UW-CTRI
UW Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention

2023 Report

OVERVIEW: UW-CTRI releases a research update in January and July of each year. This report summarizes manuscripts, presentations, grants, and financials of the Center. Archived reports are available online at: https://ctri.wisc.edu/researchers/published-research/

SUMMARY: In 2023, UW-CTRI has produced:

  • 28 published papers or chapters
  • 3 papers in press
  • 26 presentations and posters
  • 2 new studies
  • 5 active studies
  • 4 studies recently completed
  • Financials

THANK YOU: UW-CTRI is grateful to its partners, including the Wisconsin Tobacco Prevention and Control Program, National Cancer Institute, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Veterans Affairs, Food and Drug Administration, Health Resources and Services Administration, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institute on Aging, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, National Institutes of Health, UW Department of Family Medicine, UW Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, UW Carbone Cancer Center, UW Department of Medicine, UW School of Medicine and Public Health, Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Wisconsin Division of Care and Treatment, Wisconsin Partnership Program and Wisconsin Women’s Health Foundation.

Published Papers

Note: Names in bold are current UW-CTRI employees.

  1. Baker TB, Bolt DM, Smith SS, Piasecki TM, Conner KL, Bernstein SL, Hayes-Birchler T, Theobald WE, Fiore MC. (2023) The Relationship of COVID-19 Vaccination with Mortality Among 86,732 Hospitalized Patients: Subpopulations, Patient Factors, and Changes Over Time. Journal of General Internal Medicine. Online January 18, 2023.

Summary: COVID-19 vaccinations more than halved the likelihood of mortality amongst patients who were not immune-compromised. Patients who were obese or severely obese, and older patients, appeared to benefit especially from vaccination. These patient groups had particularly high mortality rates if they were not vaccinated. Surprisingly, however, there was not a strong association between number of vaccine doses and mortality amongst those who were vaccinated.

  1. Baker TB, Loh WY, Piasecki TM, Bolt DM, Smith SS, Slutske WS, Conner KL, Bernstein SL, Fiore MC. (2023) A Machine Learning Analysis of Correlates of Mortality Among Patients Hospitalized with COVID-19. Scientific Reports. 13, 4080. Online March 11, 2023.

Summary: This research used machine learning strategies to explore the associations of demographic and comorbidity risk factors with mortality in a large sample of patients hospitalized with COVID-19. The 10 risk factors with the strongest overall associations with mortality, reflecting both their main and interactive effects, were age, uncomplicated hypertension, insurance status, site (health system), renal failure, diabetes, vaccination status, complicated hypertension, and sex.

  1. Bierut LJ, Hendershot TP, Benowitz NL, Cummings KM, Mermelstein RJ, Piper ME, Vrieze SI, Wagener TL, Nelms MD, Ives C, Maiese D, Hamilton CM, Swan GE. (2023) Smoking Cessation, Harm Reduction, and Biomarkers Protocols in the PhenX Toolkit: Tools for Standardized Data Collection. Addiction Neuroscience. 2023;7:100081. Online April 25, 2023.

Summary: Fourteen protocols for measuring smoking cessation, harm reduction, and biomarkers (associated with smoking cessation) were released in a toolkit of consensus measures for Phenotypes and eXposures (PhenX Toolkit) in February 2021. These protocols complement existing PhenX Toolkit content related to tobacco regulatory research, substance use and addiction research, and other measures of smoking-related health outcomes.

  1. Bird JE, Nguyen CV, Hohl SD, D’Angelo H, Pauk D, Adsit RT, Fiore MC, Minion M, McCarthy D, Rolland B. (2023) Using Information Technology to Integrate Tobacco Use Treatment In Routine Oncology Care: Lessons Learned from the U.S. Cancer Center Cessation Initiative Cancer Centers. Implementation Research and Practice. Online July 7, 2023.

Summary: The experiences of C3I cancer centers regarding the use of health IT to enhance tobacco-dependence treatment program implementation can guide cancer centers and community oncology practices to potentially enhance tobacco-treatment program implementation and patient outcomes.

  1. Bouges S, Fischer B, Norton DL, Wyman MF, Lambrou N, Zuelsdorff M, Van Hulle CA, Ennis GE, James TT, Johnson AL, Chin NA, Carlsson CM, Gleason CE. (2023) Effect of Metabolic Syndrome Risk Factors on Processing Speed and Executive Function in Three Racialized Groups. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. Online February 3, 2023. 2023;92(1):285-294.

Summary: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) has been associated with increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. African American and Native American groups exhibited higher rates of MetS than non-Hispanic Whites. MetS was associated with processing speed and executive function across all racialized groups.

  1. Chen L-S, Baker TB, Ramsey A, Amos CI, Bierut LJ. (2023) Genomic Medicine to Reduce Tobacco and Related Disorders: Translation to Precision Prevention and Treatment. Addiction Neuroscience. Online April 1, 2023.

Summary: The use of genomic markers in medical treatment is increasing for conditions such as cancer care and nicotine dependence. Research is identifying increasing numbers of genomic markers that are associated with smoking cessation success and the efficacy of quit-smoking treatments. The authors recommend research to enable the translational roadmap where people of diverse ancestry can make well informed decisions about their genomic data and health in clinical care.

  1. Coffman DL, Dziak JJ, Litson K, Chakraborti Y, Piper ME, Li R. (2023) A Causal Approach to Functional Mediation Analysis with Application to a Smoking Cessation Intervention. Multivariate Behavioral Research. Online January 9, 2023.

Summary: The goal of this manuscript was to present and estimate a mediation model to evaluate the process by which a randomized intervention affects an end-of-study outcome via an intensively measured longitudinal process. In other words, researchers developed a specific analytic technique to be able to study how a treatment condition produced a single outcome (e.g., smoking at six months) by looking at a dynamic process that occurs after treatment assignment. They used WSHS 2 data.

  1. Correa-Fernández V, Blalock JA, Piper ME, Canino G, Wetter DW. (2023) Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Wellness Program for Latine Adults Who Smoke and Have Psychological Distress: Protocol for a Feasibility Study. JMIR Research Protocols. Online April 4, 2023;12:e44146.

Summary: This study aims to address the co-occurrence of smoking and mood-related challenges among Latine adults via the development and testing of a culturally tailored ACT-based wellness program: Project PRESENT. Findings from this study will determine the feasibility and acceptability of an ACT-based, culturally relevant intervention for Latine adults who smoke and have probable depression and/or anxiety.

  1. Dora J, Piccirillo M, Foster KT… Piasecki TM… King KM. (2023) The Daily Association Between Affect and Alcohol Use: A Meta-Analysis of Individual Participant Data. PsyArXiv. Online February 3, 2023.

Summary: Results from this meta-analysis of daily diary and ecological momentary assessment data from 69 studies (12,394 participants) indicate that people are not more likely to drink on days they experience high negative mood but are more likely to drink and drink heavily on days high in positive emotions. People self-reporting a motivational tendency to drink-to-cope and drink-to-enhance consumed more alcohol, but not on days they experienced higher negative and positive affect. These findings challenge the long-held belief that people drink more alcohol following increases in negative emotions.

  1. Fischer B, Van Hulle CA, Langhough R, Norton D, Zuelsdorff M, Gooding DC, Wyman MF, Johnson AL, Lambrou N, James T, Bouges S, Carter FP, Salazar H, Kirmess K, Holubasch M, Meyer M, Venkatesh V, West T, Verghese P, Yarasheski K, Carlsson CM, Johnson SC, Asthana S, Gleason CE. (2023) Plasma Aβ42/40 and Cognitive Variability are Associated with Cognitive Function in African Americans: Findings from the AA-FAIM Cohort. Alzheimer’s and Dementia Journal: Translational Research and Clinical Interventions. Online September 25, 2023.

Summary: Ongoing plasma biomarker research in Black Americans and other marginalized cohorts is critical to better understanding relationships between Alzheimer’s disease and cognition. The findings offer clarifying support to extend targeted associations between plasma Aβ42/40 and cognitive function and between intra‐individual cognitive variability and cognitive function to Black individuals.

  1. Ford JH, Zehner ME, Schaper H, Saldana L. (2023). Adapting the Stages of Implementation Completion to an Evidence-Based Implementation Strategy: The Development of the Niatx Stages of Implementation Completion. Implementation Research and Practice. Online  September 19, 2023.

Summary: Access to integrated services for persons with co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders is a long-standing behavioral health problem. The stages of implementation completion (SIC) is a measure that assesses the process that organizations go through when implementing a new Evidence-based practice (EBP). The SIC was adapted for a proven implementation strategy, NIATx, to address this issue. The NIATx strategy supports implementation of a new EBP. Study results provide evidence for the utility of SIC and the benefit that the NIATx-SIC to implement EBPs.

  1. Garfield JL, Piper ME, Bauer SE, Kathuria H, Eakin MN. (2023) The Greatest LGBTQ+ Health Issue of All Time: Commercial Tobacco. Annals of the American Thoracic Society. Online June 6, 2023.

Summary: Members of the LGBTQ+ community face threats to their health and wellbeing from many sources. However, tobacco use, the foremost preventable cause of death and disease among this population, remains largely understudied and undertreated. As this year could entail a number of attacks on LGBTQ+ rights, the authors encourage researchers and funders to ensure tobacco control becomes a part of the conversation.

  1. Johnson AL, Nolan MB, Huntington V, Doud M. (2023) Tobacco Use. In Nolan MB, Remington P, Wegner M (Eds.), Chronic Disease, Epidemiology, Prevention, and Control. 5th Edition. Washington, DC: APHA Press. Online Oct 30, 2023.

Summary: This new edition provides an overview of current knowledge and best practices in the prevention and control of major chronic diseases and their risk factors. Chapter authors highlight many public health successes in which evidence-based interventions have resulted in improved health and the reduction or elimination of disparities.

  1. Kim HC, Kaplan CM, Islam S, Anderson AS, Piper ME, Bradford DE, Curtin JJ, DeYoung KA, Smith JF, Fox AS, Shackman AJ. (2023) Acute Nicotine Abstinence Amplifies Subjective Withdrawal Symptoms and Threat-Evoked Fear and Anxiety, but Not Extended Amygdala Reactivity. PLOS One.

Summary: Researchers used a novel combination of subjective, psychophysiological, and neurobiological approaches to understand the impact of 24-hour nicotine abstinence in daily tobacco smokers. Results demonstrated that the abstinence manipulation worked as intended, potently increasing smoking urges and subjective symptoms of withdrawal, including fear and anxious mood. This could aid in future treatment developments.

  1. Kirsch JA, Slutske WS, McCarthy DE, Smith SS, Williams BS, Piasecki TM, Conner KL, Fiore MC. (2023) Factors Associated with 60-day Readmission among Inpatients with COVID-19 at 21 United States Health Systems. Journal of Medical Virology. Online July 20, 2023.

Summary: This retrospective cohort study of 60-day readmission included 105,543 COVID-19 survivors at 21 US healthcare systems who were discharged alive between February 2020 and November 2021 and later readmitted. The all-cause readmission rate was 15 percent. Factors associated with readmission included positive smoking history, male sex, government insurance, co-morbidity burden, longer index admissions, and diagnoses at index admission (e.g., cancer, chronic kidney disease, and liver disease).

  1. Koh H, Fiore MC. (2023) Tobacco Companies Say They Want to Reduce Harm. They are Doing the Opposite. Stat. Online February 21, 2023.

Summary: In this commentary, Koh and Fiore write that the tobacco industry hopes the public will ignore its profound and fundamental hypocrisy: promoting “harm reduction” by selling vaping products containing nicotine while continuing to market and sell deadly combustible cigarettes that cause harm in the first place. Americans are ready for bold steps: A recent poll found 57% would support a blanket ban on all tobacco products.

  1. Kohen CB, Spychala KM, Davis-Stober CP, Piasecki TM, Bartholow BD. (2023) Retrospective self-reports of sensitivity to the effects of alcohol: Trait-like stability and concomitant changes with alcohol involvement. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors. Online November 30, 2023.

Summary: The findings in this report provide evidence that validated questionnaire measures of individual differences in level of response to alcohol, also known as subjective response, are sensitive to changes in young adults’ drinking over time. Given that a reduction in level of response to alcohol is an indicator of possible alcohol use disorder (AUD), these findings support the use of these questionnaire measures to track changes in AUD risk over time.

  1. Mundt M, Zakletskaia L, Zehner M. (2023) The Cost-Effectiveness of a Comprehensive Tobacco Treatment Intervention in Real-World Primary Care Clinics. Annals of Family Medicine. 21, Issue Supplement 1. Online January 2023.

Summary: Implementation of a comprehensive and proactive EHR-enabled smoking cessation outreach and treatment program with certified tobacco treatment specialists is cost-effective in real-world primary care clinics. Reductions in acute health care cost could offset the smoking cessation intervention costs.

  1. Mundt MP, McCarthy DE, Baker TB, Zehner ME, Zwaga D, Fiore MC. (2023) Cost-Effectiveness of a Comprehensive Primary Care Smoking Treatment Program. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Online October 14, 2023.

Summary: Tobacco cessation outreach, medication, and counseling costs increased from $2.64 to $6.44 per patient per month, for a total post-implementation intervention cost of $500,216. Smoking cessation rates increased from 1.3% pre-implementation to 8.7% post-implementation. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was $628 per person who quit smoking, and $905 per quality-adjusted-life year gained. Acute health care costs decreased by an average $42 per patient per month.

  1. Nam KJ, Piper ME, Tong Z, Li R, Yang JJ, Jorenby DE, Buu A. (2023) Dependence Motives and Use Contexts that Predicted Smoking Cessation and Vaping Cessation: A Two-Year Longitudinal Study with 13 Waves. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. Online June 22, 2023.

Summary: Participants progressed faster to quitting smoking if they had: Dual use of vaping and smoking, lower primary dependence motives of smoking, higher secondary dependence motives of smoking, higher motivation to quit smoking, more ambitious future goals to quit smoking, or more restrictive environment for smoking. They quit vaping faster if they were: Dual users with higher secondary dependence motives of smoking or with lower primary dependence motives of vaping.

  1. Nolan MB, Nolan ME, Piasecki TM, Fiore MC. (2023) Mortality by Age Group and Intubation Status in Adult Hospitalized Patients from 21 U.S. Hospital Systems during Three Surges of the COVID-19 Pandemic. CHEST. S0012-3692(23)00160-5. Online January 23, 2023.

Summary: Through three COVID-19 surges, these data illustrate the stepwise increase in overall mortality rates by age up to ≥90 years. Though intubated patients had differentially higher mortality rates during the delta wave, mortality rates among those patients who required intubation peaked among those aged 70 to 79 years during all three surges. If patients were sick enough to require mechanical ventilation, mortality rates were remarkably consistent regardless of vaccination status.

  1. Pluta K, Hohl SD, D’Angelo H, Ostroff JS, Shelley D, Asvat Y, Chen L-S, Cummings KM, Dahl N, Day AT, Fleisher L, Goldstein AO, Hayes R, Hitsman B, Buckles DH, King AC, Lam CY, Lenhoff K, Levinson AH, Minion M, Presant C, Prochaska JJ, Shoenbill K, Simmons V, Taylor K, Tindle H, Tong E, White JS, Wiseman KP, Warren GW, Baker TB, Rolland B, Fiore MC, Salloum RG. (2023) Data Envelopment Analysis to Evaluate the Efficiency of Tobacco Treatment Programs in the NCI Moonshot Cancer Center Cessation Initiative. Implementation Science Communications. 4, 50. Online May 11, 2023.

Summary: Decisionmakers can use findings from data envelopment analysis (DEA) to improve efficiency of existing tobacco treatment programs within oncology settings and evaluate how cancer centers could most effectively support implementation of tobacco treatment programs. This study demonstrated that DEA provides valuable information that can foster more sustainable implementation of tobacco treatment programs in oncology settings.

  1. Slutske WS, Conner KL, Kirsch JA, Smith SS, Piasecki TM, Johnson AL, McCarthy DE, Henderson PN, Fiore MC. (2023) Explaining COVID-19 Related Mortality Disparities in American Indians and Alaska Natives. Scientific Reports. 13:20974. Online November 28, 2023.

Summary: Comorbidities, area social deprivation, and access to treatment were all important contributors to the mortality disparity between American Indians and Alaska Natives compared to white inpatients with COVID-19. While those three factors were important contributors, they didn’t explain all of the disparity. Some likely reflects legacies of failing to address historical and ongoing inequities. Other factors could include housing, frontline workers, and access to transportation or the Internet.

  1. Tattersall MC, Hughey CM, Piasecki TM, Korcarz CE, Hansen KM, Ott NR, Sandbo N, Fiore MC, Baker TB, Stein JH. (2023) Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Responses to Acute Use of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems and Combustible Cigarettes in Chronic Users. Chest. 2023. Online April 10, 2023.

Summary: Participants who vaped had acute worsening of blood pressure, heart rate, and heart rate variability, as well as vasoconstriction, impaired exercise tolerance, and increased airflow obstruction after vaping, compared to controls.

  1. Tattersall MC, Esnault S, Stewart R, Vereide DT, Swanson S, Zhang J, Steill J, Jarjour N, Hansen KM, Korcarz CE, Baker TB, Stein JH. (2023) Effects of An In Vivo Vaping Challenge On In Vitro IL-6 Biosynthesis Pathways in Arterial Endothelial Cells Derived from Human Embryonic Stem Cells. JAHA: Journal of the American Heart Association. Online July 14, 2023.

Summary: This is the first study, to the authors’ knowledge, deploying a novel model using human embryonic‐derived arterial endothelial cells (AECs) with arterial‐specific functional capabilities as an in vitro means to investigate cytokine transcriptomic changes following an acute, in vivo vaping challenge. The AECs had characteristic in vivo arterial‐specific functions, including nitric oxide production and leukocyte adhesion rates, that are pivotal in the pathophysiologic processes of endothelial activation and atherogenesis.

  1. Warren GW, Ostroff JS, Mullett T, Adsit R, Burris J, Darville A, Fiore MC, Hahn E, Kirstein L, McCarthy D, Nelson H, Reilly E, Shelton RC, Tong E. (2023) Just ASK: A Quality Improvement Project to Enhance Smoking Assessment and Treatment. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 41:16_suppl, 6571-6571. Online May 31, 2023.

Summary: Persistent smoking after cancer diagnosis causes adverse clinical outcomes. Yet, adoption of clinical practice guidelines like the 3As (Ask, Advise and Assist) for smoking assessment and treatment has been slow and inconsistent in cancer care settings. The “Just Ask” quality improvement program led to high rates of smoking assessment. At 12-month follow-up, marked improvement was reported in all quality indicators of the 3As. Still, the authors cited room for improvement.

  1. Williams BS, Piper ME, Piasecki T, Kaye J, Fiore MC. (2023) Trends in E-Cigarette Use in Callers to the Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line. Wisconsin Medical Journal. Online February 28, 2023.

Summary: E-cigarette use among callers to the Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line has increased, driven largely by young adults. A total of 26,705 encounters were handled by the Quit Line during the study period. Eleven percent of callers vaped. Young adults aged 18-24 had the highest rates of use at 30 percent, and their use rose significantly from 19.6% in 2016 to 39.6% in 2020. E-cigarette use among young adult callers peaked at 49.7% in 2019, coinciding with an outbreak of e-cigarette-related lung injury.

  1. Yang JJ, Ou T-S, Lin H-C, Nam JK, Piper ME, Buu A. (2023) Retrospective and Real-Time Measures of the Quantity of E-cigarette Use: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study. Nicotine & Tobacco Research. Online June 16, 2023.

Summary: This is the first study to characterize the difference between retrospective and real-time measures of vaping among young adults. The average retrospective account of vaping events per day tended to underestimate vaping frequency. The researchers recommend incorporating self-monitoring into treatments to help young adults quit vaping.

In Press

  1. Kohen CB, Cofresí RU, Piasecki TM, Bartholow BD. Predictive Utility of the P3 Event-Related Potential (ERP) Response to Alcohol Cues for Ecologically Assessed Alcohol Craving. Addiction Biology.
  2. Schlam TR, Baker TB, Piper ME, Cook JW, Smith SS, Zwaga D, Jorenby DE, Almirall D, Bolt DM, Collins LM, Mermelstein R, Fiore MC. What to Do After Smoking Relapse? A Sequential, Multiple Assignment, Randomized Trial of Chronic Care Smoking Treatments. Addiction.
  3. Smith DM, Kaye JT, Walters K, Schlienz NJ, Hyland AJ, Ashare R, Tomko R, Dahne J, McRae-Clark A, McClure E. Tobacco-Cannabis Co-Use Among Cancer Patients and Survivors: Findings from Two US Cancer Centers. Journal of the National Cancer Institute Monographs.

To search a sortable database of all UW-CTRI papers since inception, click here.

Research Presentations and Posters

Note: Names in bold are current UW-CTRI employees.

  1. Betts JM, Motschman CA, Dowd AN, Tiffany ST. Contextual Factors Associated with Use of Either Tobacco or Electronic Cigarettes in Dual Users. Society for Research on Nicotine or Tobacco Conference. Poster. San Antonio, TX. March 2023.
  2. Bird JE, Pauk D, Minion M, Adsit RT, Fiore MC, Rolland B. Reach and Effectiveness of Tobacco Dependence Treatment Programs Implemented in the NCI Cancer Center Cessation Initiative. Presentation. American Society of Preventative Oncology Annual Conference. San Diego, CA. March 2023.
  3. Chladek J, Bird JE, Pauk D, Minion M, Adsit RT, Fiore MC, Rolland B. Reach and Effectiveness of Tobacco Dependence Treatment Programs Implemented in the NCI Cancer Center Cessation Initiative. Presentation. University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center Research Retreat. Madison, WI. April 2023.
  4. Cofresí RU, Kohen CB, Piasecki TM, Bartholow BD. P3 Event-Related Potential Response to Alcohol Cues Forecasts Real-World Alcohol Use Behavior by Emerging Adult Drinkers. Society for Psychophysiological Research Conference. Poster. New Orleans, LA. September 2023.
  5. Conner KL. Smoking Status, Nicotine Replacement, Vaccination and COVID-19 Hospital Outcomes in the CEC-UW Project: An Update Including 41,354 Additional Patients. Society for Research on Nicotine or Tobacco Conference. Presentation. San Antonio, TX. March 2023.
  6. Gorrilla A. Improving Access to Tobacco Treatments Among the Justice-Involved Population. Maryland’s 7th Annual Tobacco Control Conference. Presentation. Baltimore, MD. June 2023.
  7. Gu D, Ha P, Kaye JT, Fiore MC, Tsoh J (2023). Smoking Status and COVID-19 Hospitalization in the Context of Marijuana Use. Society for Research on Nicotine or Tobacco Conference. Poster. San Antonio, TX. March 2023.
  8. Johnson AL, Lathen L. Culturally Specific Messaging to Motivate Cessation in African American Older Adults Who Smoke Cigarettes. Society for Research on Nicotine or Tobacco Conference. Poster. San Antonio, TX. March 2023.
  9. Johnson A, Kaye J. Motivating Change in Older Adults: Motivational Cigarette Smoking Cessation Message Testing. Society for Research on Nicotine or Tobacco Conference. Poster. San Antonio, TX. March 2023.
  10. Johnson AL. Tobacco Treatments that Work for Priority Populations. Society for Research on Nicotine or Tobacco Conference. Pre-conference co-chair. San Antonio, TX. March 2023.
  11. Johnson AL, Lathen L. Motivating Cessation in Aging African Americans who Smoke: Findings from a Culturally-Specific Message Development Study. Midwest Clinical and Translational Research Meeting. Chicago, IL. April 2023.
  12. Johnson AL, Gleason CE, Lathen L. Promoting Dementia Prevention in African Americans: Qualitative Findings from Developing a Smoking Cessation Message Campaign. Alzheimer’s Association International Conference. Poster. Edinburgh, Scotland. July 2023.
  13. Kirsch J. Smoking and Sociodemographic Factors Associated with Hospital Mortality and Readmission Among Inpatients with COVID-19. Society for Research on Nicotine or Tobacco Conference. Presentation. San Antonio, TX. March 2023.
  14. Kirsch J. Improving Remotely Delivered Smoking Cessation Treatment for Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Clients of the Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line. UW Department of Family Medicine and Community Health Fellowships. Presentation. Madison, WI. May 2023.
  15. Kohen CB, Spychalla, KM, Gizer, IR, Piasecki TM, Bartholow BD. Retrospective Measures Of Sensitivity to The Effects of Alcohol: Trait Stability and Concomitant Changes with Alcohol Involvement. Research Society on Alcohol Conference. Poster. Bellevue, WA. June 2023.
  16. McCarthy ME. Improving Quitline Services for Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Clients. Part of pre-conference session, Tobacco Treatments that Work for Priority Populations. Society for Research on Nicotine or Tobacco Conference. Presentation. San Antonio, TX. March 2023.
  17. Piper ME, Schlam T, Donny E, Jorenby DE. The Real-World Impact of Three Alternate Nicotine-Delivery Products on Combustible Cigarette Use. Part of Symposium 17, Individualizing Tobacco Treatment to Increase Quit Rates. Society for Research on Nicotine or Tobacco Conference. Presentation. San Antonio, TX. March 2023.
  18. Rolland B, Burris J, Fiore MC. Cancer Center Cessation Initiative: Integrating Tobacco Treatment Into Clinical Care for Cancer Patients at NCI-designated Cancer Centers. Presentation. NCI Cancer Moonshot Seminar Series. September 2023.
  19. Rosen R, Piasecki T, Baker TB, Jorenby DE, Piper M. Changes in Dependence Over Time Among Dual Users and Exclusive Smokers. Society for Nicotine and Tobacco Research Annual Conference 2023. Poster. San Antonio, TX. March 2023.
  20. Shafie-Khorassani F, Piper ME, Jorenby DE, Baker TB, Hayes-Birchler T, Meza R, Brouwer AF. The Impact of Time Since Product Change on Transitions in Cigarette and E-cigarette Use in a Cohort of Cigarette and Dual Users. Society for Nicotine and Tobacco Research Annual Conference 2023. Poster. San Antonio, TX. March 2023.
  21. Skora A. Health Systems Change Sustainability. Bureau of Tobacco-Free Florida Health Systems Change Symposium. Panel. Orlando, FL. November 2023.
  22. Upton S, Cofresí RU, Rodgers M, Brown A, Piasecki TM, Bartholow BD, Froeliger B. Inhibitory Control Performance and Circuit Functioning Among Young Adults Reporting Extremely High or Low Alcohol Sensitivity: A Pilot fMRI Study. Research Society on Alcohol Conference. Poster. Bellevue, WA. June 2023.
  23. Warren GW, Ostroff JS, Mullett T, Adsit R, Burris J, Darville A, Fiore MC, Hahn E, Kirstein L, McCarthy DE, Nelson H, Reilly E, Shelton RC, Tong E. Just ASK: A Quality Improvement Project to Enhance Smoking Assessment and Treatment. Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Chicago, IL. June 2023.
  24. Williams B. E-cigarettes and the Shifting Landscape of Adolescent Tobacco Use. UW-Oshkosh Adolescent Health Symposium. Oshkosh, WI. February 2023.
  25. Williams B. E-cigarettes and the Shifting Landscape of Adolescent Tobacco Use. Best Practices in Physical and Health Education Conference. Stevens Point, WI. July 2023.
  26. Zehner M, McCarthy DE, Zwaga D, Fiore MC, Baker TB. $100 vs. $0 to Engage in Telephone Counseling: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Test of Modest Financial Incentives to Improve Engagement in Evidence-Based Tobacco Treatment. Society for Research on Nicotine or Tobacco Conference. Poster. San Antonio, TX. March 2023.

New Studies

  1. Smoking Treatment for Oncology Patients (STOP Cancer). UW-CTRI will reach out directly to UW Carbone Cancer Center patients who smoke to let them know about their tobacco treatment options. Patients will also be invited to join a new study comparing two active treatments to see which helps more people with cancer quit smoking. The short-term goals of the STOP Cancer Study are to identify specific smoking treatment needs of patients living with cancer, and then to adapt smoking cessation treatment outreach and counseling to address those needs. People who consent to enter the STOP Cancer Study will be randomized to a standard care condition offering three counseling calls and two weeks of nicotine patch, or to an enhanced condition offering seven counseling calls tailored to cancer challenges with 12 weeks of varenicline, a non-nicotine pill to see which active treatment helps more people quit smoking. Patients not interested in the study can get standard treatment from the Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line or mobile health tools from SmokeFree.gov. The long-term objective of this work is to identify promising strategies to evaluate in larger-scale trials and then disseminate to cancer programs.  This is part of the larger UW-CTRI effort to improve cessation treatment effectiveness and delivery for patients living with cancer. August 2023-July 2024, $50,000. Funded by the UW Carbone Cancer Center Head & Neck Cancer SPORE (Specialized Programs of Research Excellence) via NIH. Dr. Danielle McCarthy, PI.
  2. Reducing Racial Disparities in Smoking: The Milwaukee Collaboration. UW-CTRI is partnering with community leaders in Wisconsin on a project to reduce smoking among African Americans in Milwaukee. Wisconsin has the worst disparity of smoking between whites (12%) and Blacks (30%) of any state in America. Milwaukee County is home to more than 240,000 people who identify as African American, representing 69 percent of Black people in Wisconsin, making it the ideal location to start this focused work. Importantly, a Community Advisory Board (CAB) comprised of African American residents from Milwaukee and other leaders will guide the proposed research. UW-CTRI is collaborating with the Wisconsin African American Tobacco Prevention Network (WAATPN), the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and Wisconsin Women’s Health Foundation on this project. Lorraine Lathen, long-time collaborator with UW-CTRI and Director of WAATPN, is co-chairing the CAB and leading its development. The research team from UW-CTRI and the CAB will work together, using the scientific literature and the feedback from focus groups, to identify cessation interventions that have explicitly been shown to be effective for African American adults who smoke and outreach strategies to promote engagement in smoking interventions. The CAB will select final outreach strategies based on their likelihood of maximizing population reach and engagement in a suite of cessation interventions selected by the CAB. The team received a pilot award known as a UW Stakeholder and Patient Engagement Research (SPER) grant. May 2023-May 2024, $100,000. Funded by the University of Wisconsin Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (UW ICTR) and the Wisconsin Partnership Program (WPP). Dr. Megan Piper, PI.

Active Studies

  1. UW-CTRI Outreach Program – JUUL Settlement. UW-CTRI has a grant to work with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services Tobacco Prevention and Control Program to help individuals ages 18-24 quit vaping. UW-CTRI will develop content for a brief, scalable, single-session intervention for 18–24-year-old e-cigarette users to promote cessation. Decisions about content and how the material would be presented will be co-designed with input from young adults, using focus groups of people who are ages 18-24 and currently or previously vape(d). The primary outcomes will be engagement with the intervention as well as changes in key attitudes, beliefs, and behavioral intention about quitting vaping. Karen Conner coordinates these efforts. January-December 2024, $193,000. Funded by the Wisconsin Tobacco Prevention and Control Program (TPCP). Jesse Kaye, PI.
  2. Predicting Patient Outcomes in Wisconsin and Nationwide Using the University of Wisconsin’s COVID-19 EHR Cohort Database. The major goal of this study is to utilize the COVID EHR Cohort at the University of Wisconsin (CEC-UW) database to improve the health and well-being of the people of Wisconsin. This will be accomplished by examining predictors of patient outcomes at the UW Health site specifically to those at other participating health systems. February 2022-January 2024, $300,000. Funded by Wisconsin Partnership Program. Michael Fiore and Tom Piasecki, PIs.
  3. R35 Outstanding Investigator Award. This seven-year grant will empower UW-CTRI to identify and disseminate effective, innovative ways to help cancer patients quit smoking. Specifically, UW-CTRI researchers, led by Dr. Michael Fiore, will further evaluate innovative approaches to helping cancer patients who smoke to quit. They’ll advance knowledge regarding interventions and health-system changes that will empower more patients living with cancer to break free from tobacco dependence. Research studies supported by this grant will identify effective interventions to help people with cancer quit smoking for good, as well as efficient and equitable ways to connect cancer patients with such treatments. UW-CTRI will work with diverse cancer-care programs across the nation to assist with implementing evidence-based smoking treatment for patients living with cancer. They’ll develop guides to disseminate the best strategies to cancer centers nationwide. In addition to Fiore, UW-CTRI Director of Research Dr. Danielle McCarthy and UW-CTRI Associate Director Dr. Tim Baker will lead the science. UW-CTRI Researcher Mark Zehner will manage the project. December 2022-December 2029, $6.5 million. Funded by the National Cancer Institute. Michael Fiore, PI.
  4. Breaking Addiction to Tobacco for Health 2 (BREATHE 2). In a first, researchers at the University of Wisconsin are comparing the most effective treatments to help people quit smoking in real-world clinics, with a goal of tailoring and optimizing help to people who smoke. UW-CTRI is partnering with health systems to treat more than 4,000 clinic patients. They’re reaching out to patients listed as people who smoke in electronic health records to help those who are ready to quit and motivate those who aren’t. About 25 million people who smoke in America make a primary care visit each year, but only about five percent of people who smoke who try to quit use the cessation counseling and medication we know can help. In this study, the research team will reach out to them and offer these treatments. May 2019-May 2024, $12.5 million. Funded by NCI. Drs. Timothy Baker and Michael Fiore, PIs.
  5. Motivating Change in Aging People Who Smoke. This K23 award funds a research study to increase smoking cessation in adults age 50 and older. While these adults smoke at lower rates (8.2%) than the general population (13%), their cessation rates are also lower because they are less likely to be advised to quit or offered help by providers. A common misperception is that mature adults can’t or won’t quit and, if they do, they won’t benefit from it. But the research reflects the contrary. When they do try to quit, they’re generally more successful than younger people, especially when they use evidenced-based treatments (which double their success). The study will run qualitative interviews to look at what might motivate older adults to quit. One potential incentive is pointing out that quitting smoking can reduce risk for cognitive decline—commonly cited as the greatest fear among mature adults, but one yet to be used for motivation with smoking cessation. UW-CTRI will recruit participants via signs, posters, calls from each person’s clinic, and a letter to motivate and offer treatment. Researchers will compare that to a clinic with no message and a clinic with a standard motivational method. The group plans to run the study at three clinics in the same health system. They’ll be tuned into any behavioral health symptoms and the socioeconomic status of the participants to better analyze and interpret results. Drs. Megan Piper, Carey Gleason, Jane Mahoney, and Jessica Cook are serving as co-mentors to Principal Investigator Dr. Adrienne Johnson. May 2021-Feb 2026, $782,000. Funded by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Adrienne Johnson, PI.

Recently Completed Studies

  1. Treating Nicotine Addiction in Caregivers of Children at American Family Children’s Hospital. The study team made nicotine-replacement medications and coaching available to parents who smoked during their children’s hospital stay. The very acute goal was to keep parents at the bedside to support their children, limit or eliminate leaving bedside to smoke outside, and thereby reduce third-hand smoke exposure for child inpatients and their care team. To date, there was limited evidence on how to effectively intervene with caregivers who smoke during a child’s hospitalization. The study team offered this support to parents at American Family Children’s Hospital, treating up to 50 adults while supplies lasted. Following consent, participants completed a pre-intervention survey on a study tablet using well-established, validated smoking-assessment questions. Participants received $20 for completing the initial survey. They got another $20 for completing a second survey at discharge. The study team followed up with parents via phone two weeks later to encourage a smoke-free policy in their cars and homes, to offer support for quitting smoking, and to answer final survey questions for an additional $20. The hope was that families felt like UW supports them and cares enough to check in on how they’re doing. October 2023-September 2024, $15,871. Funded by the University of Wisconsin Department of Pediatrics Faculty R&D Grant. Dr. Brian Williams, PI.
  2. VA Merit Grant. US Department of Veterans Affairs awarded a grant to UW-CTRI Researcher Dr. Jessica Cook and the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital (VA) in Madison for the first ever to evaluate a chronic care system designed to help Veterans who are both ready and not ready to quit smoking. Many Veterans became addicted to tobacco during their military service. The team implemented the grant at the VA, offered telemedicine visits for all Veterans who smoked, including rural Veterans who couldn’t afford to drive into Madison for visits. It was a way to give back to Veterans who have sacrificed so much for their country. The Enhanced Chronic Care system provided ongoing motivational interventions and interpersonal support to Veterans who used tobacco but were not ready to quit. Researchers encouraged Veterans to use evidence-based tobacco treatment and to ultimately quit smoking. Cook worked with UW-CTRI colleagues Elana Brubaker and Kirsten Webster to recruit 250 Veterans who smoke to receive the Enhanced Chronic Care intervention, and another 250 to receive the Standard Care (brief advice to quit once per year). The researchers identified an effective smoking treatment strategy for VA clinical practice. January 2019-December 2023, $1 million. Funded by the VA. Dr. Jess Cook, PI.
  1. Improving Quitline Support Study (IQS). This project evaluated promising strategies to enhance quit-smoking success among low-income people who smoke. Researchers enrolled approximately 1,400 Medicaid-eligible or uninsured people who continued smoking four months after engaging in standard services from the Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line. They were invited to participate in an experiment to evaluate the value of augmenting standard Quit Line treatment with more intensive counseling, more intensive nicotine replacement, NCI’s SmokefreeTXT text support program, and/or financial incentives for using Quit Line and SmokefreeTXT support. Analyses will examine the main and interactive effects of these four treatment components at 26 weeks, as well as other quit-smoking outcomes in this at-risk population. August 2017-July 2023, $3 million. Funded by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health. Drs. Danielle McCarthy and Michael Fiore, PIs.
  2. Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC) Developmental Grant. This project aimed to develop a tailored intervention for African Americans age 50 and older to motivate them to quit smoking. African Americans are disproportionately more likely than white adults to develop dementia and suffer health effects of smoking. For this project, UW-CTRI Researcher Dr. Adrienne Johnson collaborated with Lorraine Lathen, Director of the Wisconsin African American Tobacco Prevention Network. April 2021-March 2023, $150,000. Funded by the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center with funds from the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Adrienne Johnson, PI.