Despite significant progress in reducing the prevalence of smoking in the United States, smoking continues to represent a major threat to public health. In addition, decreases in smoking have not been consistent across the population. Marked disparities exist, with smoking prevalence continuing to remain high among certain sub-populations. The Tobacco Control Research Branch supports research on the etiology of tobacco use and a broad range of behavioral and pharmacological interventions.
Funding Opportunities
View all Tobacco Control Funding Opportunities.
Projects
The Smokefree.gov Initiative (SFGI) provides smokers who want to quit with free, evidence-based smoking cessation information and on-demand support. SFGI includes 6 mobile-optimized websites, 9 SMS text programs, 2 smartphone apps, and 6 social media platforms, available in English and Spanish. Special programs exist for women, teens, veterans, and people older than age 60.
In 2017, NCI launched the Cancer Center Cessation Initiative (C3I), as part of the NCI Cancer Moonshot℠ program. The long-term goal of C3I is to help cancer centers build and implement sustainable tobacco cessation treatment programs to routinely address tobacco cessation with cancer patients. This initiative includes refining electronic medical records and clinical workflows to overcome barriers in providing tobacco cessation treatment services.
The focus of the Smoking Cessation at Lung Examination (SCALE) Collaboration is to develop and test smoking cessation approaches delivered within the context of lung cancer screening. The SCALE Collaboration includes seven extramural research grants funded by the NCI and one funded by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
The Collaborative Research on Addiction at NIH (CRAN) is a collaboration among the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), and NCI that is designed to integrate resources and expertise to meet public health needs by broadening the participating institutes’ research focus to better address poly- or multi-substance use, abuse, and addiction.
Resources
Smoking Cessation: A Report of the Surgeon General—Executive Summary (PDF, 450 KB), January 2020.
National Institutes of Health State-of-the-Science Statement on Tobacco Use (PDF, 2.3 MB), special issue in the American Journal of Preventive Health Medicine, December 2007
PHS Clinical Practice Guideline - Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence, 2008 Update (PDF), May 2008
A comprehensive document, this guideline contains evidence-based strategies and recommendations designed to assist clinicians, tobacco dependence treatment specialists, and others in delivering and supporting effective treatments for tobacco use and dependence.
Quitting Smoking Is Easier With Help 
, supplement published by Tobacco Control, December 2007
NCI Evidence-Based Cancer Control Programs
This searchable database of evidence-based cancer control programs provides program planners and public health practitioners easy and immediate access to programs tested in a research study, publication(s) of the study findings, and program materials used with a particular study population in a specific setting. This resource includes a list of tobacco control evidence-based programs.
Contacts
