SRNT Newsletter

February/March 2006, Volume 12, Number 1

President's Column

by Ellen Gritz

It is a tremendous honor for me to have been elected as SRNT's thirteenth president. I take on this role with great respect for the accomplishments of my predecessors, a distinguished group of colleagues who have made major contributions to the science elucidating nicotine addiction and the practice of tobacco prevention and control. The spectrum of leaders in SRNT has appropriately represented the broad, multi-disciplinary nature of the society. We have witnessed the ongoing evolution in the conceptualization of nicotine and smoking, from the molecular to the societal level, from the local community to the global environment. SRNT has been increasingly at the very center of thought and activity on the entire continuum of tobacco-related science, practice, education, and policy.

For the past 13 years, I have served as founding Chair of the Department of Behavioral Science at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, in Houston, Texas. Our robust research program, carried out by 17 faculty and approximately 100 staff, spans primary prevention, with the largest component in tobacco prevention and cessation science, through cancer survivorship, addressing health risk behaviors, long-term wellness and quality of life. This embedding in an oncology research and treatment setting has made me ever more cognizant of our role in "translational research," which seeks to advance the developments of the basic and laboratory sciences through treatment development to efficacy, dissemination and widescale practice.

Tobacco prevention and control research has been accomplishing such goals for decades. Now, we should increase our efforts even more to undertake such activities in the context of other population sciences, such as epidemiology and health disparities, as well as in collaboration with the more traditional basic and clinical sciences. Such an opportunity and responsibility is completely congruent with a strong emphasis on our "transdisciplinarity," wherein researchers, clinicians, and a host of other professional and academic specialists join together to address the complex issues of tobacco in our society, both nationally and globally. This work began in the TTURC's, but must continue far beyond one NIH funding mechanism. We also need to be "transdisciplinary" across sister professional organizations in health behavior, public health, basic science, medicine, dentistry, nursing, and other clinical specialties that our membership affiliate with according to their disciplines. The scope of such collaborations becomes more challenging as the complexity of the science increases, but I would hope to welcome and coordinate such activities and interactions at the leadership level of SRNT, setting the stage for "breakthrough" achievement in research, practice, and policy in the next generation of national and global tobacco control.

The expansion of SRNT into the global arena has sparked a multitude of opportunities, highlighted by the first annual international meeting in Prague, in March 2005. The membership response to this meeting was so positive that people not only voted with their feet, via submission of presentations and attendance, but rather participated in a "stampede," with an attendance of 927, from countries around the world. Thus, we are already planning the second international meeting in 2009, again to be held somewhere in Europe. The pioneering efforts of the Global Network Committee have resulted in growing active participation by international membership. Reflecting this trend, the SRNT Bylaws have been revised to allow expansion of Board representation from global regions as membership increases to 5% or more of the total Society, with particular emphasis on the developing world. The establishment of chapters provides another such affiliative opportunity for smaller groups from a given region, which we welcome wholeheartedly. Coordination with other relevant international meetings, including the World Congress on Tobacco or Health, the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, the International Union Against Cancer, and others will become increasingly important. Exposure of our members to these professional venues as well as invitations for such leaders to participate in SRNT would be another goal for my Presidency; some of us participate already but many more could do so!

Throughout my career, I have been privileged to mentor many students and young investigators. These individuals represent the most exciting new generation of leadership in science and practice that I have seen in decades. Thus, I would like to further develop the involvement of young investigators and students in the leadership level of SRNT. We need to hear the words of our "freshest" colleagues, their needs and desires for mentorship, as well as their best and brightest ideas. SRNT must continue to emphasize diversity, growth, and development, while retaining its fine character and unique spirit as an organization.