UW Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention
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 first article, by UW-CTRI Director Dr. Hasmeena Kathuria, calls on the US government to follow through on its promise to ban menthol flavoring …
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 of public health,” said Co-Principal Investigator and UW-CTRI Researcher Dr. Thomas Piasecki. “The toxic byproducts of tobacco combustion are responsible for a great …
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 rate increased before a vaping event. Importantly, the development of increasing heart rate observed in this study suggested that there may be time …
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 estimates are lacking, likely because studies generally assess only daily smoking or heaviness of smoking, wrote lead author Dr. Joanna Streck of Harvard …
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 organization with Dr. Tim Baker, and served as its founding director for 32 years, welcomed the group that included new UW-CTRI Director Dr. …
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 Ripley, and Research Director Dr. Megan Piper. Kudos to the team! They also visited the event, Same Game Different Smokers, an exhibit exploring …
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 who smoked found it helpful. Participants also experienced declines in depression, anxiety, and psychological inflexibility. These results were published in the Journal of …
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 programs that help them address their smoking, At a safety-net rheumatology clinic, QC increased cessation referrals 20-fold. When clinic staff open their electronic …
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 and England online for five years. Researchers, led by Dr. David Hammond of the University of Waterloo in Canada, used four dependence indicators …
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 from the National Cancer Institute. UW-CTRI Research Director Dr. Megan Piper and UW-CTRI Associate Director Dr. Tim Baker will lead the study. Recruitment …