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Tobacco Centers of Regulatory Science (TCORS)

FDA and NIH, as part of an on-going interagency partnership, awarded nine Tobacco Centers of Regulatory Science (TCORS) grants in September 2018 to support research to inform the regulation of tobacco products. In this second round of funding, the TCORS 2.0 research centers will receive, in total, more than $151 million in grants from FY 2018-2022.

What scientists learn about tobacco through the TCORS program helps inform and assess FDA's prior, ongoing, and potential regulatory activities. TCORS investigators also have the flexibility and capacity to respond to FDA's research needs as issues are raised in today's rapidly evolving tobacco marketplace.

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Tobacco Centers of Regulatory Science (TCORS) Map
Tobacco Centers of Regulatory Science (TCORS) Map

Investing in Tobacco Regulatory Science

The TCORS 2.0 program is designed to generate scientific evidence in seven scientific domains:

  • Approaches that test the toxicity of tobacco smoke, aerosol, or specific constituents 
  • Effects of tobacco product characteristics on addiction and abuse liability
  • Short and long term health effects of tobacco products
  • Understanding of knowledge, attitudes and behaviors related to tobacco product use
  • Understanding of how to effectively communicate the health effects of tobacco products
  • Influences of tobacco marketing
  • Understanding of the impact of potential FDA regulatory actions  

The TCORS Scientists

TCORS proposals were selected for funding based on scientific and technical merit as determined by NIH scientific peer review, availability of funds, and relevance of the proposed projects to the TCORS program priorities.

The following organizations and investigators received grants:

Organization Title Investigator(s)
American Heart Association American Heart Association Tobacco Center for Regulatory Science (A-TRAC) 2.0 Aruni Bhatnagar, Rose Marie Robertson
Roswell Park Cancer Institute Corporation  WNY Center for Research on Flavored Tobacco Products Richard O’Connor, Maciej Goniewicz
University of California, San Francisco Integrated Health, Behavioral and Economic Research on Current and Emerging Tobacco Products Pamela Ling
University of Michigan  Center for the Assessment of the Public Health Impact of Tobacco Regulations  Rafael Meza, David Levy
University of Pennsylvania Examining the Effects of Advertising, Packaging and Labeling on Perceptions, Use and Exposure of Combustible Tobacco Products  Andrew Strasser, Cristine Delnevo
University of Southern California  Tobacco Regulatory Science Investigating the Intersection of Products with Diverse Populations Mary Ann Pentz, Adam Leventhal
University of Vermont  University of Vermont Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science  Stephen T. Higgins
Virginia Commonwealth University  Center for the Study of Tobacco Products  Thomas Eissenberg, Alison Breland
Yale University  Yale Center for the Study of Tobacco Product Use and Addiction: Flavors, Nicotine and Other Constituents     Suchitra Krishnan-Sarin, Stephanie O’Malley

Significant updates on the TCORS projects will be posted on this webpage, as well as on the NIH's Tobacco Regulatory Science Program (TRSP)'s TCORS webpage.


Additional Resources

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