Kaye promoted to Assistant Professor
UW-CTRI Researcher Jesse Kaye, PhD, has been promoted to Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health. He is now on the tenure track.
Dr. Kaye’s research aims to develop and disseminate more accessible and effective tobacco cessation treatments. Dr. Kaye recently secured a 5-year $1 million career development award from the National Institutes of Health. The grant seeks to leverage machine learning to create personalized tobacco treatments.
UW-CTRI Researcher Dr. Jesse Kaye last year received the Department of Medicine Speaker Award from Department Chair Dr. Lynn Schnapp.
“I am thrilled to join the faculty of the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health,” said Kaye. “I am so grateful for the collaborations and mentorship from my UW-CTRI colleagues, especially Drs. Danielle McCarthy, Jessica Cook, Megan Piper, Tim Baker, Mike Fiore, and Hasmeena Kathuria.”
Focus on cannabis
He’s an expert on tobacco and cannabis addiction. Recent research showed nearly half of young adults who smoke cigarettes also use cannabis, so this issue is one of growing importance. Kaye co-founded the first UW Cannabis Research Conference and co-chaired a pre-conference session on cannabis use at the 2026 Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco annual conference in Baltimore.
His recent papers have highlighted that cannabis use is associated with difficulty switching cigarettes out for vapes and have raised concerns regarding co-use of cannabis and tobacco among patients with lung cancer.
Dr. Kaye values sharing his research not only with other academics and healthcare providers but also with members of the community. For instance, later this summer he will participate in a Badgers on Tap event that brings UW experts to pubs, breweries and bars in Wisconsin. Join him at The Rigby on July 11 as Kaye and colleagues discuss the facts about cannabis.
Focus on vaping
He has also carved a niche on nicotine vaping addiction and treatment. His paper in JAMA Pediatrics found that about half of teens who vape had tried to quit within the past year and one third still want to quit. While most teens who tried to quit did so without any treatment, the most common type of support they used were websites or smartphone apps. Kaye and colleagues aren’t just documenting these trends, they’re developing innovative ways to treat vaping.
Thanks to funding from the JUUL vaping settlement from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services tobacco control program, Kaye and a team of UW colleagues are developing an innovative single-session intervention for young people. It’s online, looks and feels like social media, requires no downloads and features selfie videos of their peers who have quit vaping.
Dr. Kaye has also been a leader in helping people with cancer to quit smoking through the a pilot tobacco treatment trial, which led to a new clinical Tobacco Treatment Program at the UW Health | Carbone Cancer Center. Kaye’s research and outreach work extends to many areas including promoting harm reduction and advocating for tobacco treatment help for people involved in the justice system.
“We are thrilled to see Jesse’s well-deserved promotion to Assistant Professor,” said UW-CTRI Director Dr. Hasmeena Kathuria. “He is a valued colleague, and we greatly appreciate his contributions to UW-CTRI. We look forward to his continued impact and all that he will achieve in this next chapter!”