Rafael Meza
University of Michigan, MI·Public Health & Epidemiology
Flavors make tobacco products more appealing, and regulators are weighing limits on flavored products. Policymakers lack detailed estimates of how such rules would change tobacco use and health across different groups of Americans.
- Fields
Public Health & Epidemiology
Mathematics & Statistics
Social Science
- Topics
tobacco control
tobacco regulation
flavor restrictions
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Aug 2028
What they work on
- Characterize patterns of cigarette, cigar and electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) use across US population groups defined by sex, age and education level.
- Develop simulation models of cigarette, cigar and ENDS use for key demographic groups, extending existing tobacco models to include cigar smoking.
- Estimate how flavor restrictions would change use of cigarettes, cigars and ENDS, using evidence from quasi-experimental studies, systematic reviews and expert consultations.
- Project the impact of flavor restrictions on US tobacco product use and later mortality, including differences across population groups.
More about the research
Existing simulation models cover cigarette smoking, and some now include electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), such as e-cigarettes. Cigar smoking had not yet been included in such models.
Why it matters
Regulators considering bans on flavored cigarettes, cigars and e-cigarettes need evidence on what those rules would do. Simulation projections of product use and deaths, broken down by sex, age and education, could inform FDA tobacco policy. They could also show whether specific population groups would gain or lose the most. The models may later be used to evaluate other tobacco regulations.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Meghan Morean
Yale University, CT·Public Health & Epidemiology
Refine an ENDS nicotine concentration label so its strength categories are anchored to cigarette nicotine content, using expert feedback and focus groups.
Alex Liber
University of Michigan, MI·Public Health & Epidemiology
Analyze how tobacco regulatory policies perform once implemented, using detailed comparative case studies and policy surveillance that tracks the laws in force across jurisdictions.
Michael Kotlyar
University of Minnesota, MN·Public Health & Epidemiology
Test whether people who smoke menthol cigarettes take up nicotine pouches more than medicinal nicotine, using a randomized 6-week study of 252 participants in an experimental marketplace.
The school
University of Michigan: 124 labs on PI Pages, $2.1B a year on research, 963 research doctorates a year.
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