from the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health in 2021.
Looking ahead, Dr. Bakhturidze aims to reorient his country’s health care system away from illness-centered approaches toward proactive health promotion, working alongside colleagues toward meaningful change that benefits future generations. He attributes his success thus far to his unwavering focus on goals despite facing significant resistance, particularly from business interests within the tobacco industry, and credits perseverance alongside his team for achieving landmark advances in tobacco control policy.
For more information, please visit:
Contact Dr. Bakhturidze: