Study Finds Extreme Smoking Rates Among Rural Drug Users

A new study, conducted by a team of researchers from UW-CTRI and published in JAMA Open Network, has found that rural-dwelling people who inject drugs have a smoking rate of more than 90%, higher than any other reported population. This extreme number—the average smoking rates among US adults is about 13.8%, the lowest it has …

Fiore Named Recipient of Hilldale Award

UW-CTRI Director Dr. Michael Fiore has been named the recipient of the 2021 Hilldale Award for Biological Sciences. UW Chancellor Rebecca Blank will officially present the award to Fiore and three other Hilldale Award recipients during a virtual ceremony on April 14. “This award really is recognition of the work of UW-CTRI as a team,” …

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 Piper already had tenure, the committee promoted her to recognize her academic accomplishments, excellence, and international reputation. Piper is the reigning president of …

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 to shadow UW-CTRI experts in person but, due to the pandemic, this year that wasn’t possible. So Kay Lera, Assistant to the UW-CTRI …

Regional Outreach Specialists Fulfill Key Role for the BREATHE 2 Study

UW-CTRI Regional Outreach Specialist Allison Gorrilla and UW-CTRI Director Dr. Michael Fiore recently presented to healthcare providers at Advocate Aurora Health in Milwaukee. At the presentation, Fiore discussed BREATHE 2 study components and the medical residents’ potential role in the study; Gorrilla presented a brief overview of counseling and the medications, with a specific focus on …

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 Racial Equity Task Force. “Working towards racial equity is a goal that benefits all of the members, and society at large,” Piper said. …

Quit Line Caller Pays It Forward

When Carolyn Slater started smoking, she didn’t think much of it. Thirty-eight years later, she didn’t think she would ever be able to quit. “I started smoking before there were warning labels or anybody took it seriously,” she said. “I was following in the footsteps of nearly everyone I knew. I even married a smoker.” …

Client and Provider Sing Praises of ‘Bucket Approach’

A behavioral health patient and a provider endorsed the Bucket Approach to tobacco treatment during a recent webinar about the approach for behavioral health providers. The webinars, which took place in December, were a primer on how to integrate tobacco treatment into standard care. It was developed by UW-CTRI Researcher Dr. Bruce Christiansen and the …

Zwaga Investigates How Providers Differ in Treating Patients’ Tobacco Use

Even with training and support, healthcare providers vary markedly in how they address smoking by their patients. New approaches are needed to help them. UW-CTRI Biostatistical Analyst Deejay Zwaga is studying exactly that. It’s thanks to the diversity grant program from the National Cancer Center, a supplement to the R35 Grant held by UW-CTRI Director …

Dr. Tim Baker Renewed for Honored Professorship at UW

Dr. Tim Baker has been reappointed as UW Chair for Tobacco Research and Intervention Research Professor. The position, which began on January 1, 2021 and lasts through December of 2025, grants Baker funding to continue his research into the treatment and prevention of tobacco dependence. “Working with Mike Fiore and all of my colleagues at …