MeTRIC
The DC Metro Tobacco Research and Instruction Consortium (MeTRIC) is a partnership of DC-based experts in tobacco control. Researchers from three founding institutions, The George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, the Schroeder Institute for Tobacco Research and Policy Studies at Truth Initiative , and Georgetown University are at the core of the consortium. These institutions are joined by a variety of organizational and community partners. Their common mission is to tackle the tobacco problem in the DC metro area through innovative interdisciplinary research.
Member Agreement
The guiding premise of the Metro DC Tobacco Research and Instruction Consortium (MeTRIC) is that the differential burden of tobacco-related disease facing minorities and other underserved populations is attributable to factors that can be prevented or treated. The consortium hinges on a multidisciplinary, multi-level scientific framework to intervene with factors that contribute to DC’s health disparities. Simply put, MeTRIC is a group of researchers, community members, and students from local institutions working collaboratively to target tobacco control issues within the DC metro area with a specific focus on underserved populations affected disproportionately by tobacco. MeTRIC has a unique opportunity to conduct research that will have real-life impact on the health and well-being of metro Washington DC residents and their communities.
If you are interested in becoming a MeTRIC member, please download and review the appropriate Member Agreement below (Scientist, Community, or Student version). Then enter your name, institution, position, and email address in the appropriate form. By submitting this form, you agree to the language in the Member Agreement, and your membership is active at the date of submission. Please note MeTRIC leadership may request a copy of your current CV. You will be added to the MeTRIC listserv upon submitting a member agreement.
Researcher Member
Student Member
Community Member
Members
Members from Academic or Research Institutions
Kimberly Horn, EdD, George Washington University School of Public Health
Lorien Abroms, PhD, George Washington University School of Public Health
Leighton Ku, PhD, George Washington University School of Public Health
Sean Cleary, PhD, George Washington University School of Public Health
Monique Turner, PhD, George Washington University School of Public Health
W. Douglas Evans, Ph.D., George Washington University School of Public Health
Janet Phoenix, MD, MPH, George Washington University School of Public Health
Usha Murugesan, George Washington University School of Public Health
Debra Bernat, George Washington University School of Public Health
Mandi Pratt-Chapman, George Washington University Cancer Center
Ray Niaura, PhD, Schroeder Institute, Truth Initiative
Andrea Villanti, PhD, Schroeder Institute, Truth Initiative
Andrew Anesetti-Rothermel, PhD, Schroeder Institute, Truth Initiative
Amanda Graham, PhD, Schroeder Institute, Truth Initiative
Shari Feirman, PhD, Schroeder Institute, Truth Initiative
Shyanika Rose, PhD, Schroeder Institute, Truth Initiative
Amy Cohn, PhD, Schroeder Institute, Truth Initiative
Jennifer Pearson, PhD, MPH, Schroeder Institute, Truth Initiative
Sabrina Smiley, PhD, Schroeder Institute, Truth Initiative
Jessica Elf, PhD, Schroeder Institute, Truth Initiative
Jennifer Cantrell, DrPH, MPA, Truth Initiative
Michael Amato, PhD, Schroeder Institute, Truth Initiative
Eric Lindblom, JD, O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Georgetown University Law Center
Katherine Shats, LL.B, LL.M, O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Georgetown University Law Center
Ana Ayala, JD, LL.M, O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Georgetown University Law Center
Kenneth Tercyak, PhD, Georgetown University
Kathryn Taylor, PhD, Georgetown University
Darren Mays, PhD, Georgetown University
David Levy, PhD, Georgetown University
Cassandra Stanton, PhD, Georgetown University
Community Members
Charles Debnam, BA, CHES, CTTS, CAC, Community Wellness Alliance; Chair, DC Tobacco Free Coalition
Heather Kusnetz, PhD
Azima Nharimann, George Washington University
Student Members
Maliha Ali, MBBS, DrPH(c), George Washington University School of Public Health
Diane Martinez, DrPH(c), George Washington University School of Public Health
Tiffany Gray, DrPH(c), George Washington University School of Public Health
Laurel Curry, MPH, George Washington University School of Public Health
Jennifer Schindler-Ruwisch, MPH, George Washington University School of Public Health
Ollie Ganz, MPH, Truth Initiative, George Washington University School of Public Health
Vinu Ilakkuvan, MPH, Truth Initiative, George Washington University School of Public Health
Joanne D'Silva, University of Maryland
Rohit Bangera, American University
Bernadette Guzman Antoon, PhD(c), University of Louisville
Elizabeth Seaman, PhD(c), University of Maryland
Andrea Johnson, George Washington University School of Public Health
Lindsey Siff, George Washington University
Events
Past events:
2016 Member Retreat
March 24th, 2016
9am to 3pm
Milken Institute School of Public Health
E-Cigarette Forum held May 6, 2015
May 6 | 10 am - 12 pm 950 New Hampshire Ave., NW, First Floor Auditorium
Over the past few years, the use of e-cigarettes has increased rapidly in the US, with some analysts suggesting that e-cigarette sales could surpass sales of traditional cigarettes in the near future. This rapid rise has stimulated a vigorous debate in the tobacco control community over the potential public health impact of these products and how best to regulate them. On Wednesday, May 6 at 10:00 am, the GW Office of the Vice President for Research and ICF International gathered key experts from across the government and private sectors to discuss a spectrum of public health challenges related to e-cigarette use. The panel occurred at the Milken Institute School of Public Health and was free to attend in person or online. For a full list of the panelists and a recording of the live-stream of this event, please visit: http://www.icfi.com/markets/health/campaigns/gw-icf-research-and-evaluation-forum#tab-2-related-insights
Panelists and associated video links:
1) Dr. Jennie Pearson: http://www.icfi.com/insights/video-and-podcasts/2015/measuring-ecigarette-use
2) Dr. Brian King: http://www.icfi.com/insights/video-and-podcasts/2015/electronic-nicotine-delivery-system-surveillance-in-us
3) Dr. Andrea Villanti: http://www.icfi.com/insights/video-and-podcasts/2015/uptake-and-trajectories-ecigarette-use
4) Dr. Carolyn Dresler: http://www.icfi.com/insights/video-and-podcasts/2015/regulatory-authority-tobacco-control-act
5) Panel Discussion: http://www.icfi.com/insights/video-and-podcasts/2015/rise-in-ecigarette-use
Leadership
MeTRIC Director
Kimberly Horn, EdD, George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health
Co-Director
Kenneth Tercyak, PhD, Georgetown University
Co-Director
Ray Niaura, Schroeder Institute for Tobacco Research and Policy Studies at Truth Initiative
Co-Director
Lorien Abroms, George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health
Collaborative Opportunities
Five New MeTRIC Projects Will Tackle High DC Smoking Rates
The DC Metro Tobacco Research and Instruction Consortium (MeTRIC) recently announced funding of five innovative research projects that promise to take aim at tobacco-related inequities that affect the District of Columbia.
“The awards put talent, resources, and expertise together in the form of research teams that will develop and deploy tobacco-control research in the District of Columbia,” says Kimberly Horn, EdD, Metric Director and Associate Dean of Research at Milken Institute SPH. “Our goal is conduct research that aligns with DC health priorities, engages the community, and changes practice or policy quickly in order to reduce high smoking and tobacco-use rates in DC neighborhoods.”
The DC Metro Tobacco Research and Instruction Consortium (MeTRIC) is a partnership of DC-based scientists and other experts in tobacco control. Researchers from three founding institutions, The Milken Institute School of Public Health, the Schroeder Institute for Tobacco Research and Policy Studies/Truth Initiative, and Georgetown University, are at the core of the consortium.
MeTRIC initiated this first-of-a-kind pilot grant program to jump start innovative team science across its members. The pilot program, funded through an endowment by Milken Institute SPH, brings together teams of scientists from the three groups to find solutions to DC’s tobacco problem, especially for its most vulnerable populations.
There are five winning projects all targeting the DC Metro Area. The Milken Institute SPH gave each project an award of $30,000 to develop each study over the next year. The awards go to:
- Eric Lindblom, Senior Scholar at the O’Neill Institute for National & Global Health Law at Georgetown University and Leighton Ku from Milken Institute SPH. Lindblom and Ku will examine the risks and consequences of the labeling for “little cigars” or “filtered cigars” under existing federal, DC, and local definitions.
- Lorien Abroms, Co-Director of MeTRIC and Associate Professor at Milken Institute SPH. Abroms and her colleagues will study new ways of using mobile phones in health systems to reach smokers who want to quit.
- Amy Cohn, Research Investigator at the Schroeder Institute for Tobacco Research and Policy Studies and Doug Evans from Milken Institute SPH. Their project will examine health behavior among young adults’ who use menthol cigarettes.
- Kenneth Tercyak, Associate Professor & Director of Behavioral Prevention Research at the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and Kimberly Horn from Milken Institute SPH. Tercyak and Horn will assess youth tobacco product use and the effects of the regulatory landscape in DC’s most underserved areas wards.
- Raymond Niaura and Jessica Elf, Director of Science and Postdoctoral Fellow at the Schroeder Institute and Lorien Abroms from Milken Institute SPH. This project will address quitting for smokers with HIV/AIDS.
Each of these projects includes a team of nationally and internationally recognized scientists as well as students, dedicated community advocates and public officials who will work together to address high smoking rates that still persist in some parts of the DC metro area, Horn says.
While overall smoking rates in DC have declined in the last 5 years, inequities persist by gender and race, and by ward. For example, the predominantly black ward 8 has the highest percentage of current adult smokers at 30 percent. The smoking rates in wards 3 and 4, predominately white, are just 8 percent. At the same time, racial and ethnic minorities generally, including those in the DC area, have been underrepresented and under engaged in tobacco-control research. The end result is that the scientific community still doesn’t have all the answers in terms of what can be done to reduce high smoking rates in these communities. “We need the DC community’s input to discover the best solutions to the problem—scientists don’t hold all the answers.” says Horn.
Taken together, the pilot studies have the potential to inform local and federal level policy in tobacco control, improve smoking cessation practice using new technologies, and provide meaningful information to community members on the tobacco rates in DC and the associated health problems, which disproportionately affect minorities. The findings of these studies also may inform new tobacco cessation initiatives to be launched in DC as part of the Cancer Moonshot 2020.
Find out more about the DC Metro Tobacco Research and Instruction Consortium.
Past Opportunities
The RFA for Innovative Team Science Pilot Studies is now closed. More information about awardees will be issued in the near future.
Please see the Request for Applications.
About
Chartered by the George Washington University in 2014, MeTRIC includes scientists from the George Washington University Milken Institute of Public Health, the Schroeder Institute for Tobacco Research and Policy Studies at Truth Initiative, and Georgetown University with expertise in myriad fields and disciplines. Community and practice partners are also central to MeTRIC’s mission. The underlying rationale for MeTRIC is that racial and ethnic minorities generally, and in the DC metro area specifically, have been under-involved and underrepresented in tobacco control research, reducing the overall translation of research into meaningful policy and practice that could improve health. MeTRIC aims to:
- Conduct community-driven multilevel intervention research that reduces tobacco use.
- Foster collaborations with medical, public health, and community partners to translate research findings into culturally-competent tobacco-related policy and practice.
- Implement training programs to prepare the next generation of tobacco control researchers.
- Provide leadership to local, state, and federal government in the advancement of evidence-based tobacco control policy and practice.
Contact
For more information, contact the MeTRIC Director, Dr. Kimberly Horn, at khorn1@gwu.edu. The MeTRIC mailing address is 950 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, 7th Floor, Washington, DC 20052. The Consortium is actively seeking other academic, institutional, and community partners. Please contact Dr. Kimberly Horn if you are interested in applying to join the Consortium.