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Dr. Deirdre Lawrence, an epidemiologist in the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS), joined the Tobacco Control Research Branch in October 2007, to lead international tobacco control research initiatives, and serve as co-project officer for the Tobacco Research Network on Disparities (TReND). As the DCCPS liaison she coordinates the Divisions’ international activities, leads the International Research Interest Group and serves on the U.S. Steering Committee for the US-Japan Cooperative Cancer Research Program.
As a Mansfield Fellow (2005-2007) she developed proficiency in the Japanese language and served as a source of scientific knowledge for health policy planning and decision-making in several Government of Japan offices. Before her Mansfield Fellowship experience, she worked as epidemiologist in the Division’s Risk Factor Monitoring and Methods Branch where she led a project to develop and evaluate Spanish, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese versions of the Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey (TUS-CPS). Her responsibilities included planning, initiating, coordinating, and conducting research related to the surveillance of tobacco use, particularly among groups that experience health disparities.
Originally from Atlanta, GA, Dr. Lawrence earned a B.S., magna cum laude in biology from Spelman College (1989) and a Ph.D. in toxicology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1997). Her Ph.D. thesis research involved the development of a novel way to quantify human DNA modifications caused by exposure to benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), a cancer-causing compound found in cigarette smoke. Dr. Lawrence made the transition from the laboratory to population-oriented science, by earning an M.P.H. from Harvard University (1998), with a concentration in quantitative methods. During her postdoctoral training in the NCI Cancer Prevention Fellowship (1997-2000), she performed analyses of data from epidemiological studies on alcohol, smoking and smoking cessation patterns in ethnic minority communities.
Dr. Lawrence has served as a member of the NCI Special Studies Institutional Review Board (IRB), reviewed and contributed to journal articles, technical reports and conference planning activities related to improving tobacco surveillance and reducing cancer-related health disparities.
Select Publications and Presentations:
Backinger CL, Lawrence D, Swan J, Winn DM, Breen N, Hartman A, Grana R, Tran D , Farrell S. (2008). Using the National Health Interview Survey to understand and address the impact of tobacco in the United States: past perspectives and future considerations. Epidemiologic Perspectives & Innovations 5:8.
Willis G, Lawrence D, Hartman A, Kudela MS, Levin K, Forsyth B. (2008). Translation of a Tobacco Survey to Spanish and Asian Languages: The Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey. Nicotine & Tobacco Research 10(6):1075-1084.
Backinger CL, Fagan P, O'Connell ME, Grana R, Lawrence D, Bishop JA, Gibson JT. (2008). Use of other tobacco products among U.S. adult cigarette smokers: Prevalence, trends and correlates. Addictive Behaviors 33(3):472-89.
Fagan P, Shavers V, Lawrence D, Gibson J, O'Connell M. (2007). Employment Characteristics and Socioeconomic Factors Associated with Disparities in Smoking Abstinence and Former Smoking Among U.S. Workers. Journal of the Health Care for the Poor and Underserved 18 (4A):52-72.
Fagan P, Moolchan ET, Lawrence D, Fernander A, Ponder PK. (2007). Identifying health disparities across the tobacco continuum. Addiction 102 (s2):5-29.
Forsyth B, Levin K, Kudela M, Lawrence D, and Willis G. (2007). Methods for translating an English-language survey questionnaire on tobacco use into Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, and Vietnamese. Field Method, 19, 264-283.
Lawrence D, Fagan P, Backinger C, Gibson JT, Hartman A. (2007). Cigarette smoking patterns among young adults, ages 18 24, in the US, 1998-1999. Nicotine and Tobacco Research 9(6):687-697.
Fagan P, Shavers V, Lawrence D, Gibson JT, Ponder P. 9(2007). Cigarette smoking and quitting behaviors among unemployed adults in the United States. Nicotine Tobacco Research 9(2):241-8.
Shavers VL, Fagan P, Lawrence D, McCaskill-Stevens W, McDonald P, Browne D, McLinden D, Christian M, Trimble. (2005). Barriers to Racial/Ethnic Minority Application and competition for NIH research funding. Journal of the National Medical Association 97(8):1063-77.
Shavers VL, Lawrence D, Fagan P, Gibson JT. (2005). Racial/ethnic variation in cigarette smoking among the civilian US population by occupation and industry, TUS-CPS 1998 1999. Preventive Medicine 41(2):597-606.
Hatsukami DK, Giovino GA, Eissenberg T, Clark PI, Lawrence D, Leischow S. (2005). Methods to assess potential reduced exposure products. Nicotine Tobacco Research 7(6):827-44.
Fagan P, King G, Lawrence D, Marable S, Grana R. (2004) Eliminating tobacco related health disparities: Directions for future research. American Journal of Public Health 94:211-217.
Lawrence D, Graber J, Mills SL, Meissner HI, Warnecke R. (2003). Smoking cessation interventions in US racial/ethnic minority populations: an assessment of the literature. Preventive Medicine 36(2):204 16.
Leischow SJ, Ranger-Moore J, and Lawrence D. (2000) Addressing social and cultural disparities in tobacco use. Addictive Behaviors 25(6): 821-831.
Jennings Dozier K and Lawrence D. (2000). Sociodemographic predictors of adherence to annual cervical cancer screening in minority women. Cancer Nursing 23(5):350 6; quiz 357 8.
Lawrence DM. (1997). DNA-adducts as molecular biomarkers of exposure to benzo(a)pyrene. Doctoral dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MD 02139.
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