Above: UW-CTRI Director Dr. Hasmeena Kathuria and colleagues presented their poster at the American Thoracic Society 2026 Annual Meeting. The poster was called, “Opening the black box of engagement in smoking cessation research: How co-design engaged and empowered people who smoke.” They found that when community health workers and patients collaborated to co-design ways to help patients quit smoking, they not only fostered an intervention but also built peer relationships. The group said it empowered them and for some it even fostered behavioral change.

Below: Kathuria and colleagues on a panel presented about how to avoid the harms of tobacco use.