Tobacco Policy

The Tobacco Policy Research Program at East Tennessee State University conducts studies on tobacco use and policy.

Composed of a multidisciplinary team of public health professionals, the research program integrates causal and intervention-based approaches to reduce tobacco use and tobacco-attributable diseases at the domestic and international levels.

Among the causal approaches, the research program examines the prevalence of tobacco use at the local/community, national and international levels, and among several population sub-groups, including children, adolescents and young adults. In addition, the program incorporates social behavioral theories and systems networks principles to understand tobacco use behavior. On the intervention front, the program seeks to combat tobacco use through policy analysis and advocacy.

With tobacco being a transnational issue, the program relies upon both individual and population- based approaches to investigate the development, implementation and evaluation of tobacco control policies and programs. It employs theoretical frameworks and advanced statistical modeling to explore issues in tobacco control, including the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and investigates tobacco companies' role in policymaking, implementation and evaluation.