Translating research to policy: Lessons learned by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and implications for future tobacco control

This session will provide lessons learned from 17 years of strategic tobacco control policy research funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). Presenters will describe the development of tobacco policy research in the US, challenges and accomplishments, and the larger communications and advocacy strategies needed to assure that research results were actively translated into policy and practice. The focus will be on the aims and methods of RWJF's Tobacco Policy Research and Evaluation Program, and successor Substance Abuse Policy Research Program and ways in which the challenges, lessons learned, results and products of these programs might be useful for researchers, funders, and advocates seeking to make further progress on policy. The first presentation will summarize the development of the two policy research programs as a strategy for building the field of tobacco policy research to inform effective tobacco control policy. The second presentation will summarize the critical role of communications in building a useful tobacco policy research field, promoting the funding opportunities available through SAPRP, and finally in communicating the results of SAPRP-funded research to key policy and other audiences. The third presentation will examine the contributions of the Center for Tobacco-Free Kids, a center for policy and media advocacy and resource center developed by a consortium of funders to enhance tobacco control in the US. The discussant will comment on the lessons learned from almost 20 years of tobacco policy research and research funding for the future of tobacco control.