A Multi-Institutional Collaboration
Participants will learn about research expertise from each institution, gain insight related to tobacco control from the local, state and federal levels, and explore how collaborations could be established for future grant submissions or inter-institutional projects.
Location: Graylyn International Conference Center, Winston-Salem, NC
Date: Tuesday, March 19, 2019
Registration is required, please sign up now!
View the Graylyn property map.
Special Collaborations
Tobacco Control: Resources & Research: Panel Bios
Sarah D. Mills, PhD, MPH
Postdoctoral Fellow, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
Presentation Title: “Neighborhood Disparities in the Retail Marketing of Menthol Cigarettes”
Dr. Mills is a postdoctoral fellow in the Cancer Control Education Program at the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and a fellow in the Carolina Postdoctoral Program for Faculty Diversity. Her research focuses on tobacco control and tobacco-related health disparities. She uses an ecological framework to examine the roles that culture, the neighborhood in which one lives, and public policy play in tobacco use among racial/ethnic minority and socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. She has also conducted research in cross-cultural measurement.
Jason Oliver, PhDAssistant Professor, Deparment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Duke University Medical Center
Marissa Hall, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
Presentation Title: “The Impact of E-Cigarette Health Warnings on Motivation to Vape and Smoke”
Dr. Marissa Hall is a behavioral scientist completing her postdoc at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Her overall career goal is to inform the design of population-level strategies to prevent the two largest causes of preventable death: tobacco use and obesity. Specifically, Dr. Hall’s program of research centers around designing and evaluating policies and health communications to reduce the burden of disease attributable to tobacco and obesity, with an emphasis on Latino health disparities. Much of her research has focused on the impact of pictorial health warnings on both intended and unintended outcomes.
Erin Sutfin, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Social Sciences & Health Policy
Vice Chair, Department of Social Scences & Health Policy
Associate Director, Wake Forest Tobacco Control Center of Excellence
Wake Forest School of Medicine
Presentation Title: “Challenges of Communicating Risks of E-Cigarettes to Youth”
Dr. Sutfin is Associate Professor and Vice Chair in the Department of Social Sciences and Health Policy at Wake Forest School of Medicine. She is a developmental psychologist with over 10 years of experience conducting NIH-funded research in tobacco prevention and control. The goal of her program of study is to decrease morbidity and mortality related to tobacco use. Her expertise in adolescent and young adult tobacco prevention and control focuses on non-cigarette tobacco products, including waterpipe tobacco, electronic cigarettes, and cigar products. Additionally, she conducts research focused on the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based tobacco cessation strategies in a variety of clinical settings. Dr. Sutfin has served as the PI or Project Director for multiple NCI-funded studies focused on tobacco control. She also serves as the Associate Director of the Wake Forest Tobacco Control Center of Excellence and the Co-Director of the Qualitative and Patient-Reported Outcomes Developing Shared Resource.
Ann Houston Staples, MA, MCHES
Director, Public Education and Communication, NC Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch, Department of Health and Human Services
Presentation Title: “Tobacco Control Messaging: What We Need to Know to Move Forward”
Ann Houston Staples is Director of Public Education and Communication for the NC Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch, Department of Health and Human Services. She has served the Branch for 26 years as a consultant on media and communication issues. Ann’s strongest areas of expertise are media advocacy and media relations. Her experience as a newspaper reporter assists in her understanding of the news business and her ability to frame public health issues for increased coverage by the news media and increased support by the public. Ann holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in speech communication and English –Writing/Editing from North Carolina State University and a Master of Arts degree in health education from East Carolina University. Ann has presented at many state and national conferences on issues of tobacco control and health communication and is a sought after speaker and consultant.
Kristie Foley, PhD
Professor, Department of Implementation Science
Chair, Department of Implementation Science
Program Leader, Cancer Prevention and Control
Wake Forest School of Medicine
Presentation Title: “The OaSiS Trial: Optimizing Lung Screening Study”
Kristie Foley studies how to implement and sustain best and promising practices in primary and oncology care to reduce cancer disparities, with a specific focus on tobacco control. Her approach to building tobacco control research capacity in low income settings has been highlighted in the Tobacco Atlas and the Fogarty International Center’s Global Health Matters as a model for translating science into practice and policy to address the global burden of tobacco (R01TW009280; R01TW009280). Her team’s work was also featured in the Legacy and Partnership for Prevention guide “Help Your Patients Quit Tobacco Use: An Implementation Guide for Community Health Centers” as best practice for implementing smoking cessation support in safety net settings in the United States (R21DA024631). She currently serves as Multiple Principal Investigator of a national, cluster randomized trial to implement evidence-based smoking cessation services within community-based lung cancer screening clinics in more than 20 states (1R01CA207158). Dr. Foley is Professor and Chair of the Department of Implementation Science and Program Leader for Cancer Prevention and Control, Wake Forest School of Medicine.
Adam Goldstein, MD, MPH
Professor, Department of Family Medicine, UNC Chapel Hill
Director, Tobacco Intervention Programs, UNC Chapel Hill
Presentation Title: “Smoking Cessation Among Inpatients and Cancer Survivors- Novel Approaches”
Dr. Adam O. Goldstein is a Professor of Family Medicine at the University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Dr. Goldstein is Director of Tobacco Intervention Programs at UNC, including the UNC Nicotine Dependence Program and the UNC Tobacco Prevention and Evaluation Program that provides research, evaluation and interventions on tobacco cessation and prevention around the U.S. Dr. Goldstein’s research has had extensive local, regional and national influence through print, radio and television media, with over 200 articles, essays, book chapters and books, featured in CNN, CBS evening news, the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. He founded and is Co-Host of UNC Health Care’s YOUR HEALTH®, a syndicated, weekly one hour radio show on health, healing, medical care and ethics.
Jean Beckham, PhD
VA Senior Research Career Scientist
Division Director, Behavioral Medicine
Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Duke University School of Medicine
Presentation Title: “Smoking Cessation Trials among at Risk Populations”
View the panel presentation
Dr. Beckham is a tenured professor and Division Director for Behavioral Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. She is also a Veterans Affairs Senior Career Research Scientist. Dr. Beckham conducts research in the areas of smoking cessation, multiple behavior change, the genetics of suicide and the effects of chronic posttraumatic stress disorder, and she has more than 300 publications. She serves as PI on several federally funded projects from NIH and VA and mentor for several junior faulty. She received the 2015 Duke School of Medicine Clinical Science Research Mentoring Award, and the International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies 2017 Robert S. Laufer Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement. The Laufer Award is the ISTSS’s highest honor for individuals whose scientific achievements have advanced knowledge on the nature, assessment and treatment of traumatic stress.
Jennifer Gierisch, PhD, MPH
Associate Professor, Departments of Population Health Sciences and Medicine
Co-Director, Community Engagement Core, Duke CTSI
Duke University Medical Center
Presentation Title: “Smoking Cessation Strategies for Smoking with Depression”
Dr. Gierisch is an Associate Professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences and the Department of Medicine at Duke University Medical Center and Co-Director of the Community Engagement Core of the Duke Clinical Transitional Science Institute (CTSI). She is also is a core investigator at the Center of Innovation to Accelerate Discovery and Practice Transformation (ADAPT) at Durham VA Health Care System, and Co-Director of the Durham VA Health Care System Evidence-based Synthesis Program. Dr. Gierisch is a behavioral scientist and health services researcher. She has broad knowledge and expertise in behavior change and maintenance, translational intervention science, implementation science, evidence synthesis, and stakeholder engagement. Her research focuses on appropriate uptake and maintenance of complex preventive health behaviors. She has designed and tested innovative interventions to enhance sustained change of complex health behaviors in the areas of smoking cessation, cancer screening, weight management, and physical activity.
Sally Herndon, MPH
Head, Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch, Chronic Disease and Injury Section, Division of Public Health, NC Department of Human and Health Services
Presentation Title: “Advancing systems approaches to evidence-based tobacco treatment in North Carolina as a key component of a Comprehensive Tobacco Control Program”
Sally Herndon MPH has been a leader in NC public health’s efforts in tobacco prevention and control since 1991. Responsibilities include management of the Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch and coordination of evidence based tobacco prevention and control in North Carolina. She helped build support for the 2010 law that makes all N.C. restaurants and bars smoke-free and worked with state and local partners to successfully implement the new law. Sally is Past Chair of the national Tobacco Control Network, 2011-2013. She worked in health promotion/disease prevention in Maine (1980-86). Her education and training include a BA in Psychology and Physiology from UNC Chapel Hill and an MPH from the Department of Health Behavior School of Public Health, University of North Carolina with a focus on policy and program planning. She was a Fellow, NC State University's Natural Resources Leadership Institute: Resolving Conflict through Leadership in 1997; and a Fellow in the Advocacy Institute Leadership Program, 1999. Her ongoing work involves working with state, regional and local partners to 1) reduce tobacco use by young people; 2) eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke; 3) help promote evidence-based tobacco treatment and help all tobacco users quit; and 3) eliminate tobacco-attributable health disparities. She is part of the leadership team of the Duke-UNC Certified Tobacco Treatment Specialist Program, which is nationally accredited.
Eric C. Donny, PhD
Professor, Departments of Physiology and Pharmacology and Social Sciences & Healthy Policy
Director, Wake Forest Tobacco Control Center of Excellence
Wake Forest School of Medicine
Presentation Title: “The Potential Impact of Nicotine Reduction”
Dr. Donny is a Professor of Physiology & Pharmacology and Social Sciences and Health Policy and Director of the Tobacco Control Center of Excellence at the Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center. He has published over 100 scientific articles on nicotine, tobacco and addiction and served as PI or co-PI on NIH grants in excess of 70 million dollars. He is a Fellow of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco and Division 28 of the American Psychological Association. His work utilizes a wide range of techniques from animal models to multi-site randomized clinical trials to understand the behavioral, pharmacological and neurobiological basis of tobacco addiction as well as the harms caused by tobacco products. His current interests focus on regulatory approaches to reducing the health burden of tobacco. He co-directs the Center for the Evaluation of Nicotine in Cigarettes (CENIC), an NIDA/FDA-funded cooperative agreement that aims to increase understanding of how behavior and health might be affected if the nicotine content of cigarettes is greatly reduced.
M. Justin Byron, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine, UNC School of Medicine
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Health Behavior, UNC Gillings School of Public Health
Presentation Title: “Preparing the Public for Nicotine Reduction”
Dr. Byron is an assistant professor in Family Medicine at the UNC School of Medicine and an adjunct assistant professor in Health Behavior at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. He earned his PhD from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Over the last 10 years, Dr. Byron has used behavioral science to learn how to improve health communication to support tobacco control policies. He is currently studying public perceptions about nicotine reduction and how to prepare healthcare providers for this policy. Dr. Byron also conducts research in Indonesia on the effects of new tobacco products and policies on smoking prevalence.
Jed E. Rose, PhD
Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Director, Duke Center for Smoking Cessation Research
Duke University Medical Center
Presentation Title: “The Clinical Promise of E-Cigarettes for Smoking Cessation and Harm Reduction”
Jed E. Rose, Ph.D. is one of the leading authorities on the treatment of tobacco addiction. He serves as Director of the Duke Center for Smoking Cessation Research and is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University Medical Center. Additionally, Dr. Rose is President and CEO of Rose Research Center, LLC. In the early 1980’s, Dr. Rose led the initial studies of transdermal nicotine administration, which helped pave the way for the development of commercial nicotine skin patches; he also conducted pioneering studies into the role of sensorimotor aspects of cigarette smoking. In the late 1980s and 1990s, his work on partial agonist approaches for smoking cessation helped provide support for the development of varenicline. He and his colleagues have also invented a novel nicotine inhalation system that is under commercial development. A major focus of his research program is the application of e-cigarette technologies to tobacco harm reduction and cessation. In addition to treatment-based research, Dr. Rose’s research program applies brain imaging methodologies, including positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), to identify brain substrates underlying craving and addiction. Genomic and other individual predictors of quit smoking success are also being identified, and have been applied to the design of personalized therapeutic approaches. Dr. Rose has authored over 200 publications and is listed as an inventor on over ten patents.
Kimberly Wagoner, Dr.PH, MPH
Assistant Professor, Department of Social Sciences and Health Policy
Wake Forest School of Medicine
Presentation Title: “The Changing Retail Environment: Specialty Retailers and Marketing Practices for E-Cigarettes”
Dr. Kimberly Wagoner is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Sciences and Health Policy at Wake Forest School of Medicine. She has over 15 years of experience conducting research on substance use among youth and young adults. Her primary research interest is understanding community-level factors that impact substance use with the goal of informing practice and policy. Her work in tobacco has focused on the marketing and promotion of e-cigarettes at the point-of-sale, and currently, Dr. Wagoner is the principal investigator of a NCI-funded grant to assess consumer perceptions of prohibited health claims documented in vape shops. Her research has been cited in the Surgeon General’s Report, E-cigarette Use Among Youth and Young Adults, highlighting the relevance of her work to regulatory efforts.
Jim D. Martin, MS
Director of Policy and Programs, NC Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch, Division of Public Health, NC Department of Health and Human Services
Presentation Title: “E-cigarette Use Among Youth: Addressing this Public Health Epidemic”
Jim D. Martin, M.S., is Director of Policy and Programs with the NC Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch (TPCB), Division of Public Health, NC Department of Health and Human Services. Jim’s major responsibilities include providing statewide leadership and expertise on tobacco use prevention and control policy and programmatic solutions. Prior to his current position, (1992-2000) Jim served as Field Director for Policy and Programs with Project ASSIST, now known as the Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch. Jim also served as Governor James B. Hunt’s Advisor on teen tobacco use prevention. Prior to Project ASSIST, Jim served as a staff member with the National Cancer Institute’s COMMIT Project in Raleigh, NC--a comprehensive community-based research trial to reduce and prevent tobacco use. Jim has published several articles on tobacco use prevention and control and he has conducted numerous local, state, and national level presentations on policies and programs to prevent and reduce tobacco use. He has also served on multiple national committees including the ASSIST National Strategic Planning Subcommittee and the Tobacco Control Network. Jim is a native of Virginia. Jim received his master’s (1986) and bachelor’s degrees (1984) in Community Health Education from Virginia Tech. He worked as a Director of Worksite Health Promotion with the Virginia Department of Health, Mount Rogers Health District from 1986 - 1989, before relocating to North Carolina.
Marketing and Counter Marketing Panel
Kurt Ribisl, PhD
Professor and Chair, Department of Health Behavior
Program Leader, Cancer Prevention and Control
UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, UNC Chapel Hill
Kurt M. Ribisl, Ph.D. is professor and chair in the Department of Health Behavior at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is also the Program Leader for Cancer Prevention and Control at UNC’s Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Ribisl’s primary research interest is evaluating and improving the reach of population-level efforts to reduce tobacco use, with a particular emphasis on policy and information technology. He specializes in studying policy issues related to the sales and marketing of tobacco products at the point of sale and on the internet. Dr. Ribisl is the principal investigator of the $19.4M Center for Regulatory Research in Tobacco Communication funded by the NIH Tobacco Centers of Regulatory Science (TCORS) program (RFA-DA-13-003). He is also a multi-principal investigator (with Drs. Lisa Henriksen and Doug Luke) of the NCI-funded grant “Advancing Science and Practice in the Retail Environment” (P01CA225597), which will build the scientific evidence-base for effective tobacco control retail policies and enhance policy implementation in communities, to reduce the public health burden of tobacco use, as well as help eliminate tobacco-related disparities. Dr. Ribisl is the author of over 185 scientific articles, and his research has been published in journals such as the American Journal of Public Health, Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), American Journal of Preventive Medicine, and Tobacco Control. He is the co-founder of Counter Tobacco, a point-of-sale resource (www.countertobacc.org), and of the nonprofit Counter Tools, which focuses on advancing place-based public health. He recently completed a term as a member of the congressionally mandated Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC) for the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Tobacco Products.
Cessation Panel
Kathryn Pollak, PhD
Professor, Department of Population Health Sciences
Associate Director, Department of Population Sciences
Co-Leader, Cancer Control and Population Sciences, Duke Cancer Institute
Duke University Medical Center
Dr. Pollak is a social psychologist and Professor in Population Health Sciences. She also is the Associate Director of Population Sciences and Co-Leader of Cancer Control and Population Sciences in the Duke Cancer Institute. She has been developing behavioral interventions for 20 years, mostly to promote smoking cessation, predominantly among pregnant women. She has developed several types of interventions including those that provide counseling face-to-face, over the phone, over Skype, and via texting.
Erin Sutfin, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Social Sciences & Health Policy
Vice Chair, Department of Social Scences & Health Policy
Associate Director, Wake Forest Tobacco Control Center of Excellence
Wake Forest School of Medicine
Dr. Sutfin is Associate Professor and Vice Chair in the Department of Social Sciences and Health Policy at Wake Forest School of Medicine. She is a developmental psychologist with over 10 years of experience conducting NIH-funded research in tobacco prevention and control. The goal of her program of study is to decrease morbidity and mortality related to tobacco use. Her expertise in adolescent and young adult tobacco prevention and control focuses on non-cigarette tobacco products, including waterpipe tobacco, electronic cigarettes, and cigar products. Additionally, she conducts research focused on the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based tobacco cessation strategies in a variety of clinical settings. Dr. Sutfin has served as the PI or Project Director for multiple NCI-funded studies focused on tobacco control. She also serves as the Associate Director of the Wake Forest Tobacco Control Center of Excellence and the Co-Director of the Qualitative and Patient-Reported Outcomes Developing Shared Resource.