A paper co-authored by CTCRE Fellow Peter Kovacs, PhD, UCSF Professor Emeritus Ruth Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN, and CTCRE Director Pam Ling, MD, MPH, was published in Tobacco Control. Read the paper: tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/earl... Access the visual companion: tobacco.ucsf.edu/content/why-...

Why are branded cigarettes in streaming media? A case study of Netflix’s Stranger Things

Background Despite the 1998 ban on paid product placement by the tobacco industry, branded tobacco products continue to appear in media. Methods Using the popular streaming series Stranger Things as ...

tobaccocontrol.bmj.com

CTCRE Fellowship Co-Directors Dorie Apollonio PhD, MPP and Maya Vijayaraghavan MD, MAS are among the co-authors on a new research article in JAPhA Practice Innovations. Read the paper here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

CTCRE Associate Specialist Tanner Wakefield and CTCRE Fellowship Co-Director Dorie Apollonio, PhD, MPP, are authors on an article just published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. Access the article here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A paper whose co-authors include CTCRE Fellow Mark Hawes, PhD, MSW, and Maya Vijayaraghavan, MD, MAS, CTCRE Fellowship Co-Director, was just published in JAMA Network Open. Read the paper here: jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Smoke-Free Home Intervention in Permanent Supportive Housing

This cluster randomized clinical trial investigates the efficacy of a brief coaching intervention to increase voluntary adoption of a smoke-free home among residents of permanent supportive housing wh...

jamanetwork.com

Find recent CTCRE research in one place. Visit our publications page to explore the latest work from CTCRE faculty, fellows, and collaborators on a wide range of tobacco control topics. tobacco.ucsf.edu/recentpublic...

The UCSF Industry Documents Library, a longstanding CTCRE collaborator, has just released a new documents archive focusing on firearms. Read the PR here: www.ucsf.edu/news/2026/08...

UCSF Launches First Public Archive of Firearm Industry Records

UCSF is to become of the repository of a new class of industry documents due to a settlement in the state of Minnesota.

ucsf.edu

The latest issue of the CTCRE Briefing is now available. Read the newsletter here: conta.cc/4wiH5nd

A new CTCRE-affiliated paper was just published in JAMA Network Open: jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Contingency Management for Smoking Cessation Among Adults Experiencing Homelessness

This pilot randomized clinical trial evaluates the efficacy of escalating incentives to quit smoking contingent on increasing abstinence compared with fixed incentives for attendance not contingent on...

jamanetwork.com

A paper by CTCRE Fellow Vuong Do, PhD, CTCRE faculty Nhung Nguyen, PhD, PharmD, and CTCRE Director Pam Ling, MD, MPH, was just published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. Read the paper here: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Cannabis Use Among Veterans Versus Non-Veterans in the USA, 2016–2023: A Cross-Sectional Analysis - Journal of General Internal Medicine

Background Veterans have a unique health profile and risk for substance use, but few studies compare cannabis use patterns among US military Veterans and non-veteran civilians. Objective To examine di...

link.springer.com

We are thrilled to welcome four new postdoctoral fellows to the CTCRE fellowship this academic year. Each fellow brings unique expertise, fresh perspectives, and a deep commitment to careers in tobacco control research.

CTCRE Director Pam Ling, MD, MPH, is featured in the UCSF article “FDA Clears Zyn: Will Nicotine Pouches Hook a New Generation?” In it, she discusses the health risks of nicotine pouches and the concerns of allowing Zyn to be marketed as less harmful than cigarettes. www.ucsf.edu/news/2026/05...

FDA Clears Zyn: Will Nicotine Pouches Hook a New Generation?

UCSF’s Dr. Pamela Ling explains why the FDA’s Zyn ruling risks a new generation of nicotine addiction, despite being marketed as a safer cigarette alternative.

ucsf.edu

On June 30 Pam Ling, MD, MPH, CTCRE Director, spoke with NBC News about the FDA authorization that allows Philip Morris International to start marketing 20 ZYN nicotine pouch products with a risk modification claim. Read the story here: www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

Some ZYN nicotine pouches can be sold as safer than cigarettes, FDA says

Twenty flavored ZYN products are included in the authorization, which says the pouches put users at lower risk for several health problems compared to smoking.

nbcnews.com

This month, we congratulate Divine Darlington Logo, PhD, as he concludes his time at CTCRE as a Postdoctoral Scholar. During his two years with the center, Dr. Logo advanced work on smoking cessation strategies, primary care integration in Ghana, and tobacco industry interference.

Pam Ling, MD, MPH, CTCRE Director, is a co-author of a new article published in Nature Medicine this week titled “Long-term health risks of e-cigarettes after smoking cessation.” Read here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Long-term health risks of e-cigarettes after smoking cessation - Nature Medicine

Real‑world evidence from a nationwide cohort suggests that using electronic cigarettes after smoking cessation may attenuate the benefits of quitting in reducing lung cancer risk and mortality; more s...

nature.com

A new CTCRE-affiliated special communication was just published in Tobacco Control. It discusses a 2020 California state law prohibiting flavored tobacco sales. Read now: tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/earl...

California’s prohibition of flavoured tobacco sales and the tobacco industry’s attempts to evade it

The tobacco industry has aggressively marketed menthol tobacco products because they are less harsh and more appealing to youth and other non-users. US law prohibits most flavours in tobacco products ...

tobaccocontrol.bmj.com

Last week, Pam Ling, MD, MPH, Director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, was a guest on Forum, KQED’s radio program that tells stories of who we are and where we live. Listen to the episode here: www.kqed.org/forum/201010...

Cigarettes Are Cool Again and Health Advocates are Worried | KQED

We explore the return of smoking's coolness, and how the glamorization of cigarettes complicates the public health conversation around nicotine.

kqed.org

The Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education has just published a special edition newsletter highlighting how UCSF tobacco programs are advancing education across research, provider training, clinical care, and community partnerships. Read now: conta.cc/3Qw6Bpa

UCSF Tobacco Dispatch Special Edition: Advancing Education Across Research, Training, and Care

Email from The Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education View as Webpage This special edition bulletin highlights how UCSF tobacco programs are advancing education across research, provider tr

conta.cc

A paper by former Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education Fellow Dian Gu was just published in Substance Use and Misuse. Read the paper here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/...

Money Helps: Financial Incentives for Smoking Cessation Among People Experiencing Homelessness

Over 70% of people experiencing homelessness report current cigarette smoking. We conducted a randomized controlled trial of an extended (6-month) contingency management (CM) intervention for smoki...

tandfonline.com

"Tobacco use and associated factors among adults in Ghana: evidence from the 2022 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey,” a paper by Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education Fellow Divine Darlington Logo, was just published in BMJ Open. Read here: bmjopen.bmj.com/content/16/6...

Yesterday Pam Ling, MD, MPH, Director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, was interviewed for a story on Spectrum News. Watch the segment here: spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/charlotte...

'Probably a political decision': Concerns raised over FDA’s vaping shift

E-cigarette use among young people has declined, but public health experts worry that trend may be reversed.

spectrumlocalnews.com

A practice note by Mark Hawes, PhD, MSW, CTCRE Postdoctoral Scholar and Maya Vijayaraghavan, MD, MAS, CTCRE Fellowship Co-Director was just published in Health Promotion Practice. Read now: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Implementing Trauma-Informed Training for Tobacco Use for Health Care Professionals in Two California Counties - Mark R. Hawes, Jessica Safier, Brian Clark, Maria Pamatmat, Catherine Bonniot, Christin...

Tobacco use remains a leading cause of preventable death in the United States, and smoking is disproportionately concentrated among individuals who have experie...

journals.sagepub.com

Individual talks from the 2026 It's About a Billion Lives symposium are now available online. Watch Jason Satterfield’s talk here: ucsf.app.box.com/file/2221953...

Individual talks from the 2026 It's About a Billion Lives symposium are now available online. Watch Mark Hawes’s talk here: ucsf.app.box.com/file/2221953...

A research article by Prakash Kodali, PhD, MPhil, MPH, a Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education 2025 Visiting Scholar, and Maya Vijayaraghavan, MD, MAS, CTCRE Fellowship Co-Director, was just published in PLOS One. Read here: journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

Receipt of healthcare provider advice to quit tobacco use among Indian men

Introduction Healthcare provider (HCP) advice to quit smoking is an essential component of smoking cessation interventions. The National Family Health Survey (NFHS) is a periodic health survey of the ...

journals.plos.org

Pamela M. Ling, MD, MPH, CTCRE Director has published a new comment in Nature Human Behaviour that examines the growing evidence on the negative health and public health impacts of e-cigarettes. Read the comment here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

E-cigarettes increase harm and should be discouraged - Nature Human Behaviour

Ever since electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) were first marketed in 2004, they have been promoted as ‘tobacco harm reduction’ on the basis of the assumption that they are a less toxic way for smoke...

nature.com

A full recording of this year's It's About a Billion Lives symposium is now available on the CTCRE website. Thank you to our co-hosts, speakers, scholars, and all who attended. Access the symposium recording here: ucsf.app.box.com/file/2221952...

Pam Ling, MD, MPH, CTCRE Director, and Deanna Halliday, PhD, CTCRE Fellow, were featured in a HuffPost article this week. Read the article here: www.huffpost.com/entry/gen-z-...

Experts Explain Why Gen Z Is Smoking Again — And It Makes So Much Sense

Gen Z actors and pop stars are increasingly unafraid of getting papped with a Parliament.

huffpost.com

CTCRE has launched a newsletter! Our first edition is out now — featuring fellow updates, recent publications & upcoming events. Check it out here: conta.cc/3OZX0ps

Let's talk #ecigs March 2026 podcast @jhb19.bsky.social & Nicola Lindson @oxprimarycare.bsky.social interview Pam Ling @ctcre-ucsf.bsky.social re #quitvaping social media support study in 13-21s @oxfordtag.bsky.social Thanks @cancerresearchuk.org Spotify & iTunes podcasts.ox.ac.uk/series/lets-...

The Center to End Corporate Harm has just published a new paper in the New England Journal of Medicine. Pamela Ling, MD, MPH sits on the steering committee for the Center to End Corporate Harm. Access the paper here: www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....