TCORS: Center for the Assessment of Tobacco Regulations (CAsToR)

Administrative Core (ADMIN)

The Administrative Core (ADMIN) provides and integrates scientific leadership, administrative support, and fiscal management for the entire Center.

Diagram of Administrative Core functions

Leads

  • Rafael Meza, PhD
    Rafael Meza, PhD
    British Columbia Cancer Research Institute
    Rafael Meza, PhD
    British Columbia Cancer Research Institute: Distinguished Scientist
    Positions: Administrative (ADMIN) Core; CAsToR Principal Investigator; Research Project 1; Research Project 4
    Dr. Meza is Principal Investigator of the Center for the Assessment of Tobacco Regulation (CAsToR) and the Coordinating Principal Investigator of the Cancer Intervention and Surveillance Modeling Network (CISNET) Lung Working Group. Prior to joining BC Cancer, Dr. Meza was Professor of Epidemiology and Global Health at the University of Michigan and co-Leader of the Cancer Control and Population Sciences of the Rogel Cancer Center. Dr. Meza is a Distinguished Scientist at the British Columbia Cancer Research Institute and Distinguished Scholar in Lung Cancer Screening and Prevention at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Meza's research interests lie at the interface of epidemiology, biostatistics and biomathematics. He is an expert in lung cancer epidemiology and prevention and tobacco epidemiology and control. The goal of his research program is to characterize the impact of disease prevention and control interventions, informing stakeholders and policymakers as to the most effective and efficient ways to improve population health. In particular, he is interested in cancer risk assessment and the analysis of cancer epidemiology data using mechanistic models of carcinogenesis. He is also interested in the mathematical modeling of chronic and infectious disease dynamics and its applications in disease prevention public health policy design.
  • David Levy, PhD
    David Levy, PhD
    Georgetown University
    David Levy, PhD
    Georgetown University: Professor, Georgetown University Medical Center
    Positions: Administrative (ADMIN) Core; CAsToR Principal Investigator; Research Project 1; Research Project 3
    Dr. David Levy is PI for CAsToR at Georgetown University. Dr. Levy received his PhD in Economics from UCLA (USA), and is currently a Professor of Oncology at Georgetown University. He has published over 250 articles, in renowned journals such as the American Economic Review, BMJ, AJPH, JAMA, The Lancet, Tobacco Control, and PLOS Medicine. He has been principal investigator of grants from the CDC, WHO, the National Cancer Institute, and Bloomberg/Gates Foundation. Dr. Levy currently oversees the design and development of the SimSmoke tobacco policy simulation model, for which he has developed models for over 40 countries covering 85% of the world’s population, and has recently developed models of smokeless tobacco and e-cigarette use. In addition to being a principal investigator on the TCORS grant, he is currently a principal investor on a National Cancer Institute grant with the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project (the ITC Project) in which he has developed models of e-cigarette use for Canada, England and France; and is a principal investigator on the National Cancer Institute CISNET Lung Group. He has recently published articles providing a public health framework for evaluating e-cigarettes and showing the potential benefits of e-cigarettes, as well as papers on the cigarette and e-cigarette markets.
  • David Mendez, PhD
    David Mendez, PhD
    University of Michigan
    David Mendez, PhD
    University of Michigan: Professor of Health Management and Policy
    Positions: Administrative (ADMIN) Core; Career Enhancement Core (CEC); CAsToR Principal Investigator; Research Project 2
    Dr. David Mendez is PI for CAsToR at the University of Michigan and Core Lead for the Career Enhancement Core (CEC) and Project Lead for Research Project 2. He is also a member of the CAsToR Steering Committee. Dr. Mendez is an Professor in the Department of Health Management and Policy at the University of Michigan. His research focuses on modeling trends of cigarette smoking cessation or switching to e-cigarettes. Dr. Mendez’s research also investigates the financial implications of these trends, with specific focus on tobacco control in the United States.