Jasjit S. Ahluwalia, M.D., M.P.H.
Dr. Ahluwalia is the Executive Director of the Center for Health Equity and internationally known for his work in health equity, specifically nicotine addiction in ethnic minorities. He is the recipient of the American Public Health Association’s Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs Section 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award. With published research in nearly 200 papers, he is also the recipient of $20 million in funding as a principal investigator and over $80 million as a co-investigator, primarily from NIH. This year, he began a three-year term on NIH’s National Advisory Council for Minority Health and Health Disparities.
Linda Alexander, Ph.D., M.P.H., Ed.D.
Dr. Linda Alexander is an Associate Professor of Health Behavior at the University of Kentucky College of Public Health and has 30 years’ experience working on disparities issues at the community level. Dr. Alexander is a member of the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI’s) Tobacco Research Network on Disparities (TReND), and is the Director of NCI’s Biobehavioral Pathways in Cancer Network with the Biobehavioral and Psychological Research Branch. She is also serving as Senior Volume Editor on a new NCI monograph devoted toward understanding the life-course impact of tobacco-related health disparities. In addition, Dr. Alexander has served as Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on several community-based research projects on tobacco cessation, secondhand smoke and children, cardiovascular risk factors, and asthma, and was a co-editor of two special editions on tobacco smoking for the journal Addiction.
Francisco O. Buchting, Ph.D.
Dr. Buchting is a leader in the area of tobacco use in marginalized communities, including with Latinos and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual (LGBT) communities. He conducts health disparity research, produces research sampling methodologies reports on hard-to-reach communities, and is a member of NCI’s TReND.
Peter Gariti, Ph.D., A.C.S.W.
Dr. Gariti’s research, teaching, and clinical responsibilities are in the field of nicotine and tobacco dependence related to substance-use disorders and other psychiatric illnesses. He also brings value as a lecturer and contributor to research publications and alternative media (video).
Dave Haaga, Ph.D. A.B., M.A.
Dr. Haaga is a Professor of Psychology and a faculty member at American University. His research includes cigarette smoking and smoking cessation among depression-vulnerable smokers, with funding from the Office of Naval Research, NCI, and private foundations. Dr. Haaga reviewed smoking cessation methods for the American Psychological Association’s task force on empirically supported treatments, and he served as Editor of Behavior Therapy from 2002-2005.
Patrick Reynolds
Mr. Reynolds founded the Foundation for a Smokefree America after his father, tobacco magnate R. J. Reynolds, died from smoking. His group’s mission is to empower smokers to quit and motivate teens to stay tobacco-free. Reynolds is a popular motivational speaker at universities, high schools, and middle schools, and his appearances in the press have made him a well-known champion of a smokefree society.