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CAsToR Symposium 2021

“Simulation Modeling in Tobacco Regulatory Science: Where are we and where should we go next?”

Kenneth E. Warner, PhD and Mitch Zeller, JD

Recorded presentations from CAsToR’s three-day 2021 symposium are now online. Highlights include keynote lectures from Kenneth E. Warner, PhD (“The Role of Simulation Modeling in Tobacco Research and Regulation: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow”) and Mitch Zeller, JD (“Simulation Modeling and How it Informs the Work of FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP)”)

ADDITIONAL PRESENTERS: Warren Bickel, PhD; Kenneth Cummings, PhD, MPH; Thuy Le, PhD; David Levy, PhD; Douglas Luke, PhD; David Mendez, PhD; Rafael Meza, PhD; Raymond Niaura, PhD; Esther Salazar, PhD; Aylin Sertkaya, PhD; Iris Shao, MPH; Jody Sindelar, PhD; Ruoyan Sun, PhD; Jamie Tam, PhD.

FEATURED PANELISTS: David B. Abrams, PhD; Benjamin Apelberg, PhD, MHS; Clifford Douglas, JD; Dorothy Hatsukami, PhD.

POSTED: Fri Jun 24, 2021

Featured News

Don't Rush FDA’s Vaping Products Review

A close up of a woman exhaling a large cloud of vapor from her e-cigarette.

“It is also important for the public -- including clinicians -- to be aware of the rapidly growing evidence that vaping can be effective in quitting smoking. Indeed, the CDC reports that more adult smokers use, and have success using, e-cigarettes than other products in their attempts to quit smoking. And vaping is likely more effective for smoking cessation than FDA-approved nicotine replacement medicines, such as gum and patches, according to multiple credible sources, including the respected Cochrane Review.” — Clifford E. Douglas, JD (Director, Tobacco Research Network; Faculty, University of Michigan School of Public Health)

POSTED: Mon Sep 13, 2021

Featured Publication

“Public health impact of a US ban on menthol in cigarettes and cigars: a simulation study”

The US Food and Drug Administration most recently announced its intention to ban menthol cigarettes and cigars nationwide in April 2021. Implementation of the ban will require evidence that it would improve public health. This paper simulates the potential public health impact of a ban on menthol in cigarettes and cigars through its impacts on smoking initiation, smoking cessation and switching to nicotine vaping products (NVPs).

AUTHORS: David T Levy, Rafael Meza, Zhe Yuan, Yameng Li, Christopher Cadham, Luz Maria Sanchez-Romero, Nargiz Travis, Marie Knoll, Alex C Liber, Ritesh Mistry, Jana L Hirschtick, Nancy L Fleischer, Sarah Skolnick, Andrew F Brouwer, Cliff Douglas, Jihyoun Jeon, Steven Cook, Kenneth E Warner JOURNAL: Tobacco control

POSTED: Fri Sep 03, 2021

Featured News

Menthol ban would save 650,000 lives in the next 40 years

Banning menthol flavors in cigarettes could reduce smoking by 15% by having smokers giving up tobacco products altogether or switching to e-cigarettes and other nicotine vaping products—avoiding 16,250 tobacco-related deaths per year by 2060, according to a new University of Michigan study. “This work is the culmination of a series of sequential projects aimed to assess the impact that a menthol ban could have on smoking, tobacco use and downstream health effects,” said Rafael Meza, one of the authors of the study and a professor of epidemiology at U-M’s School of Public Health. “Our findings show that a menthol ban could result in considerable health gains and highlight the urgency for final approval and implementation of the ban.” “Recent evidence finds that a menthol ban would likely increase smoking cessation, with more limited evidence of reducing smoking initiation and switching from smoking to other products like e-cigarettes,” said David Levy, professor of oncology at Georgetown University and lead author of the paper.

POSTED: Fri Sep 03, 2021

Featured Publication

“Trends in Nicotine Product Use Among US Adolescents, 1999-2020”

With increasing e-cigarette use among US adolescents and decreasing use of other tobacco products, it is unclear how total use of nicotine products, and its long-term health risks, have changed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's standard measure-any tobacco product use in the past 30 days-considers neither frequency of use nor product risk implications.

AUTHORS: Ruoyan Sun, PhD; David Mendez, PhD; Kenneth E. Warner, PhD JOURNAL: JAMA network open

COMMENTARY: “Ongoing Difficulty of Characterizing Nicotine Product Risks”

IN THE MEDIA: “Are Concerns About Teen Vaping Overblown?”

POSTED: Thu Aug 26, 2021

Featured Publication

“Latent class analysis of use frequencies for multiple tobacco products in US adults”

A persistent challenge is characterizing patterns of tobacco use in terms of product combinations and frequency. Using Wave 4 (2016-17) Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study adult data, we conducted latent class analyses (LCA) of past 30-day frequency of use for 9 tobacco products. One-step LCA with joint multinomial logistic regression models compared sociodemographic factors between users (n = 13,716) and non-users (n = 17,457), and between latent classes of users.

AUTHORS: Ritesh Mistry, Irina Bondarenko, Jihyoun Jeon, Andrew F Brouwer, Delvon T Mattingly, Jana L Hirschtick, Evelyn Jimenez-Mendoza, David T Levy, Stephanie R Land, Michael R Elliott, Jeremy M G Taylor, Rafael Meza, Nancy L Fleischer JOURNAL: Preventive medicine.

POSTED: Mon Aug 09, 2021

Featured News

CAsToR e-Announcements (August 2021)

A bi-monthly e-newsletter featuring CAsToR highlights, publications, webinars, events, milestones, presentations, resources amd opportunities.

POSTED: Tue Aug 02, 2021

Featured Trainee

Steve Cook, PhD

CAsToR Postdoctoral Research Fellow Steve Cook, PhD discusses analysis of prospective longitudinal data to better understand the role of e-cigarettes in smoking cigarettes and to examine whether there is evidence of an association between e-cigarette use and cardiovascular and respiratory health outcomes.

POSTED: Tue Aug 10, 2021

Publications, PrePrints + Posters Updated Sep 03 2021 »

Events + Multimedia Updated Aug 31 2021 »

Opportunities Updated Aug 26 2021 »

News + Announcements Updated Sep 13 2021 »

Numbers About the Center »

Affiliated Institutions 20 University of Michigan • Georgetown University • Yale University • University of Illinois, Chicago • University of Minnesota • University of South Carolina • New York University • Massachusetts General Hospital • University of California, San Francisco • Governors State University • University of Memphis • Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center • University of Alabama • University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill • Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science • Duke University • American Cancer Society • American University of Beirut • East Carolina University • Emory University

Personnel 87 Faculty: 37 • Junior Investigators: 4 • Postdoctoral Research Fellows: 4 • PhD Students: 9 • Trainee – Research: 20 • Staff: 13

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Pilots Funded $660,000 Round 1: 6 grants, $200,000 Round 2: 8 grants, $300,000 Round 3: 5 grants, $160,000

View funded pilot studies »

Publications 52 2021: 18 publications2020: 20 publications2019: 14 publications

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