UW-CTRI Director Dr. Michael Fiore is a recipient of the 2016 Alfred Ochsner Award for his contributions to helping people quit tobacco use and live longer, healthier lives. Dr. Ramaswamy Govindan also received the award, which comes with a medal and plaque.The Ochsner Award is named in honor of Doctor Alton Ochsner, co-founder of the Ochsner Clinic in New Orleans. In 1939, he was first to publish evidence relating tobacco smoking as the major cause of lung cancer.
Fiore is a nationally recognized expert on tobacco who has written extensively on cigarette smoking and the myriad illnesses and deaths produced by tobacco. His contributions have helped to clarify the science underlying these diseases for the public as well as the medical profession. He served as Chair of all three editions the United States Public Health Service Clinical Practice Guidelines: Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence (1996, 2000, 2008). The most recent version was endorsed by 58 leading public health and medical organizations. His leadership has resulted in the development of policies that supported the Justice Department’s lawsuit against the tobacco industry in 2005, including a $150 billion plan to assist 33 million smokers to quit.