Faculty involved in Tobacco Cessation Initiatives

Several faculty at the Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC) School of Rural Public Health are involved in tobacco initiatives. Brian Colwell, Ph.D., professor and department head, is principal investigator of the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) funded Texas Youth Tobacco Awareness Program (TYTAP), a statewide program aimed at reducing tobacco use among youth and adolescents through education and awareness of the short- and long-term impacts of tobacco use. Additionally, in collaboration with researchers at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, he recently completed work on the National Cancer Institute funded, “Enhanced Smoking Cessation for University Students (SUCCESS)” a study that focuses on improving tobacco use prevention and cessation programs among college students.

A team from TAMHSC-School of Rural Public Health including Regents and Distinguished Professor Kenneth McLeroy, Ph.D., Dr. Colwell, Monica Wendel, Dr.P.H., assistant dean for community health systems innovation, and Kelly Drake, M.P.H. in addition to Corliss Outley Ph.D. of Texas A&M University are working on a $255,886 funded grant from the American Legacy Foundation to evaluate “Legacy Partnerships for Healthier Communities.”

“This is an exciting opportunity for us to be working with the American Legacy Foundation, established through the U.S. tobacco settlement, in the evaluation of tobacco use prevention projects in West Virginia, Louisiana and Oklahoma,” said Dr. McLeroy who serves as principal investigator. “These projects have considerable potential to reduce tobacco use rates among pregnant women and youth in their locales, and the American Legacy Foundation is providing technical support and training to the projects. Our role is to evaluate the effectiveness of the projects and to provide feedback to Legacy in order to improve the effectiveness of the technical assistance.”

The study will continue through December 2013.