The Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education’s annual symposium, It’s About a Billion Lives, was held on Friday April 11th, 2025. Co-hosted by the UCSF Smoking Cessation Leadership Center, this in-person event was held at the Robertson Auditorium at the UCSF Mission Bay campus.
This year, the symposium was expanded into a full-day format, packed with an extended lineup of speakers, posters, research, and a special afternoon session dedicated to the history of the tobacco industry documents archives.
Watch the full Symposium recording here
Watch the Individual Presentations Below:
- Keynote: “Are Cigarettes Defective? The Case of Menthol, an Initiation Defect”
- Robert N. Proctor, PhD, Professor of History and Medicine, Stanford University
- Robert N. Proctor, PhD, Professor of History and Medicine, Stanford University
- Keynote: “The Menthol Ban: Key Positive Ripple Effects”
- Valerie Yerger, ND, Professor, UCSF Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences
- Valerie Yerger, ND, Professor, UCSF Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences
- “Cardiovascular Impact of Tobacco and Cannabis Smoke Exposure”
- Leila Mohammadi, MD, PhD, Assistant Professional Researcher, UCSF Division of Cardiology
- Leila Mohammadi, MD, PhD, Assistant Professional Researcher, UCSF Division of Cardiology
- “Envisioning California’s Endgame with American Indian Young Adults”
- Sabrina Islam, PhD, MS, Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education
- Sabrina Islam, PhD, MS, Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education
- Keynote: “Menthol: A Case Example of Industry Regulatory Evasion”
- Yolonda C. Richardson, JD, MPH, President and CEO, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
- Yolonda C. Richardson, JD, MPH, President and CEO, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
- “Archives and Why They Matter”
- Polina Ilieva, Associate University Librarian for Collections-Archivist, UCSF Library
- Polina Ilieva, Associate University Librarian for Collections-Archivist, UCSF Library
- “Whoever controls the media controls the mind: Media, Marketing and Tobacco Archives”
- Robert K. Jackler, MD, Sewall Professor Emeritus, Stanford University School of Medicine (SRITA)
- Peter Kovacs, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education
- “The Department of Justice Case against the Tobacco Industry”
- Sharon Eubanks, Former Director, U.S. Department of Justice Tobacco Litigation Team
- Ruth Malone, RN, PhD, Professor, UCSF Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences
- “Leveraging AI for Document Analysis in Archival Research and Publishing”
- Geoffrey Boushey, MS, Head of Data Engineering, UCSF Library
- "The Opioid Epidemic, Oral History, and Why Stories Matter"
- Amy C. Sullivan, PhD, Assistant Professor, Assistant Professor, Modern U.S. & Oral History, Macalester College
- Keynote Conversation: "Community Archives – Whose Story is told? Who Tells your Story?"
- Braunz Courtney, HIV Education and Prevention Project of Alameda County (HEPPAC)
- Britt Creech, Vanguard Lab, a project of the San Francisco Drug Users Union
- Ivy Jeanne, Vanguard Lab, a project of the San Francisco Drug Users Union
- Mary Howe, Homeless Youth Alliance (HYA), San Francisco (HYA)
- Moderator: Dan Kabella, PhD, CTCRE Postdoctoral Fellow
- "Why History Matters"
- Brian Dolan, PhD, Professor, UCSF Department of Humanities and Social Sciences
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Watch the 2024 symposium and past years’ symposia.
