The Tobacco Control Science Evidence Academy is hosted by the Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network at the UPenn Prevention Research Center.* The Evidence Academy will present the latest evidence and research about new tobacco products, tobacco regulation, and smoking cessation efforts. The goal of the event is to engage public health professionals, policy makers, researchers, and clinicians to inform them of the most up-to-date research and bridge the gap between research and practice.
*Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
Dr. Amato received his PhD in psychology from the University of Wisconsin. His research uses rigorous quantitative methods to understand how online smoking cessation programs can best help smokers quit. He leads the data team that supports BecomeAnEX, Truth Initiative’s free online cessation program.
Michael Fiore, University of Wisconsin Hilldale Professor of Medicine, founded and has served as Director of the University of Wisconsin Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention since 1992. Fiore chaired the panel that produced the US Public Health Service Clinical Practice Guidelines: Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence in 1996, 2000, and 2008. Dr. Fiore chaired the U.S. DHHS Subcommittee on Tobacco Cessation of the Interagency Committee on Smoking and Health that produced a comprehensive plan for promoting tobacco cessation in the United States.
Dr. Moran (PhD, University of Southern California) is an assistant professor in Department of Health, Behavior & Society at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health and is affiliated faculty with the JHSPH Institute for Global Tobacco Control. Dr. Moran’s research focuses on health communication, with an emphasis on tobacco control. Her work examines both micro-level processes of persuasion and social influence, as well as more macro-level health communication that occurs in society.
Kurt M. Ribisl, Ph.D. is professor and chair in the Department of Health Behavior at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is also the Program Leader for Cancer Prevention and Control at UNC’s Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Ribisl’s primary research interest is evaluating and improving the reach of population-level efforts to reduce tobacco use, with a particular emphasis on policy and information technology.
Dr. Schnoll is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, co-leader of the Tobacco and Environmental Carcinogenesis Program at the Abramson Cancer Center, and Senior Fellow at the Center for Public Health Initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Schnoll directs an independent and collaborative research program designed to evaluate methods for improving treatments for tobacco dependence.
Anil Vachani, M.D., M.S., is Associate Professor of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He is Co-Director of the Penn and Philadelphia VA Lung Cancer Screening Programs. His research program integrates approaches from the fields of translational science and clinical epidemiology to study novel approaches to screen for thoracic malignancies and to identify strategies to improve our approach to the evaluation and management of patients with lung cancer and mesothelioma.
Dr. Jennifer I. Vidrine is a Professor in the Department of Family & Preventive Medicine at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. Within the Stephenson Cancer Center, she is the Associate Director for Prevention and Control and Director of the Oklahoma Tobacco Research Center. Her research program focuses on eliminating health disparities through evaluating the impact of tailored smoking risk communications, cessation interventions for underserved smokers, and health care systems-level interventions for tobacco cessation.
Andrea Villanti, Ph.D., M.P.H., is Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Vermont Center on Behavior & Health, at the University of Vermont. She also holds an adjunct faculty appointment at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Villanti’s primary focus is on predictors and patterns of use and interventions to reduce tobacco use in young adults. She also has expertise in translational research to improve tobacco control policy and program decision-making.
Clinical:
Lung Cancer Screening: Current Knowledge, Challenges, and Future Directions
Anil Vachani, MD
Research:
Digital Tools for Tobacco Cessation Treatment: Recent Findings on Reach and Effectiveness
Michael Amato, PhD
Policy/Action:
Using Youth Culture to Prevent Tobacco Use: Strategies for Effective Campaigns
Meghan Moran, PhD
Carol A Devlin, PhD Student
Villanova University
Zoe Rosoff-Verbit, Research Assistant
University of Pennsylvania
Caroline Joyce, MPH Student
University of Pennsylvania
Josephine Hwang, MD/MPH candidate
Thomas Jefferson University
Ryan Coffman, MPH, CHES, CTTS-M
Tobacco Policy and Control Program Manager Philadelphia Department of Public Health
Ann Klassen, PhD, Professor
Drexel University
Dornsife School of Public Health
The Tobacco Control Science Evidence Academy will take place at The Study at University City. Please contact jade.avelis@pennmedicine.upenn.edu for assistance in booking rooms.
The University of Pennsylvania Prevention Research Center (UPenn PRC) was established in the fall of 2014 with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It serves as a hub for interdisciplinary chronic disease prevention research, training, and dissemination at the University of Pennsylvania.
The UPenn PRC brings together Penn researchers from a variety of disciplines to conduct innovative public health and disease management research aimed at preventing chronic disease and reducing health disparities in Southeastern Pennsylvania. It aims to strengthen public and private sector community partnerships, improve understanding of how behavioral economics and public health strategies can reduce health risks, and extend training, education, and communication in high-risk and underserved populations in the region.