Deborah Ossip Recognized for Outstanding Research on Nicotine & Tobacco

The Society for Research on Nicotine & Tobacco (SRNT) has named Deborah J. Ossip, Ph.D., co-director of the Center for Leading Innovation and Collaboration and professor of Public Health and at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), as one of its 2017 Fellows. The SRNT Fellows Program, which was started in 2016, recognizes society members who have made outstanding contributions to nicotine and tobacco research and have been consistently and actively engaged in the SRNT.

Ossip, who is the immediate past president of the SRNT, has been helping people quit using tobacco through several decades of behavioral research and community outreach. She started studying tobacco use and cessation in 1980, conducted one of the original two trials that led to the national Quitline infrastructure that includes the NYS Smokers' Quitline (1-866-NY-Quits), and directs the Smoking Research Program at URMC.

In both domestic and global projects, Ossip has focused on translating basic science findings to practical use in population health. She has studied community partnered interventions for smoking cessation and secondhand smoke reduction in disadvantaged communities in the Dominican Republic and is currently examining secondhand smoke exposure of pregnant women across three Latin American and Caribbean countries.

Ossip has also contributed to recent national clinical trials using pediatric practice interventions to promote smoke-free homes and vehicles by helping parents quit smoking. She is currently working on a clinical trial of safe sleep, infant feeding, tobacco cessation and secondhand smoke reduction in low income pregnant women.

The SRNT is the premier international society supporting nicotine and tobacco research across many disciplines. Under Ossip’s direction, the society grew to over 1,200 members from 40 countries, with over 80 percent involved in at least one of SRNT’s eight professional development networks that range in topic from basic science to global health.

During her presidency, Ossip focused on fostering collaboration across networks, held several transdisciplinary symposia, and created engaging visualizations of SRNT deliverables. Now, she brings some of that wisdom and experience to her new role as co-director of the Center for Leading Innovation and Collaboration at the UR CTSI.  SRNT infrastructure, processes, and lessons learned have all been helpful in building the new center.

Michael Hazard | 12/15/2017

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