Grantee: Stella A. Bialous, DrPH, FAAN

Stella A. Bialous, DrPH, FAAN

Organization:

• University of California - San Francisco

Current Title
Assistant Professor, Department of Sociomedical Sciences

Describe your scientific identity.
I am a nurse conducting research on how the tobacco industry impacts the development and implementation of health policy and programs. This includes trying to understand how the tobacco industry framing of tobacco use as a “choice” creates barriers to advance policies.

What are your research interests?
I am interested in addressing the health and social disparities that are created through unregulated marketing and political influences of tobacco. I am also interested in building the capacity of health professionals, specifically nurses, to engage in tobacco control; both tobacco dependence treatment and tobacco control policy.

What is the significance of your current research project?
Despite decades of evidence, the tobacco industry remains one of the most significant causes of health disparities. Understanding how tobacco industry’s target marketing, co-option of civil and political leaders, and misinformation provides a road map to develop policies and programs that can effectively counter these activities and address disparities.

What motivated you to work in tobacco control research?
I was finishing a master’s in nursing focusing on cancer care in acute care settings. For my thesis I thought it would be fun to change focus to cancer prevention. I started to read about tobacco use and cessation, and disparities that were associated with tobacco, and a whole new avenue of research, and a new career, opened up. Three decades later, I am still here!

Describe something that had a profound influence on your program of research or scientific interests (an "ah-ha!" moment).
It would have to be the public release of internal tobacco industry documents subsequent to court cases brought by various states and the Department of Justice. All of a sudden, we were able to confirm much of what we had already predicted on tobacco industry tactics. The documents provided an entire new universe of research questions and knowledge development. I am really fortunate to be part of the pioneering group working on these documents

Selected training, awards, and honors:

• American Legacy Foundation (now Truth) Sybill G. Jacobson Adult Award for Outstanding Use of Tobacco Industry Documents (2003)
• World Health Organization/Pan-American Health Organization World No Tobacco Day Award in recognition of outstanding contribution to tobacco control (2015)
• American Academy of Nursing Edge Runner award for Tobacco Free Nurses (2017)

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