The Schroeder Institute is a subcontractor on a 5-year, multimillion-dollar contract from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to examine the impact of FDA regulation of tobacco products (Andrew Hyland, Principal Investigator). This nationally representative household survey of roughly 40,000 individuals drawn with address-based sampling will have both cross-sectional and longitudinal components, augmented by additional ad hoc data collection. Sampling will focus on youth, young adults, tobacco users, and racial/ethnic minorities. Areas of specific interest include: 1) dual/poly tobacco use; 2) understanding trends in risk perception; 3) characterizing the natural history of tobacco cessation and relapse; 4) connecting markers of tobacco exposure with disease outcomes; 5) examining the effects of FDA tobacco regulation on changes in risk perceptions and other attitudes associated with use patterns, cessation outcomes, and tobacco-related intermediate endpoints and health outcomes, and; 6) assessing the impact of FDA tobacco regulation on non-tobacco users. The PATH study presents an unprecedented opportunity to closely examine the impact of regulatory authority over tobacco products given to the FDA under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009.

Principal Investigator: Andrew Hyland, PhD

SI/Legacy collaborators: David Abrams, PhD, Tom Kirchner, PhD, Ray Niaura, PhD, Jennifer Pearson, PhD, Amanda Richardson, PhD, Donna Vallone, PhD, Andrea Villanti, PhD

Collaborators at other institutions: Michael Cummings, PhD (Medical University of South Carolina); Geoffrey Fong, PhD (University of Waterloo); Andrew Hyland, PhD (Roswell Park Cancer Institute); Karen Messer, PhD (UC San Diego); John Pierce, PhD (UC San Diego); Saul Shiffman, PhD (University of Pittsburg); Jim Sargent, PhD (Dartmouth); Susanne Tanski, MD (Dartmouth); Mitch Zeller, JD (Pinney Associates)

Funding agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse and Center for Tobacco Products at the Food and Drug Administration

Contract number: HHSN271201100027

Project period: 9/18/2011 - 9/18/2016

One of my main research interests is in translational research to improve tobacco control policy and program decision-making and I co-teach “Translating Research into Public Health Programs” (with David Holtgrave), a two-term graduate course in the Department of Health, Behavior and Society at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The course emphasizes evidence synthesis, decision analysis, and economic evaluation methods to improve evidence-based program and policy decision-making. 

The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act became law in 2009 and grants the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority to regulate tobacco products “for the protection of the public health.”  This Act provides an unprecedented opportunity to change smoking behaviors at the population level through regulatory action.  The following studies were conducted to inform the FDA Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee’s recommendation on banning menthol in cigarettes; additional manuscripts are in preparation.

1. Villanti AC, Giovino GA, Barker DC, Mowery PD, Sevilimedu V, Abrams DB. Menthol brand switching among adolescents and young adults in the National Youth Smoking Cessation Survey. American Journal of Public Health. In press.
2. Tauras JA, Levy D, Chaloupka FJ, Villanti AC, Niaura RS, Vallone DM, Abrams DB. Menthol and non-menthol smoking: the impact of prices and smoke-free air laws. Addiction. 2010 Dec;105 Suppl 1:115-23. PMID: 21059142. Full text.
3. Villanti AC, Vargyas EJ, Niaura RS, Beck SE, Pearson JL, Abrams DB. Food and Drug Administration regulation of tobacco: integrating science, law, policy, and advocacy. Am J Public Health. 2011 Jul;101(7):1160-2. PMID: 21566020. Abstract.
4. Levy DT, Blackman K, Tauras J, Chaloupka FJ, Villanti AC, Niaura RS, Vallone DM, Abrams DB. Quit attempts and quit rates among menthol and nonmenthol smokers in the United States. Am J Public Health. 2011 Jul;101(7):1241-7. PMID: 21566032. Abstract.
5. Levy DT, Pearson JL, Villanti AC, Blackman K, Vallone DM, Niaura RS, Abrams DB. Modeling the future effects of a menthol ban on smoking prevalence and smoking-attributable deaths in the United States. Am J Public Health. 2011 Jul;101(7):1236-40. PMID: 21566034. Abstract.

SI/Legacy collaborators: David Abrams, PhD, Stacy Beck, JD, Raymond Niaura, PhD, Jennifer Pearson, MPH, Donna Vallone, PhD MPH, Ellen Vargyas, JD

Collaborators at other institutions: Gary Giovino, PhD (University at Buffalo, SUNY), David Holtgrave, PhD (Johns Hopkins University), David Levy, PhD (University of Baltimore)

Increasing restrictions on tobacco advertising and political pressures have reduced tobacco marketing to youth and as a result, young adults have become an increasingly important target audience for tobacco industry attention. In the United States, the prevalence of cigarette smoking followed a declining trend between 1997 and 2004 among adults overall; in 2006, smoking prevalence in adults did not significantly decrease and young adults aged 18-24 represented the adult age group with the highest smoking prevalence. The purpose of this study is to understand the trajectory of tobacco use patterns and mediating factors of tobacco use in young adults (aged 18-34 years).  This study is led by Legacy’s Research and Evaluation Department.

1. Rath JM, Villanti AC, Abrams DB, Vallone DM. Patterns of tobacco and dual use in U.S. young adults: The missing link between youth prevention and adult cessation. Journal of Environmental and Public Health. In press.

Principal Investigator: Jessica Rath, PhD, MPH, CHES

SI/Legacy collaborators: David Abrams, PhD, Donna Vallone, PhD MPH

Funding: Internal

Project period: 06/2011 – 12/2013

Mass media campaigns can be effectively used to reduce youth prevalence and promote adult cessation, particularly when combined with other tobacco control efforts . Given the expenses associated with the development and implementation of mass media campaigns, especially those that air nationally, it is critical to determine whether they are cost-effective as a public health intervention and, if so, to what degree.  The purpose of this study is to improve the data available to program and policy decision-makers on the cost-effectiveness of a smoking cessation mass media intervention for U.S. adults.

SI/Legacy collaborators: David Abrams, PhD, Laurel Curry, MPH, Amanda Richardson, PhD MS, Donna Vallone, PhD MPH

Collaborators at other institutions: David Holtgrave, PhD (Johns Hopkins University)

Funding: Internal

Sustained tobacco control mass media campaigns, in combination with other interventions, have been strongly recommended to reduce tobacco initiation and promote smoking cessation in the United States.  For many public health media campaigns, however, randomized designs are neither feasible nor ethical and thus little is known about campaign effectiveness.  This project seeks to estimate the effect of a national smoking cessation media campaign on cessation outcomes using propensity score matching to approximate a randomized study design.

1. Villanti AC, Cullen J, Vallone DM, Stuart EA. Use of propensity score matching to evaluate a national smoking cessation media campaign. Evaluation Review. In press.

SI/Legacy collaborators: David Abrams, PhD, Jennifer Cullen, PhD, Amanda Richardson, PhD MS, Donna Vallone, PhD MPH

Collaborators at other institutions: Elizabeth Stuart, PhD (Johns Hopkins University)

Funding: Internal

This project seeks to quantify the effects – in costs and quality-adjusted life years saved – of lung cancer screening using low-dose helical computed tomography (CT) or standard chest X-ray.              

SI/Legacy collaborators: David Abrams, PhD, Amanda Graham, PhD, Donna Vallone, PhD MPH

Collaborators at other institutions: David Holtgrave, PhD (Johns Hopkins University)

Funding: Internal

This project uses data from the Baltimore site of the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance System to estimate the prevalence of tobacco use among injection drug users and its association with HIV risk behaviors.  Findings from this study will inform HIV prevention efforts and smoking cessation programs.  Manuscripts from this study are in preparation.

1. Villanti AC, German D, Sifakis F, Flynn C, Holtgrave DR. Smoking, self-reported HIV and HIV risk behaviors in a respondent-driven sample of injection drug users in Baltimore, Maryland: the BeSure study. AIDS Education and Prevention. In press.

Collaborators at other institutions: Danielle German, PhD MPH (Johns Hopkins University), David Holtgrave, PhD (Johns Hopkins University)

Funding:  CDC and the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH), BeSure: CDC National HIV Behavioral Surveillance System (Baltimore site)

Studies have demonstrated the importance of quitting smoking before age 30 to avoid tobacco-related mortality but little attention has been paid to developing evidence-based smoking cessation interventions for young adults, as distinct from adolescents and older-aged adults.  These studies summarize existing cessation interventions and describe salient aspects of smoking in young adults to improve tailoring of cessation interventions for this group.

1. Villanti AC, McKay HS, Abrams DB, Holtgrave DR, Bowie JV. Smoking-Cessation Interventions for U.S. Young Adults: A Systematic Review. Am J Prev Med 2010;39(6):564 –574. PMID: 21084078. Abstract.
2. McCleary-Sills JD, Villanti A, Rosario E, Bone L, Stillman F. Influences on tobacco use among urban Hispanic young adults in Baltimore: findings from a qualitative study. Prog Community Health Partnersh. Winter 2010;4(4):289-297. PMID: 21169706. Abstract.

Principal Investigator: Andrea Villanti, PhD MPH

SI/Legacy collaborators: David Abrams, PhD

Funding:  Maryland Cigarette Restitution Fund Research Grant to the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions; Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Project period:  07/2009 – 06/2010