GSU's Public Health School Gets $19 Million Grant

From Staff Reports

DOWNTOWN — Georgia State University’s School of Public Health and its partners will receive $19 million over a five-year period from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health to establish one of 14 Tobacco Centers of Regulatory Science. 

Georgia State and its partners, which include the University of Illinois at Chicago and RTI International, will focus on a particularly important and often overlooked aspect of regulatory science: the understanding of human decision-making around the use of tobacco.

Led by Michael P. Eriksen, dean of the School of Public Health and lead author of the “Tobacco Atlas,” the Georgia State TCORS will conduct three research projects to examine human economic behavior, consumer reaction to tobacco marketing and individual perception of risk of using novel tobacco products.

“Working with our colleagues on campus, our partners at UIC led by Frank Chaloupka and RTI led by Matthew Farrelly, as well as other TCORS across the country, our research will provide the kind of practical insight FDA and NIH policymakers need to inform their regulatory decisions,” Eriksen said in a statement.

“This type of collaboration is absolutely essential to winning the ongoing battle against tobacco.” 

Tobacco continues to be the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the United States.

A first-of-its-kind regulatory science tobacco program, TCORS seeks to generate research to inform the regulation of tobacco products to protect public health. Using funds from FDA, TCORS will be coordinated by NIH’s Office of Disease Prevention and administered by three NIH institutes — the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

“For the first time, under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, the federal government, through the FDA Center for Tobacco Products, is able to bring science-based regulation to the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of tobacco products,” said FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg.

“The FDA is committed to a science-based approach that addresses the complex public health issues raised by tobacco product regulation.” 

The agency is establishing science and research programs to increase understanding of the risks associated with tobacco use. The TCORS program brings together investigators from across the country to aid in the development and evaluation of tobacco product regulations. Each TCORS application identified a targeted research goal.

Taken together, the TCORS sites will increase knowledge across the spectrum of basic and applied research on tobacco and addiction. “We are thrilled to have this tremendous opportunity to do more of what Georgia State does best—research that changes people’s lives,” said Georgia State President Mark Becker.

The TCORS program provides young investigators with training opportunities to ensure the development of the next generation of tobacco regulatory scientists. Georgia State researchers from the School of Public Health and the Department of Communication in the College of Arts and Sciences, as well as a number of pre- and post-doctoral fellows will collaborate on the grant. There will also be opportunities for graduate students and visiting faculty members at the Georgia State TCORS.

Prior to the FDA and NIH award, the largest grant received by Georgia State was about $15 million from the National Science Foundation for the Center for Behavioral Neuroscience in 1999.

Composed of scientists with expertise in fields including epidemiology, behavior, biology, medicine, economics, chemistry, toxicology, addictions, public health, communications and marketing, the TCORS program is the centerpiece of the FDA/NIH collaboration to foster research relevant to tobacco regulatory science.