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Our 2nd Annual Research Symposium is on May 30th! Click here to learn more and register.

Scientific Advisory Committee

The Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) is a group of eight scientists with varying backgrounds related to public health and tobacco policy research. The SAC meets semi-annually with the Policy Research Center team to discuss and offer their expertise on the Center’s planned research projects. In addition, the SAC will help to share information about and results from the projects with the public.

Anna Song

Anna is an Associate Vice Provost and Professor of Psychological Sciences in the School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts at the University of California, Merced and the Director of the Nicotine & Cannabis Policy Center. She specializes in health psychology and factors that influence young adults’ beliefs about risk…
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Bonnie Halpern-Felsher

Bonnie is the Marron and Mary Elizabeth Kendrick Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford University. She is also the founder and director of the REACH (Research and Education to Empower Adolescents and Young Adults to Choose Health) Lab and their tobacco and other substance prevention toolkits, which are online curricula to…
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Carolina Saavedra

Carolina is a Senior Staff Attorney at the Public Health Law Center at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law. She earned her JD at the University of Notre Dame Law School and previously was an immigration defense attorney. At the Public Health Law Center, Carolina offers legal assistance on issues…
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Claradina Soto

Claradina (Navajo/Jemez Pueblo) is an Associate Professor at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine and the Director of the Initiative for California American Indian Health Research and Evaluation. She has promoted health equity for Tribal and Urban Indian communities in California for over 20 years, addressing commercial…
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Hugo Destaillats

Hugo is a Senior Research Scientist and Deputy Leader of the Indoor Environment Group at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. His research focuses on the chemistry of the built environment, indoor environmental quality, exposure and health. He is the Principal Investigator of a Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory-led Thirdhand Smoke Research…
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Patricia “Trish” A. Holden

Trish is a Professor in the Bren School at the University of California, Santa Barbara where her group studies the sources, pathways, and prevention of environmental pollutants and pathogens. Her education is in Civil/Environmental Engineering and Soil Microbiology. She practiced engineering for 8 years before her Ph.D. She is looking…
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Phillip Gardiner

Phillip is a Founder Member and Co-Chair of the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council. He has studied public health issues for 25 years, and his principal endeavor for the past 20 years has been to remove menthol and all flavored tobacco products from the marketplace. Phillip is also a…
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Thomas Cook

Thomas is a Professor Emeritus in Sociology at Northwestern University. He studies evaluation and policy research related to education and public health. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He earned his PhD from Stanford University in Communication Research.
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