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M Cummings, PhD, MPH
Roswell Park Cancer Institute

The goal of this TTURC is to expand the science base for policy approaches for controlling tobacco by fostering transdisciplinary research that can lead to rigorous evaluation and a more fully developed and empirically based model of how and why policies influence tobacco related behaviors. The recently adopted Framework Convention on Tobacco Control has set the stage for countries to implement a comprehensive set of tobacco control policies over the next few years. These policies include: more prominent pack warnings, advertising bans, limits on secondhand smoke exposure, product regulation, tobacco taxes, and education and treatment programs. This TTURC expands upon our ongoing International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Survey (ITCPES), a longitudinal study of smokers in the US, Canada, UK, and Australia. There are three inter-related Projects plus Developmental Research and Career Development Cores. Each of our studies uses multiple country controls, longitudinal designs, and pre-specified, theory-driven mediational models that allow us to test hypotheses about anticipated policy effects. Project 1 adds additional follow-up survey waves to our ongoing 4-country cohort study of 8,300 adult smokers timed to coincide with implementation of tobacco control policies over the next 5 years. Project 2 includes an expansion of our 4-country cohort study to Thailand and Malaysia, to test if the same policies effective in developed countries can transfer to developing countries. Project 3 involves collaboration with scientists at CDC’s Tobacco Analysis Laboratory to assess how cigarette design and smoke chemistries change in relationship to policies and how product modifications alter smokers’ perceptions, behaviors, and exposures. This TTURC lays a foundation for further science-based efforts that can be duplicated and carried on in other countries.