NOV/DEC 2005
Volume 11 - No. 4
SRNT Newsletter
Nov/Dec 2005, Volume 11, Number 4
In the Spotlight
Clifford E. Douglas, Esq., was recently appointed to serve
as an Adjunct Lecturer to teach the course, "Tobacco: From Seedling
to Social Policy," at the University of Michigan School of Public
Health this semester, succeeding Ken Warner, who (as we reported in
a previous issue) was named the school's new dean.
SRNT Past President Nancy Rigotti (Harvard Medical School) has a column in the October 3rd issue of Newsweek, entitled Staying Safe: How to Quit Smoking. Thanks, Nancy, for bringing science-based information on this important issue to the public's attention!
Ken Perkins presenting Cynthia Conklin with the APA Division 28 Young Investigator Award, August, 2005. |
After eight years at the University of Kansas as the Sosland Family Professor and Chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Dr. Jasjit S. Ahluwalia (jahlual@umn.edu) has accepted a position at the University of Minnesota as Executive Director for the Office of Clinical Research with the Senior Vice President at the University of Minnesota Academic Health Sciences Center to oversee Clinical Research. The University of Minnesota is one of the few health science centers in the US that is comprised of six schools: Medicine, Public Health, Dentistry, Veterinary Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy. He will also serve as the Associate Dean for Clinical Research and Director for the Center of Clinical Research in the School of Medicine where he will continue NIH funded research working with ethnic minority populations.
The Society for Neuroscience web site has a newly revised history section that includes a "classic papers" page containing PDF files of a sampling of widely known, but often hard to find papers from the history of our field. It is hoped that this collection will serve as a nucleus for an ultimately more comprehensive list. A link provides a mechanism for your suggestions regarding additional topics/papers that could be added. Here is the link for the new site: http://web.sfn.org/content/Programs /HistoryofNeuroscience1/index.html.
The new California EPA report entitled Proposed Identification of Environmental Tobacco Smoke as a Toxic Air Contaminant is available at http://www.arb.ca.gov/toxics/ets/finalreport/finalreport.htm .
The on-line database maintained by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, the Quitting and Reducing Tobacco Use Inventory of Products (QuiTIP), has recently been updated (see https://secure.tobaccofreekids.org/Cessation/ ). There are now over 100 products catalogued in the database. These are products that are being sold in the U.S. and globally with the articulated intention to help people cease their tobacco use. As a reminder, the database distinguishes between products that have been approved for use as smoking cessation aids by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and all others (e.g., homeopathic, dietary supplements, etc.). The database contains the following information on each product (and all of the information is in the manufacturer's own words):
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The database also includes links to the major evidence-based reviews for tobacco cessation products and services (e.g., Cochrane collection, PHS treatment guidelines, SRNT/WHO treatobacco.net) so that visitors to the site have easy access to information on evidence-based cessation aids, including counseling and pharmacotherapy. While the database does not include all products available to consumers (mainly due to budgetary limits for this project), it does contain an excellent, representative sample of products that are being sold to consumers as tobacco cessation aids. Products in the database are from a variety of countries (U.S., South Korea, U.K., New Zealand, etc.). The main intent of the database is to provide an easily accessible resource for researchers, clinicians/practitioners, the media and policy makers to learn more information about these products, to begin the process of conducting more research on the safety, efficacy and effectiveness of these products, and to help identify those tools for which there already exists a substantial evidence-base as to their ability to help people quit using tobacco products. If you have any questions about the database, or if have any leads on any new products that you think would be a good addition to the database, please don't hesitate to contact Matt Barry at MBarry@TobaccoFreeKids.org .
The Roswell Park Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center announces its second round of competition for funds through its Developmental Research Program (DRP). Proposals must be directly linked to the broad objectives of the TTURC or extend the objectives in innovative ways. DRP will favor proposals that are novel, transdisciplinary, and which have the potential to lead to future research funding. Information about the Roswell Park TTURC can be found at http://roswelltturc.org. In this next round of funding, the DRP is especially interested in supporting research on policy-relevant questions having to do with tobacco product regulation and protocols for FCTC policy implementation. For example, studies might explore methods for assessing exposure and risk for both combusted and non-combusted nicotine products. This may include an examination of product design and the influence of various product characteristics upon patterns of use and toxicity. Studies may also wish to examine smokers' willingness to substitute non-combusted nicotine products for conventional cigarettes, methods for monitoring the growing problem of counterfeit cigarettes, studies that extend or complement existing International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Study (ITC) methods, as well as approaches to communicating risk through package warnings and constituent labeling. Last year, DRP grants were restricted to institutions affiliated with the Roswell Park TTURC. This year, the eligibility criteria have been expanded to include investigators not affiliated with the TTURC in hopes of expanding the Roswell Park TTURC's network of scientists. Interested investigators can submit an idea for a DRP grant through an online application process (http://roswelltturc.org/funding.html ). The application process involves two stages. In the first stage, applicants are asked to submit 2-page concept preproposal. Pre-proposals are reviewed by the DRP Committee and those that look promising are invited to submit a full application. All DRP-funded projects will be given a senior TTURC investigator as a mentor. Applicants may suggest a mentor or one will be appointed by the TTURC Leadership Committee. This person may be a collaborator on the project, or if agreed at the outset, serve merely as a conduit to ensure that the TTURC team is kept informed on progress and accomplishments. DRP grants are capped at $25,000 (USD) over a 12 month period. Awards are limited to direct costs only. In this next round of funding, we anticipate making 3-4 grant awards. Application deadlines for this cycle are as follows: October 28, 2005: Electronic pre-proposals due. December 6, 2005: Select applicants invited to submit full applications. February 3, 2006: Full applications due. March 10, 2006: One-year grants announced. Investigators can direct questions via email or phone to Craig Steger, TTURC Scientific Administrator. Craig Steger, M.A., Scientific Administrator, Roswell Park TTURC and Department of Health Behavior, Division of Cancer Prevention & Population Sciences, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, craig.steger@roswellpark.org . Phone: 716-845-8170; Fax: 716-845-1265.
Nicotine and Tobacco Research recently published a supplement entitled Addressing Tobacco in Managed Care. If SRNT Members would like additional copies, please contact Gloria Meyer at 608-265-4447 or email her at GKM@medicine.wisc.edu. Gloria also has summaries of all the articles and some related press releases. The complete supplement is available on two websites: www.ntrjournal.org and www.rwjf.org.