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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Bob Vollinger, MSPH, Tobacco Control Research Branch, National Cancer Institute, 6130 Executive Boulevard, MSC 7337, Executive Plaza North, Room 4030, Bethesda, MD 20892-7337, 301-496-0275, bob.vollinger@nih.gov

The NIH State-of-the-Science Conferences are part of an independent, scientifically rigorous Consensus Development Program. NIH's process stipulates that “if a suggested topic does not have an adequately defined and available base of scientific information” the conference will be designated as a State-of-the-Science Conference rather than a Consensus Development Conference. The primary goal of a State-of-the-Science Conference is to summarize the evidence and recommend directions for further research while Consensus Development Conferences more typically result in the panel providing clinical direction In June 2006, NIH conducted a “State-of-the-Science on Tobacco Use: Prevention, Cessation and Control” to review the existing evidence base addressing 6 specific questions. Some might question this designation because tobacco is easily the most studied risk factor in medical history and a solid evidence base for tobacco control policies already exists, but in this case the focus of the conference is broader than simply providing clinical guidance regarding smoking cessation. This session will expand upon the policy aspects of the conference, including the relevant expert presentations, and the related aspects of the panel's report. Importantly, the session will also include discussion of key tobacco policy research topics that were not addressed by this conference and a facilitated discussion of why some critical topics were not included on the conference agenda. The purpose of this session is to extrapolate on this pivotal NIH meeting and address other tobacco policy research issues that have the greatest potential for improving the public's health and saving lives.

Learning Objectives: