Rate My Professor Samantha Filby

Samantha Filby is a Research Officer in the School of Economics at the University of Cape Town. She is a final-year PhD candidate in Economics at the University of Cape Town. She previously obtained a Master of Social Science in Economic Development from the University of Cape Town in 2018, graduating with distinction as the top student in her programme. In her current role, she contributes to research on the economics of excisable products through the Research Unit on the Economics of Excisable Products. Her work includes studies on cigarette prices, smoking and quitting behaviour, the impact of tobacco sales bans, and vaping among youth in South Africa and other African countries. She has co-authored multiple peer-reviewed articles, including publications in Tobacco Control, Nicotine and Tobacco Research, and other journals, with key works appearing from 2019 onward on topics such as the temporary ban on tobacco sales in South Africa and cigarette affordability across sub-Saharan Africa. Filby also supervises honours students in Economics at the University of Cape Town.

Her research has been presented at international symposia, including a poster on the African cigarette price data landscape. She has participated in media discussions on tobacco control and vaping regulation in South Africa. Filby holds a DSTI–Dr Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri Doctoral Fellowship.