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 helping cancer patients to quit tobacco use. The meeting included representatives from NCI, UW-CTRI, C3I, and 52 C3I cancer centers. This included: Typically …
Katherine Hudson is a new team member at Advocate Aurora Health in Milwaukee collaborating with UW-CTRI as a care manager for BREATHE 2 study patients. Aurora and UW Health are partnering on this UW-CTRI center grant funded by the National Cancer Institute. Tobacco is an important topic to Hudson, as two of her grandparents passed …
The Breaking Addiction to Tobacco for Health 2 (BREATHE 2) study re-launched at Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center on November 11. “We all worked so hard to get here once in March 2020, stopped for COVID and then retooled,” said UW-CTRI Director of Research Administration Amy Conlon. “Our staff have done monumental good work in developing …
It is difficult to quit smoking, but, building on the discoveries of Dr. Tim Baker, a new study has shown that taking the right medication at the right time can make a difference. According to new research in the journal Addiction, when compared to only using a nicotine patch, varenicline significantly reduced craving and anticipated …
More than 80 percent of smokers living in spaces supported by Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in Milwaukee reported they made at least one positive change to their tobacco use thanks to the 2018 rule prohibiting smoking within 25 feet of HUD housing. The results from a survey, conducted by a coalition led by the …
David “Mac” Macmaster’s father was an alcoholic and a smoker. His dad eventually quit drinking, but it might be no surprise that Mac also struggled with those addictions—including while he served in the Canadian Navy during the Korean War. “I got in so much trouble while I was in the Navy,” Macmaster said. “It was …
A novel treatment can suppress significant withdrawal symptoms more effectively than the usual care, according to a UW-CTRI paper published in the journal Addiction. This innovative approach, developed by UW-CTRI Research Director Dr. Tim Baker, suggests the process of quitting smoking can be divided into phases, each with different opportunities for intervention. Starting treatment while …
UW-CTRI Director of Research Administration Amy Conlon presented “Applying the Science and Art of Project Management to Public Health Initiatives” in August at the Wisconsin Public Health Association’s Virtual Statewide Conference. Conlon (right) highlighted five key tools to help manage public-health projects effectively. They include the: To watch the full presentation, click here.
UW-CTRI Director Dr. Michael Fiore and his co-authors recently pointed out a weakness in the high-profile “Best Hospitals Honor Roll” published annually by U.S. News and World Report. Namely, that these hospitals aren’t reporting on how they treat the leading preventable cause of disease and death: Tobacco use. Their paper, published recently in JAMA Internal Medicine, …
Dr. Mike Miller (left) has been advocating for free access to medications to help Medicaid members quit smoking, and a parade of support is following him. That includes UW-CTRI, the Wisconsin Medical Society (WMS), and the Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin (PSW). Medicaid members can already get nicotine-replacement medications (NRT) at their pharmacies, but they aren’t …