Dr. Megan Piper News
Alex finds Avenues to quit smoking
Alex had smoked for 29 years and had tried vaping on and off for a year. He attempted to quit several times – including going cold turkey, taking bupropion and even hypnosis.…
UW-CTRI helps optimize research
UW-CTRI Research Director Dr. Megan Piper joined many collaborators and peers in Washington, D.C. for the 2026 Conference on Intervention Optimization, hosted by Dr. Linda Collins. Collins credited UW-CTRI founders Dr. Tim…
UW-CTRI takes Wisconsin Idea to Baltimore
UW-CTRI colleagues presented and served in a plethora of roles at the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) 2026 Annual Conference in Baltimore. Here is a rundown: Pre-conference workshops UW-CTRI…
UW-CTRI media round-up
Whoo-wee, did UW-CTRI lasso some publicity by granting interviews with big media partners. So wrangle a saddle and check it out!
Avenues study goes national
For people who both smoke and vape, there will be new paths to help them address their relationship with nicotine – now from coast to coast. The Avenues study has expanded to…
WSHS 2 data spurs methodological innovations
Data from a UW-CTRI study known as the Wisconsin Smokers’ Health Study 2 has helped colleagues from other methodology centers and UW-CTRI to develop a variety of methodological innovations. The latest novel approach was…
Wisconsin Idea to Shine in Baltimore
UW-CTRI colleagues will embody the Wisconsin Idea by presenting their research findings to people from around the world during the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco’s 2026 annual conference in Baltimore.…
Test deciphers whether a patient really smoked, vaped or both
Researchers published a paper in Nicotine & Tobacco Research about a novel way to test whether a patient has used just vaping products, just smoking products or both within the last 48…
Research gaps remain in co-use of cannabis and tobacco
UW-CTRI Research Director Dr. Megan Piper and UW-CTRI Director Dr. Hasmeena Kathuria served on the American Thoracic Society expert panel who reviewed the latest evidence on co-use of cannabis and tobacco and made several important recommendations.…
Avenues study goes national
For people who both smoke and vape, there will be new paths to help them address their relationship with nicotine – now from coast to coast. The Avenues study has expanded to…
UW-CTRI contributes to new guidelines to treat adolescent vaping
UW-CTRI Director Dr. Hasmeena Kathuria and Research Director Dr. Megan Piper served on the American Thoracic Society expert panel who reviewed the latest evidence on adolescent vaping and made several important recommendations. Among them: Clinicians should…
JAMA Network Commentary Explores Tobacco Retailer Density
Collecting data via smart phones has extended research on drug cues from tightly controlled lab experiments to being able to track exposure to drug cues in real time. In an invited JAMA…
Cannabis use associated with difficulty switching cigarettes out for vapes
Cannabis use reduces the chances someone will try to quit smoking, according to findings published by UW-CTRI researchers in Drug and Alcohol Dependence. Researchers found that, among 160 Options Study participants, cannabis…
Vaping: What are Wisconsin young adults thinking?
Before clinicians can help young adults quit vaping, it’s important to know what they think about vaping, how they’ve tried to quit and what methods they might try in the future. UW-CTRI…
UW-CTRI media round-up
UW-CTRI staff lassoed coverage in several news outposts in recent weeks. So tie up your horse while we rustle up this media round-up:
Research Demonstrates Vaping Turns Sleep Into a Vicious Cycle
Young adults who vaped experienced interrupted sleeping, which turned their sleep-vape schedule into a vicious cycle, according to research published in Nicotine & Tobacco Research. Researchers from the University of Texas in…
UW-CTRI Staff Share Findings in New Orleans
UW-CTRI colleagues presented at the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco 2025 Annual Conference in New Orleans. Here’s a rundown of UW-CTRI participation. Symposia 1. Dr. Adrienne Johnson, co-chair.Pre-Conference Workshop #3:…
Which Products Help Avoid Regular Cigs?
Alternative products like vapes or cigarettes with very low levels of nicotine (VLNCs) seemed to help people with no intention of quitting smoking to avoid smoking their regular brand of cigs—not just…
SRNT: UW-CTRI to Present in New Orleans
UW-CTRI colleagues will present at the upcoming Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco 2025 Annual Conference in New Orleans March 13-15. Here’s a rundown of UW-CTRI participation. Symposia Presentations Posters Watch for…
UW-CTRI Media Roundup
UW-CTRI once again lassoed headlines locally and nationally. Saddle up! Nicotine Regulation Vape Check Study Menthols
New Papers Call for Policymakers, Clinicians to Help Black People Avoid Tobacco Harms
Two new papers in medical journals written by UW-CTRI authors excoriate the tobacco industry’s exploitation of Black Americans and encourage policymakers and clinicians to help Black Wisconsin residents quit tobacco use. The…
UW-CTRI Earns $3.8 Million Grant to Test Nicotine Pouches to Replace Smoking
The National Institutes of Health has awarded a $3.8 million grant to UW-CTRI to see if nicotine pouches can replace smoking among participants in a randomized comparative effectiveness study. “It’s a question…
Researchers Consider Using Wearable Devices for Vaping Interventions
Using wearable devices to collect data from participants, researchers developed novel analytic strategies to examine how heart rate changes when participants were getting ready to vape. They found that the average heart…
Paper: Clinicians Should Assess for Daily and Nondaily Smoking
Clinicians should assess both daily and nondaily cigarette smoking, as either can include patients with tobacco use disorder (TUD), according to new research published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. TUD prevalence…
All-Staff Meeting Features a Twist
The 2024 UW-CTRI All-Staff Meeting was anything but typical. It was the first time in the Center’s 32 years that it marked the change of directors. Dr. Michael Fiore, who co-founded the…
UW-CTRI Celebrates Its Health Counselors
UW-CTRI Health Counselors celebrate the completion of BREATHE 2 Project 1. From right: Health Counselors Amy Sorce, T.Jay Christenson, Tess Kuba, Kathleen Cantu, and Mari; Clinical Research Manager Meg Feyen, Health Counselor Chris…
Study: Latine People Use ACT to Quit Smoking, Lower Distress
In a pilot study, 35 percent of participants reported quitting smoking after taking part in a culturally tailored version of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) via phone and online sessions. Latine adults…
Quit Connect Helps Black Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis Quit Smoking
An innovative program helped Black patients with rheumatoid arthritis to quit smoking, according to a new paper in Arthritis Care & Research. The program, Quit Connect (QC), prompts clinicians to refer patients to…
Trends Show Youth Who Vape Are More Addicted
Youth who vape were more addicted in 2022 than they were in 2017, according to a study published in Nicotine & Tobacco Research. The study tracked 23,145 teenagers in the USA, Canada…
New $4.3 Million Grant Offers Avenues to Help Dual Users Quit Smoking
For people who both smoke and vape, there will be new paths to help them address their relationship with nicotine. The Avenues Study will begin soon, thanks to a $4.3 million grant…
UW-CTRI Staffers Present at Conference in Edinburgh
UW-CTRI colleagues presented (or were co-authors on) 12 unique sets of findings at the upcoming Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco 2024 Annual Conference March 20-23 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Here’s a…
Study Finds Connection Between Smoking Withdrawal and Fear, Anxiety
Researchers asked participants to stop smoking for one day, then used a novel combination of subjective, psychophysiological, and neuroimaging approaches to see what happened. Results published in PLOS One demonstrated that 24…
BREATHE 2 Coaches Appreciated as Study Nears Full Recruitment
The Breaking Addiction to Tobacco for Health 2 (BREATHE 2) study continues to help patients at participating health systems who smoke explore their individual journey with tobacco. Participants in the BREATHE 2…
Collaborators Meet in Milwaukee with Community Advisory Board
The Milwaukee Collaboration Project held its first Community Advisory Board (CAB) meeting in August. The CAB is comprised of African American professionals, residents of Milwaukee, and other state and national public health…
Study: College Students Vape Much More Than They Realize
A new study found, for the first time, that vaping reported from memory by college students is significantly less than vaping recorded with real-time measures. The research, led by Dr. Anne Buu…
New Research Gives Those Who Vape a Voice
JUUL Labs has settled with several states after an investigation into its marketing and sales tactics to youth. Part of the settlement includes a $14.7 million allocation to Wisconsin, which will be…
Deep in the Heart of Texas, UW-CTRI Presents at SRNT 2023
UW-CTRI colleagues presented their research findings at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) in San Antonio, Texas. See what they presented below. Researcher Dr. Adrienne…
Collaborators Empower African Americans to Quit Tobacco Use
UW-CTRI Researcher Dr. Adrienne Johnson presented research findings at the Quarterly Meeting & Celebration of the Wisconsin African American Tobacco Prevention Network (WAATPN) and Wisconsin Tobacco Prevention & Poverty Network (WTPPN) in…
UW-CTRI Scientists Present Findings at the UW Department of Medicine Research Day
UW-CTRI staff and collaborators presented five posters at the University of Wisconsin Department of Medicine Research Day. Dr. Matthew Tattersall created three posters based on data from the Cardiac and LUng E-cig…
UW-CTRI Ranks 9th Worldwide in Total Tobacco Publications
The University of Wisconsin published the ninth-most smoking cessation-related publications in the world since 2002, according to a paper in Preventive Medicine Reports. The authors, led by Yingxin Xu of China Medical…
New System Helps Rheumatology Clinics Refer to the Quit Line—Fast
By introducing an easy-to-use electronic referral system to rheumatology clinics, researchers found that more than 70 percent of ready-to-quit smokers were referred to tobacco cessation services. The best part? Those referrals took…
UW-CTRI Celebrates 30 Years
In April 2022, the University of Wisconsin Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention (UW-CTRI) celebrated 30 years of helping people quit tobacco use. Founded by Drs. Michael Fiore and Timothy Baker, UW-CTRI is nationally recognized…
National Podcast Interviews Dr. Piper
UW-CTRI Research Director Dr. Megan Piper is featured in the latest episode of the podcast Freakonomics, M.D. The episode is called “Should We Pay People to Be Healthier?“ At the request of Dr. Tim…
McCarthy, Piper, and Baker Assume Shared Research Director Roles
Drs. Danielle McCarthy, Megan Piper and Tim Baker are now working collaboratively as UW-CTRI Research Directors, effective this month. McCarthy and Piper have different areas of expertise with some overlap, so they…
CBS Milwaukee Discusses Youth Vaping with Dr. Piper
As the state mulls a bill to make the legal age 21 to buy tobacco, matching the federal law for purposes of enforcement, CBS 58 in Milwaukee discussed youth vaping with UW-CTRI…
Piper Promoted to Professor
The UW School of Medicine and Public Health Tenure Track Promotion Committee voted unanimously to approve UW-CTRI Associate Director of Research Dr. Megan Piper for promotion to Full Professor effective July 1. While…
Med Students Learn Online about Tobacco Treatment
Fourth-year UW medical students learned about tobacco treatment when they recently completed a public-health elective class led by UW-CTRI Researchers Drs. Megan Piper and Jessica Cook. In past years, the students would get…
UW-CTRI Staff Well Represented at First All-Virtual SRNT Annual Meeting
Dr. Megan Piper, UW-CTRI Associate Director of Research, took her place Sunday as SRNT President (release the SRNT-shirt canons!). Before that, she participated in the Presidential Symposium, specifically as part of the…
C3I Expands Consortium to Help Cancer Patients Quit Smoking
UW-CTRI staff and collaborators attended the virtual 2020 grantee meeting of the nationwide Cancer Center Cessation Initiative (C3I), part of the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Cancer Moonshot Initiative, with the goal of…
‘Options Study’ Begins Recruitment, UW-CTRI Reopens Research with COVID Safeguards
UW-CTRI has reopened its research studies with COVID-19 safeguards in place, including mask requirements, sanitizing rooms, isolation of patient rooms, and hand sanitizer. The study known as CLUES has restarted and the Options Study…
Before Pandemic, UW-CTRI Shared Findings in New Orleans
As news of COVID-19 was just starting to break, some UW-CTRI staff were in New Orleans to present their research on tobacco use at the annual conference of the Society for Research…
Med Students Learn from UW-CTRI How to Help Patients Quit Smoking
Five UW medical students recently finished their public-health elective class on tobacco treatment led by UW-CTRI Researchers Drs. Jessica Cook and Megan Piper. The course includes an overview of tobacco treatment and electronic medical records…
UW-CTRI Staff to Present at SRNT in New Orleans
UW-CTRI staff will present 15 times at the annual conference of the Society for Research on Nicotine & Tobacco 2020 in New Orleans March 12-14. Here’s a preview, with current UW-CTRI employees…
ABC 27 News Interviews Megan Piper on Juul and Vaping
ABC 27 News Reporter Emilee Fannon discusses Juul’s new age-locking device with UW-CTRI Associate Director of Research Dr. Megan Piper. Piper said keeping nicotine out of the hands of youth is essential…
Outreach Specialist Trains Behavioral Health Providers on Treating Tobacco Use
UW-CTRI Regional Outreach Specialist Allison Gorrilla presented to behavioral health professionals at Bell Therapy in January on how and why to treat tobacco use, including the Bucket Approach. “Following the training, I had…
Paper in JAMA Peds Highlights Challenges of Helping Youth Quit Smoking
Helping teens quit smoking is daunting, but more research could reveal innovative ways to help, according to an editorial in JAMA Pediatrics by UW-CTRI Associate Research Director Dr. Megan Piper, Dr. Robin…
UW-CTRI Contributes to U.S. Surgeon General Report on Tobacco Cessation
UW-CTRI staff contributed a chapter to the new report from US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams on smoking cessation. UW-CTRI Research Director Dr. Timothy Baker, Outreach Director Rob Adsit, and UW-CTRI Director…
Esteemed Researcher Dr. Robin Mermelstein Continues Collaboration with UW-CTRI
Dr. Robin Mermelstein’s connection with UW-CTRI goes back 20 years and continues on a new grant. “I feel incredibly honored to be part of the CTRI team,” she said. “They are the…
Megan Piper Elected President of Society for Research on Nicotine & Tobacco
UW-CTRI Associate Director of Research Dr. Megan Piper has been elected president of the national Society for Research on Nicotine & Tobacco (SRNT) by its 1500 members. Piper said she is “honored…
Drs. Piper and Fiore Educate State Legislators on Vaping, Tobacco Purchasing Age
UW-CTRI Associate Director of Research Dr. Megan Piper and UW-CTRI Director Dr. Michael Fiore both offered insight on the research pertaining to two important current issues: Vaping and the legal age to…
Dual Users of Cigarettes and E-Cigarettes More Likely to Quit Vaping than Smoking
Dual use of cigarettes and e-cigarettes may not be sustainable, according to a recent UW-CTRI study, as dual users were much more likely to quit vaping than quit smoking. The study, published…
UW-CTRI Course Empowers Med Student to Help Relative, Patients Try to Quit Smoking
Before Dr. Chinou Vang began his residency in June at Gundersen Health System in La Crosse, he used the skills he learned from the Tobacco Dependence Treatment Course at the University of…
Megan Piper Named Recipient of Faculty Excellence in Research Award
The UW Division of General Internal Medicine has named UW-CTRI Associate Director of Research Dr. Megan Piper the latest recipient of the annual Faculty Excellence in Research Award. This award is in…
UW-CTRI Researchers Present Posters at Research Day, Win Awards
Six researchers from UW-CTRI presented their work last month at the 2019 UW Department of Medicine Research Day at the Health Sciences Learning Center in Madison, and two of them won awards…
New App Designed to Help Doctors and Patients Discuss Quit-Smoking Resources
UW-CTRI Associate Director of Research Dr. Megan Piper and UW-CTRI Outreach Specialist Amy Skora are developing a new app called Learn, Connect, and Quit (LCQ) to increase conversations between patients who smoke and…
NBC 15 Investigates Teen Vaping
NBC 15 News spoke to UW-CTRI Associate Director of Research Dr. Megan Piper regarding how vaping can affect teens.
Study: Vaping Devices Can Help Reduce Smoking Dependence – But Will They Quit?
More vaping was associated with less smoking and lower dependence on combustible tobacco products, according to a paper in the journal Addictive Behaviors by Dr. Anne Buu and co-authored by UW-CTRI Associate…
UW-CTRI Researchers to Present at SRNT Conference in San Francisco
UW-CTRI staff will present 17 times at SRNT 2019 in San Francisco, via seven presentations and 10 research posters. Pre-conference Workshop An Update to the Basics: Current Approaches for Measuring and Understanding…
UW-CTRI Staff Share Findings at UW Department of Medicine Research Day
UW-CTRI staff and collaborators presented research findings at the University of Wisconsin Department of Medicine (DOM) Research Day June 15 at the Health Sciences Learning Center on the UW campus in Madison.…
Crowd Follows Piper to Understand Tobacco Cessation and Effects on Social Networks
UW-CTRI Presents Research at SRNT Baltimore
UW-CTRI researchers presented 14 times at the 2018 annual meeting of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) at the Baltimore Hilton February 21-24. In addition to six podium presentations,…
Exhale Study Completes Recruitment, Pulmonary Data Analysis Begins
Dr. Will Bringgold, a second-year resident with the UW Internal Medicine Department, is working with UW-CTRI Drs. Kristin Berg, Stevens Smith, and other colleagues to analyze baseline pulmonary data from the Exhale…
New Paper Explains Success of Factorial Designs in Tobacco Research
Factorial designs are highly efficient and useful in evaluating clinical intervention components, but only when done correctly, according to a new paper in Behavioral Therapy. The paper, by a slew of UW-CTRI…
UW-CTRI Staff to Present at National Conference in Austin, Texas
UW-CTRI staff will present results from various projects pertaining to tobacco research and outreach at the 2017 National Conference on Tobacco or Health in Austin, Texas March 22-24. Here’s a rundown: For…
Researchers Link Quit-Smoking Medications with Relieving Anhedonia
Researchers have found that nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) eases an inability to experience pleasure, especially shortly after quitting, according to a new paper published in Nicotine and Tobacco Research. UW-CTRI researcher Dr. Jessica…
Smokers with Psychiatric Diagnoses Benefitted More from 16 Weeks of Medication than Those Without Such Diagnoses
It turns out that 16 weeks of quit-smoking medications improves quit rates, compared to 8 weeks of medications, for smokers with a history of psychiatric diagnoses, but not for those without such diagnoses in…
UW-CTRI Begins Exhale Study on Use of E-cigs and Cigarettes
UW-CTRI researchers this month will begin recruiting participants for a 5-year research study on smokers and those who vape e-cigarettes plus smoke combustible cigarettes. Beginning in early September, UW-CTRI will run paid…
UW-CTRI Staff Present Research at 2015 SRNT Conference in Philly
UW-CTRI colleagues joined hundreds of researchers and healthcare professionals gathered at the Marriott hotel in downtown Philadelphia for the 2015 Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco annual meeting. Researchers presented more…
UW-CTRI Outreach Team Hosts Days of Learning Across Wisconsin
(Above, from left) UW-CTRI Director Dr. Michael Fiore and Outreach Specialists Allison Gorrilla and Amy Skora discuss how to help patients quit tobacco use during the Days of Learning event October 7…