Jesse Kaye, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and Scientist at the University of Wisconsin Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention (UW-CTRI). He is a member of the UW Carbone Cancer Center, Cancer Prevention and Control Program, and member of the UW Cannabis Research Working Group.
Dr. Kaye’s research on tobacco, cannabis, and other substance use disorders focuses on processes related to risk, etiology, and treatment for addictive disorders. His early research focused on biological and psychological stress mechanisms that maintain addiction and lead to relapse. His recent research on tobacco addiction focuses on understanding inter-individual factors and intra-individual processes (e.g., stress, withdrawal, pain, anhedonia, cannabis and alcohol use) that contribute to smoking lapse and relapse, and that might inform personalized smoking treatment. The overarching goal of this research has been to develop more effective smoking treatments for populations disproportionately affected by tobacco use such as those with mental illness, heavy alcohol or cannabis use, socioeconomic disadvantage, incarceration, or cancer. Kaye’s research and outreach focus on dissemination and implementation of evidence-based tobacco treatments within healthcare, community, and digital systems. He has a growing program of interdisciplinary research on cannabis science and particularly the intersection of cannabis and tobacco co-use as it relates to tobacco dependence and treatment.
Kaye’s current National Institutes of Health K23 Career Development Award will support a program of research applying machine learning approaches to inform personalized treatment selection, identify periods of heightened lapse risk, and implement just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAI) to avert smoking lapses and improve long term smoking cessation success. This research aims to use prospective risk predictions machine learning models to develop novel digital personalized feedback interventions that reduce lapse and relapse likelihood by providing the right treatment, for the right person, at the right time.
Kaye’s research incorporates a diverse methodological toolbox, including human lab studies (psychophysiology), psychotherapy and medication clinical trials (mechanistic and treatment-oriented research), collection and analysis of intensive longitudinal data (ecological momentary assessment), qualitative methods, population surveys, and psychometric evaluation (self-report scale development and physiology assessments). Kaye is an Academic Editor at PLOS One and has a demonstrated commitment to open science principles promoting scientific rigor, robustness, and reproducibility in his work and the field at large.
Kaye is a licensed clinical psychologist. He obtained his PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 2018. He completed his clinical psychology internship and advanced postdoctoral fellowship in addiction treatment and research at the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital (Madison VA).
Representative Publications:
Kaye JT, Kathuria H (2025). Rethinking smoking: cannabis, tobacco, and lung cancer. CHEST.
Kaye JT, Betts JM, Brubaker E, Webster K, Beckham JC, Baker TB, Cook JW. (2025). Behavioral activation for smoking cessation in veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder: a randomized clinical trial. Nicotine and Tobacco Research. PMID: 40071390.
Williams BS, Kaye JT (2025). Vaping cessation methods used by adolescents. JAMA Pediatrics. PMID: 40622705.
Kaye JT, Kirsch JA, Bolt DM, Kobinsky KH, Vickerman KA, Mullis K, Fraser DL, Baker TB, Fiore MC, McCarthy DE. (2024) Tobacco Quitline Retreatment Interventions Among Adults With Socioeconomic Disadvantage: A Factorial Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Network Open. PMID: 39504025.
Gorrilla AA, Kaye JT, Pavlik J, Bonniot C, Vijayaraghavan M, Conner KL, Morris CD. (2024). A call for health equity in tobacco control and treatment for the justice-involved population. American Journal of Preventative Medicine. PMID: 38838793.
Smith DM, Kaye JT, Walters KJ, Schlienz NJ, Hyland AJ, Ashare RL, Tomko RL, Dahne J, McRae-Clark AL, McClure EA. (2024). Tobacco-cannabis co-use among cancer patients and survivors: findings from two US cancer centers. Journal of the National Cancer Institute Monographs. PMID: 39108242.
Kaye JT, Johnson AL, Piper ME, Baker TB, Cook JW. (2020) Searching for Personalized Medicine for Binge Drinking Smokers: Smoking Cessation Using Varenicline, Nicotine Patch, or Combination Nicotine Replacement Therapy. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. PMID: 32800078.
Kaye JT, et al. (2017) Probing for Neuroadaptations to Unpredictable Stressors in Addiction: Translational Methods and Emerging Evidence. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. PMID: 28499100.
Current Funding:
Machine learning approaches to personalized cigarette smoking risk prediction in adults trying to quit.
National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA: K23 DA063870)
Jesse Kaye (PI)
Status: Active. 09/2025 – 08/2030
Developing brief online single-session interventions for young adults who vape to promote vaping behavior change.
Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Commercial Tobacco Prevention and Treatment Program. (JUUL Settlement Funds)
Jesse Kaye (PI)
Status: Active. 01/2025 – 12/2026
Leveraging the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Center Cessation Initiative (C3I) Program to Evaluate and Transform Smoking Cessation Treatment in Cancer Care.
National Cancer Institute (NCI: R35 CA197573)
Michael Fiore (PI). Role: Scientist.
Status: Active. 08/2015 – 08/2029
Dr. Jesse Kaye