International Tobacco and Health Research
and Capacity Building Program (TOBAC)

Fogarty International Center

Xingzhu Liu, M.D., Ph.D.
Division of International Training and Research
Building 31, Room B2C39
31 Center Drive, MSC 2220
Bethesda, MD 20892-2220
Telephone: (301) 496-1653
Fax: (301) 402-0779

National Cancer Institute

Michele Bloch, M.D., Ph.D.
Tobacco Control Research Branch
Behavioral Research Program
Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences
6130 Executive Plaza Blvd., Room 4032
Bethesda, MD 20892
Phone: (301) 496-8584
Fax: (301) 496-8675

Dr. Kristie Foley, of Wake Forest University Health Sciences will collaborate with scientists in Hungary to create institutional capacity in tobacco research; to conduct mentored research that has the potential to significantly reduce tobacco use at the local and national level; and to build individual capacity among Hungarian and U.S. research partners through formal in-country training and mentored research projects.

Dr. Teh-Wei Hu, of Public Health Institute (California) will collaborate with scientists in China and Indonesia to build the knowledge base for tobacco control policies, including development of tobacco tax policy alternatives, a crop substitution program for tobacco farmers, smoke-free environments in hospitals, a social marketing tobacco control campaign focused on maternal and child health, and monitoring tobacco industry transition under the FCTC.

Dr. Mark Nichter, of University of Arizona will collaborate with scientists in India and Indonesia to increase knowledge about the risks of tobacco use and the importance of cessation through dissemination of a model tobacco education curriculum for medical schools in India and Indonesia; to recruit and train tobacco researchers concurrently with introducing tobacco education in nine medical schools in each country; and to involve partner medical schools in tobacco cessation-related community-based research pilot studies.

Dr. Eliseo Perez-Stable, of University of California San Francisco will collaborate with scientists in Argentina to develop an intervention to prevent tobacco use among diverse youth in Northwest Argentina; to implement and evaluate a system-based smoking cessation intervention using a randomized trial design among physicians to promote smoking abstinence and quit attempts in their patients who smoke; and to develop policy interventions to promote smoke free indoor space and regulation of tobacco products advertising by continuing to analyze the tobacco industry documents on Argentina.

Dr. Isabel Scarinci, of University of Alabama at Birmingham will collaborate with Brazilian scientists to develop a Network for Tobacco Control among Women in Parana, Brazil in order to establish community and institutional capacity to promote gender-relevant tobacco control efforts among Brazilian women through community-based participatory research and training. The goals of the "Network" are to reduce tobacco use and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke among Brazilian women, and to develop a cadre of well trained researchers in tobacco control.

Dr. Anthony So, of Duke University will collaborate with scientists from several countries in Southeast to conduct research that examines the political economy of tobacco control and its impact on health in Southeast Asia; to cultivate, train and resource a group of country-level researchers; to support studies that situate the impact of tobacco into the larger context of sustainable development; and to build capacity and networking of researchers in Southeast Asia to enable a strong, local evidence base for tobacco control and to encourage effective translation of research into policy.