UW-CTRI’s Dr. Jess Cook Earns Tenure

UW-CTRI researcher Dr. Jess Cook has been promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure. The appointment will be effective July 1. Cook first joined UW-CTRI in 2008 as an assistant professor. She is also a clinical psychologist at the William S. Middleton Memorial VA, where she treats veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder. “When I joined UW-CTRI, …

Smokers With a History of Psychiatric Disorders Show Poorer Response to Counseling

Intensive counseling with smokers that have psychiatric histories may not lead to higher abstinence rates, according to a new paper by UW-CTRI researchers. Whereas the original outcome paper, published in Addiction, supports the combined use of pre-quit nicotine gum and intensive in-person counseling in all smokers, the current paper sheds light on how multiple intervention …

UW-CTRI Study: No Clear Evidence Vaping Leads to Less Smoking or Lower CO Levels

Back in 2013, former UW-CTRI Clinic Manager Sophie Rodrigues-Pereira interviewed participant Jeffrey Grise as part of the Dual Use Study. Vaping electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) didn’t affect the level of smoking or carbon monoxide levels in study participants, according to findings to be published by UW-CTRI researchers in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence. UW-CTRI, led by …

Lois Smith Stays Active, Quits Smoking

Lois Smith (above center, with her quit coaches), a former smoker from Rio, quit smoking years ago with the help of the Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line. “I thought the Quit Line was really beneficial,” she says. “The counselors really helped me. They have a lot of great things to tell you about quitting.” For Lois, …

UW Rheumatology Collaborates with UW-CTRI to Help Patients Quit Smoking

UW-CTRI Associate Director of Research Dr. Megan Piper is part of a collaborative research team that received a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) award from the UW Institute for Clinical and Translational Research. This is part of an ongoing research effort, led by Dr. Christie Bartels, to identify interventions to help patients with rheumatoid arthritis and systemic …

Study: Want More Friends? Quit Smoking

A common fear of many smokers who want to quit is that they will lose many people in their social network―family, friends or co-workers―when they quit smoking. In fact, the opposite is true, according to a new study published in Nicotine and Tobacco Research. Those who quit smoking tended to increase their number of meaningful friendships …

Researchers Identify Differences in Referral Rates to Quit-Smoking Treatment Among Women Veterans

New research shows that women Veterans do poorly with tobacco cessation clinics, according to a paper published in Military Medicine. While 54 percent of women Veterans enrolled in a tobacco-cessation clinic made a quit attempt, only 8 percent were successful to 6 months. Only 24 percent of women Veteran smokers were referred to the tobacco cessation clinic …

NEJM: Smoking Rate Decreased Markedly During Obama’s Tenure

But Will Future Administrations Address the High Death Toll from Smoking? The seven years of the Obama Administration has been associated with an accelerated rate of decline in smoking rates, according to a paper published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. But, will future Administrations keep it going? Since Obama took office in …

Study: Want More Friends? Quit Smoking

News for Immediate Release Contact: Chris Hollenback, 608-262-3902 ch3@medicine.wisc.edu                                                                                   Study: Want More Friends? Quit Smoking A common fear of many smokers who want to quit is that they will lose many people in their social network―family, friends or co-workers―when they quit. In fact, the opposite is true, according to a new study …

UW Department of Medicine Bestows Honors on Drs. Doug Jorenby and Kristin Berg

UW-CTRI Researcher Dr. Kristin Berg presents research during a meeting in Madison. UW-CTRI Director of Clinical Services Dr. Doug Jorenby was recently awarded the Department of Medicine’s Division of General Internal Medicine Faculty Excellence in Research Award, which was formally presented during a July 6 meeting at University Research Park. The award was part of a general celebration of …