UW-CTRI Director of Clinical Services Dr. Doug Jorenby will retire July 3, 2023, after 30 years of service at the Center.
Jorenby has served as Director of Clinical Services for UW-CTRI since its inception in 1992. He has been a clinical psychologist and professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Medical School, where he has conducted a variety of clinical, investigational, and educational activities.
“What I would like to say is how honored I have been to work with so many superb people from the earliest days of TRIP down to right now,” Jorenby said, “the participants who joined us in the research we have done, the patients we worked with in the UW-CTRI Smoking Cessation and Prevention Clinic, and the contributions we will never know about—how work we have done has touched the lives of people we will never meet.”
Jorenby is one of the foundation stones of the Center, said UW-CTRI Director Dr. Michael Fiore. “I’ve been so proud to work with him for more than 30 years,” Fiore said. “There are so many things about Doug that I admire. One is the way he has mentored so many young people, both young investigators and students who went on to careers in health care. So many say you’re the impetus for them thinking about careers in this, and how much you have helped them. For all of that, you have a legacy.”
“Thanks so much for all you’ve done to help students, particularly undergraduates, pursue their dreams of becoming researchers,” said Dr. Sandra Japuntich, a former UW-CTRI student and now a Clinical Psychologist at Hennepin Healthcare.
“Thank you, Doug, for being such a wonderful supervisor and mentor during the time I was at UW-CTRI,” said Senior Therapist McKenzie Henson from Lake County Children’s Advocacy Center. Henson is a former student at UW-CTRI. “Thank you for your constant support and encouragement beyond my time there.”
Jorenby has served as Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator on a number of studies involving the efficacy of various behavioral and pharmacologic treatments for tobacco dependence. His recent research has involved optimization of new and existing treatments for individuals through predictive modeling. He has also published research on treatment for women as well as dual use of electronic nicotine delivery systems and combustibles.
He has contributed more than 130 papers to science, including several in JAMA and the New England Journal of Medicine.
UW-CTRI Associate Director Dr. Tim Baker served as Jorenby’s grad school advisor. Jorenby said that Baker and comedian Bob Newhart were valued mentors (but, according to Jorenby, Newhart never came to the meetings).
“I just want to say how much I appreciate Doug’s wisdom, his very sound judgement, in so many cases on so many topics,” Baker said. “I always look forward to your emails, the humorous things you send.”
Jorenby has also served as a go-to spokesperson for the Center, translating research findings and sharing them in an amiable, digestible fashion across the state, embodying the Wisconsin Idea. This was particularly true with Wisconsin Public Radio.
Fiore said he admires Jorenby’s integrity; someone he could turn to for counsel on professional and personal levels.
“Mike and I tremendously value all you’ve done for us,” Baker said of Jorenby. “In so many ways, your contributions to the Center have been understated and not gotten the recognition—other than New England Journal of Medicine articles and things like that—that you deserve. But we all know and appreciate what you’ve done. Congratulations on your impressive career. Thanks, Doug.”