Research Priorities

The Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program (TRDRP) funds research that spans social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences and has the common objective of helping to reduce tobacco use, prevent addiction, discover cures for tobacco-related diseases, and shape policies that serve Californians most harmed by nicotine and commercial tobacco. The program receives funding from multiple sources: the taxes on commercial tobacco products sold in California, settlement funds from a lawsuit between California and the commercial tobacco industry, and individual contributions from private donors.

Commercial tobacco product use is on the decline in California and is projected to continue to decline in future years leading to a decline in the funding TRDRP receives to support research. In response, TRDRP is modifying the strategies for soliciting and funding research projects in an effort to focus declining funding on the most critical issues facing the users of commercial tobacco products. This document describes application requirements for predoctoral and postdoctoral awards. – demonstrating our continued commitment to training the next generation of researchers.

TRDRP strategic goals are described in the TRDRP Five Year Strategic Plan, and are aligned with the plan of the Tobacco Education and Research Oversite Committee (TEROC), and the CA Endgame Initiative, which seeks to end the sale and use of all commercial tobacco products in the state.

Despite having one of the lowest smoking rates in the country, smoking prevalence remains high among California populations that are also plagued by other negative effects of structural and social determinants of health. These “tobacco priority populations” continue to experience poor health outcomes while providing the funding for TRDRP through the taxes they pay for commercial tobacco products. The challenge going forward is to eliminate the disparities in commercial tobacco product use and related diseases despite the reduction in tax-based revenue.

It is well established that smoking cigarettes is a major risk factor for many diseases such as cardiovascular disease, stroke, respiratory disease, and cancer. The causal links were identified many years ago and experts agree that the most effective way to reduce the risks for smoking-related diseases among people who smoke is smoking cessation. However, the health risks associated with newer nicotine products on the market are less well-known. In fact, the potential for becoming addicted to nicotine varies widely by age of the user, mode of consumption, and the nicotine formulation in the product used. To focus our declining funds on these newer, less understood products that are increasing in popularity, in part due to claims of lower health risks, TRDRP now requires basic and preclinical science investigations of tobacco-related diseases to involve one or more of the commercial tobacco products or usage patterns listed under Scientific Eligibility Criteria. Clinical, translational, or implementation studies must involve human subjects that have a history of commercial tobacco product use. Eligible studies must have outcomes that will inform prevention of initiation of commercial tobacco product use and/or be informative or beneficial for current and prior commercial tobacco product users.

Further, TRDRP requires investigators to plan how they will disseminate their research findings by communicating with and engaging community members. TRDRP defines community members as individuals with lived experience or meaningful connections to the population of interest who contribute perspectives, priorities, and insights from the broader community beyond the research team. It is imperative that research outcomes inform the primary stakeholders – the users of commercial tobacco products. In addition, disseminating TRDRP-funded research results helps inform the design of evidence-based policies at the state and local level in California.