Addiction and Cessation

The nature and severity of nicotine addiction, treatement strategies, and the health benefits of quitting.
  • Intensive Intervention for Smokers in Alcohol Treatment

    The primary aim of this study is to determine the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of an intensive smoking cessation intervention that utilizes extended cognitive-behavioral therapy (ECBT) and combination nicotine replacement (CNRT), consisting of nicotine patches and adjuvant nicotine replacement (choice of lozenge, gum, nasal spray, or inhaler).   

    Timothy Carmody, PhD
    Clinical Professor, Department of Psychiatry
  • Ask, Advise, Refer: Promoting Pharmacy-based Referrals to Tobacco Quit-Lines

    This project aims to estimate the relative impact of two intervention approaches for generating community pharmacy-based referrals to tobacco cessation telephone quitlines.

    This study will apply a randomized design, using the community pharmacy as the unit of randomization, to estimate the impact of two approaches for engaging community pharmacy personnel in providing patient referrals to tobacco quitlines:
    (1) Minimal intervention: Pharmacies are provided, by mail, with printed quitline materials to be distributed by pharmacy personnel to patients who smoke.
    (2) Academic detailing: Pharmacy personnel receive, via brief on-site training, print materials that parallel the minimal intervention group, fax referral forms, and DVD demonstrations that model the referral procedures.

    Robin Corelli, PharmD
    Professor of Clinical Pharmacy
  • Impact of Services on Problem Drinking Trajectories

    The study addresses the underlying roles that a wide spectrum of health and human services play in the long-term course of alcohol problems in a representative sample of dependent and problem drinkers drawn from a single county’s household population.

    Kevin Delucchi, PhD
    Professor of Biostatistics in Psychiatry
  • Addressing Tobacco through Organizational Change

    Tobacco dependence continues to be the single most preventable cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. Persons entering drug abuse treatment smoke at 3-4 times the rate, and staff in publicly funded programs smoke at twice the rate, of the general population. Although the burden of illness and associated economic costs of nicotine addiction are elevated in the drug treatment population, treatment programs rarely address comorbid nicotine addiction.

    Joseph Guydish, PhD MPH
    Professor in Residence
  • Maintaining Nonsmoking

    A randomized controlled trial to study the efficacy of an extended treatment for cigarette smoking in a clinical setting.

    Sharon Hall, PhD
    Professor in Residence, Psychiatry
  • Web Site for Smoking Cessation Trials

    This project includes a web-based smoking cessation resource for Spanish- and English-speaking smokers as well as a complementary project focused on LGBT smokers.  It also evaluates the feasibility of conducting randomized trials over the internet.  

    Ricardo Munoz, PhD
    Professor In Residence
  • Latino Health Care with an Emphasis on Cancer Prevention

    Dr. Perez-Stable's research is focused on Latino health care with an emphasis on cancer prevention. 

    Eliseo Pérez-Stable, MD
    Professor of Medicine
  • Evaluation of Tobacco Treatment Strategies for Inpatient Psychiatry

    Individuals with mental illness or addictive disorders account for a staggering 44% to 46% of the US tobacco market. The overall goal of this research is to identify efficacious strategies for treating tobacco dependence among adult smokers hospitalized with severe mental illness.

    Jodi Prochaska, PhD MPH
    Adjunct Professor of Medicine, UCSF
    Associate Professor of Medicine, Stanford Prevention Research Center, Stanford Univ
  • Bupropion for Hospital-Based Smoking Cessation: A Randomized Trial

    This randomized trial examined the efficacy of bupropion when begun in the hospital setting.

    Joel Simon, MD, MPH
    Professor of Clinical Medicine
  • Smoking Cessation for Chinese Smokers

    Dr. Tsoh is conducting several projects to improve smoking cessation among Chinese smokers:

    Janice Tsoh, PhD
    Associate Adjunct Professor
  • Smokeless Tobacco Cessation among Youth

    Dr. Walsh is conducting three related projects on smokeless tobacco cessation among youth, one studying the effects of concurrent smoking on tobacco use cessation, one examining the efficacy of using athletic trainers to promote smokeless tobacco cessation and one on smokeless tobacco cessation among rural high school baseball players.

    Margaret Walsh, EdD
    Professor, Department of Preventive & Restorative Dental Sciences
  • Pharmacologic Basis of Racial Difference in Nicotine Dependence

    AA and EA smokers undergo detailed monitoring of smoking behavior, receive known doses of nicotine to establish nicotine metabolic rate, undergo DNA testing, and have their responses to not smoking for several hours studied. Exposure to carcinogens and other tobacco smoke toxins is also measured.  It is hypothesized that there are racial differences in metabolism that may explain different patterns of smoking, and that this in turn influences the reasons why smokers continue to self-administer nicotine (i.e., continue to smoke).

    Neal Benowitz, MD
    Professor of Medicine, Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences
  • Rate of Nicotine Metabolism and Withdrawal Symptoms in Adolescent Light Smokers

    The goal of this study was to examine the associations between the rate of nicotine metabolism and cigarette consumption, addiction and withdrawal symptoms.

    Mark Rubinstein, MD
    Assistant Adjunct Professor
  • Sustaining Cessation in Smokers with Kids with Asthma

    This project is researching methods to help smokers who quit sustain their cessation by characterizing changes associated with teachable moments and adding a relapse prevention module. (NIH/ Brown University)

                                      

    Katharine Hammond, PhD
    Professor of Environmental Health Sciences, UC Berkeley
  • African Americans: NRT or Alternative Medicine for Cessation

    This descriptive study consists of focus groups and survey development to explore among African American smokers perceived obstacles in the use of nicotine replacement therapy and to identify any uses of alternative medicines as aids to help them quit smoking.

    Valerie Yerger, ND
    Assistant Adjunct Professor