MAY/JUNE 2005
Volume 11 - No. 2
Research Activities at a Featured Program
Preconference on Global Tobacco Research
SRNT Newsletter
May/June 2005, Volume 11, Number 2
Research Activities at a Featured Program:
Collaboration between the University of Pennsylvania's
Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center (TTURC)
and the Center of Excellence in Cancer Communication
Research (CECCR)
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Funded by the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Pennsylvania Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center (TTURC) is one of seven NIH-funded centers nationwide. The TTURC is directed by Caryn Lerman Ph.D., Mary W. Calkins, Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and the Annenberg Public Policy Center, and co-directed by Wade Berrettini, M.D., Ph.D., and Karl Rickels, Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Center for Neurobiology and Behavior. The Penn TTURC was recently awarded its second five-year grant to support continued transdisciplinary tobacco use research. The mission of the Penn TTURC is to translate advances in neuroscience, pharmacology, genetics, and behavioral science to improve treatment for tobacco dependence.
The Effects of Public Information in Cancer (EPIC) Center is one of four Centers of Excellence in Cancer Communication Research funded by the National Cancer Institute. The EPIC Center is directed by Robert C. Hornik, Wilbur R. Schramm, Professor of Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication, and co-directed by Caryn Lerman. The Penn CECCR examines how people make sense of the complex public information environment and how that affects the behavioral choices they make relevant to cancer.
In its first five years, the Penn TTURC provided the first evidence for the role of specific genetic variants in smoking cessation and response to pharmacotherapy for nicotine dependence, generated new data on bio-behavioral mechanisms of response to treatment, developed new tools and applied new methods to analyze smoking cessation clinical trial data, and identified pre-treatment measures that can be used in clinical practice to tailor choice of treatment for individual smokers. Penn TTURC researchers have also contributed to our understanding of emerging health policy and ethical issues important in the translation of research on genetics and smoking to clinical practice. The new TTURC focuses on translating basic science and genetics research to identify novel treatment approaches and to improve treatment delivery.
As the TTURC continues to generate research regarding the links between genetics, nicotine addiction and treatment response, researchers at the Penn CECCR are investigating how the framing of information from news media about genetic risk for nicotine addiction influences smoking-related cognitions and behaviors. In a study led by Joseph N. Cappella, Gerald R. Miller, Professor of Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication, researchers at the CECCR are investigating how information about genetic risk to nicotine addiction can be framed to make it more effective, increasing efficacy and a sense of control. This research is two pronged: A comprehesive content analysis of the frames used in broadcast and print news reports of research on genetics, smoking, and disease is underway. The effects on audiences' efficacy, control and knowledge of different frames is being investigated experimentally. A recent study (in press) found that smokers with a strong family history of smoking exposed to a credible news story about the genetic basis for nicotine addiction were more likely to infer a greater personal genetic susceptibility to smoking addiction. Results from studies about genetic frames will contribute to an understanding of the impact of news stories about genetics and smoking on public perceptions and personal efficacy and will help to identify effective messages for communication of genetic information in the public arenas.
Through the collaborative efforts of the Penn TTURC and the CECCR, researchers at both centers will continue to address potential barriers of translating emerging genetic research about tobacco dependence to physicians and patients, both in the clinical setting and the public.
Megan Kasimatis is the Associate Director of the Center of Excellence in Cancer Communication Research at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania.