UW Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention
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 has already recruited participants this month. CLUES is studying how vaping, juuling, and smoking affect health. In the case of Options, people in …
UW-CTRI Director of Research Dr. Tim Baker and UW-CTRI Director Dr. Michael Fiore wrote an editorial in JAMA Open Network commenting on three new research studies on vaping, asserting that our knowledge of the topic is still in its infancy. The three new studies published in JAMA Open Network found: Baker and Fiore said that …
UW-CTRI Research Director Dr. Tim Baker is the principal investigator on a new study examining withdrawal from tobacco. The study, coordinated by UW-CTRI Research Fellow Dr. Jesse Kaye, will recruit 300 smokers: 150 to take varenicline for 12 weeks starting one week before their quit day, and another 150 to take varenicline for nine weeks …
UW-CTRI Researcher Dr. Kristin Berg (left) received a Faculty Excellence in Clinical Care Award from the University of Wisconsin Division of General Internal Medicine for her work caring for patients in clinic and in studies. “Very flattering and unexpected,” Berg said. “The ceremony takes place at one of our monthly meetings; this year, it was virtual.” UW-CTRI …
For the first time, Wisconsin tobacco users can send a quick text to sign up for free services from the Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line. People who want to quit smoking, vaping, or chewing nicotine can now text READY to 200-400 to begin. Within a few moments, the tobacco user receives a text back from the …
Installment seven in our series on BREATHE 2 collaborators Years ago, Dr. Barbara Bowers fought for acceptance. “I was the only qualitative researcher in my school and in the health sciences on campus,” she said. “Qualitative research was looked down upon and I had to constantly defend it.” Many journals didn’t accept qualitative research or didn’t understand …
The Governor’s State Council on Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse (SCAODA) last month voted to adopt a policy that recommends integrating Tobacco Use Disorders into Wisconsin Substance Use Disorder treatment services, and to make it a standard of practice at recovery centers. SCAODA was established by state statute to advise all state departments on all …
What leads smokers who are unwilling to try to quit smoking to change their minds and then try to quit? Researchers explored this question in a new paper based on UW-CTRI data which showed that increases in two factors—the time before smokers light up their first cigarette each morning, and the belief they can quit—predicted …
UW-CTRI collaborator Carlos Roberto Jaén, MD, PhD, recently co-authored a USA Today article calling on CMS to cover phone calls that deliver primary-care treatment of COVID-19 and other medical needs since many insurers weren’t covering those calls if they didn’t involve a video element. But, given the sudden crush of COVID-19 cases and the need …
During the COVID-19 pandemic, smokers living with disease can be especially susceptible to the effects of the coronavirus, and they are expressing concern. “COVID-19 is on the top of people’s minds and Quit Line callers are bringing up the topic during coaching calls,” said Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line Coordinator Kate Kobinsky. “Coaches are reporting that …