VCU to Host Youth Tobacco Use Research Conference

By Eric Peters and Stephanie Hart

The Virginia Youth Tobacco Projects, coordinated by Virginia Commonwealth University, hosts its fourth statewide research conference on April 3 and 4.

“The Future of Tobacco Control: Implications for the Prevention of Youth Tobacco Use in Virginia” will showcase research on youth tobacco use. The conference is conducted under the auspices of the VYTP, a coalition of Virginia universities funded by the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth to study why young people use tobacco and what can be done to prevent it.

“We're excited to be holding our fourth conference on youth tobacco use and to be bringing together researchers, policy makers and practitioners to discuss this critical public health issue,” said Randy Koch, Ph.D., executive director of VCU’s Institute for Drug and Alcohol Studies. “We hope that conferences like this will lead to improved research translation to improve the health of Virginia's youth."

The conference will feature presentations by VYTP researchers from around the state and nationally prominent experts, including Dr. William Hazel, secretary of Health and Human Resources for the state of Virginia; Dr. David Ashley, Center for Tobacco Products, FDA; and Dr. David Drobes, Moffitt Cancer Center, University of South Florida.

Among the panel discussions will be sessions on tobacco advertising and counter advertising, new opportunities for the prevention of youth tobacco use and new tobacco products. An agenda is available at http://www.vcu.edu/idas/vytp/77.html.

The VYTP includes researchers from VCU, the University of Virginia, James Madison University, Virginia Tech, the College of William and Mary, George Mason University and Virginia State University. The VYTP was created by the General Assembly in 1999 to distribute part of the money Virginia receives from tobacco product manufacturers under a Master Settlement Agreement.

The conference will be held at The Hilton Garden Inn, 501 E. Broad St., Richmond. For registration information, visit http://www.vcu.edu/idas/vytp/77.html.