Dr. Hasmeena Kathuria, MD, ATSF

Dr. Hasmeena Kathuria, MD, ATSF, is the Director of the University of Wisconsin Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention (UW‑CTRI) and the Jan and Kathryn Ver Hagen Professor of Translational Research in Medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. She is a tenured Professor of Medicine.

Kathuria is a pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine physician. Her research, advocacy and clinical efforts focus on clinical care, implementation and policy related to tobacco dependence, with particular attention to populations disproportionately affected by tobacco use.

Before joining UW‑CTRI, Dr. Kathuria founded and directed the Tobacco Dependence Treatment Center at Boston Medical Center, including the opt‑out inpatient tobacco treatment program. This program continues to provide tobacco treatment to hospitalized patients regardless of diagnosis or readiness to quit and serves as a model for system-level tobacco care.

She collaborates with UW departments, health systems, state and national programs to advance UW‑CTRI’s work to reduce the leading cause of preventable disease and death – tobacco use – in Wisconsin and the nation through research, clinical innovation and policy leadership.

Kathuria is a nationally recognized leader in tobacco control. She served as Chair of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) Tobacco Action Committee (2022–2025) and co‑chairs the ATS Tobacco Control Task Force. She currently serves as Co‑Chair of the American Cancer Society National Lung Cancer Roundtable (NLCRT) Tobacco Treatment Task Group. She holds an advisory role related to tobacco initiatives within the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP). She is a member of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) Treatment and Policy Research Networks and a Fellow of the American Thoracic Society (ATSF).

She earned her undergraduate degree at Northwestern University, her medical doctorate at Loyola University Chicago and completed her residency and chief residency at Indiana University. She completed her pulmonary and critical care fellowship at Boston University Medical Center and remained on faculty for 20 years before returning to the Midwest to join UW‑CTRI in 2024.

Dr. Kathuria has contributed to and chaired national clinical practice guidelines, policy statements and research consensus documents related to tobacco treatment and tobacco control. She is Section Editor for Tobacco Treatment for UpToDate.

The goal of her research is to improve patient‑centered outcomes by integrating effective tobacco treatment into clinical settings, improving tobacco treatment delivery among individuals experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage and understanding the health consequences of new and emerging tobacco and nicotine products.

She has authored a substantial body of peer‑reviewed scholarship focused on advancing tobacco dependence treatment through clinical care, policy and implementation research. She has served as a principal investigator or co‑investigator on several intramural and externally funded research awards, including serving as a multi‑PI on a large PCORI‑funded comparative‑effectiveness trial focused on smoking cessation.

Dr. Kathuria has received more than 25 honors and awards, including the Department of Defense Lung Cancer Promising Clinician Research Award, the American Lung Association Lung Cancer Discovery Award, the inaugural Evans Foundation Clinical Innovator Award, the 2024 ATS Assembly on Thoracic Oncology Mid‑Career Achievement Award and the 2025 ATS Presidential Commendation Award.

“Kathuria’s outstanding leadership, clinical and research skills make her the perfect individual to lead the center,” said Dr. Robert Golden, former dean of the UW School of Medicine and Public Health.

She remains a clinically active pulmonologist in Wisconsin, partners closely with UW‑CTRI investigators and is committed to advancing evidence‑based tobacco treatment through research, leadership and mentorship.

Outside of medicine, Dr. Kathuria has completed five marathons and now runs regularly (though far less!) to clear her mind.

To schedule interviews with Dr. Kathuria or UW-CTRI representatives, contact Communications.