Uploaded July 2024 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Melissa Little, PhD, Associate Professor Department of Public Health Sciences
Transcript:
So I get really energized when I meet directly with community partners to understand how they think and feel about tobacco in their community. I really love then working with them to try to understand how we can come up with innovative solutions to address tobacco-related disparities that they see in their communities.
My name is Melissa Little, and I'm an associate professor in public health sciences and a member of the Cancer Center in the Cancer Prevention and Control Group. I also direct a center for tobacco prevention and control research, and my research really aims to address tobacco-related disparities. So, I oversee a number of NIH and state-funded grants that work directly with community partners such as rural community pharmacists, federally qualified health centers, military populations, and high schools to address tobacco use in those communities.
Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. The good news is there are some evidence-based interventions that have shown to reduce tobacco use. Unfortunately, these interventions aren't reaching all populations equally. The goal of my research is to take these evidence-based interventions and translate them to high-risk populations through innovative and sustainable approaches.
I think that if we can successfully reduce tobacco use among all populations, we can have a significant impact on improving human health.
Melissa Little, PhD, Associate Professor Department of Public Health Sciences
Transcript:
So I get really energized when I meet directly with community partners to understand how they think and feel about tobacco in their community. I really love then working with them to try to understand how we can come up with innovative solutions to address tobacco-related disparities that they see in their communities.
My name is Melissa Little, and I'm an associate professor in public health sciences and a member of the Cancer Center in the Cancer Prevention and Control Group. I also direct a center for tobacco prevention and control research, and my research really aims to address tobacco-related disparities. So, I oversee a number of NIH and state-funded grants that work directly with community partners such as rural community pharmacists, federally qualified health centers, military populations, and high schools to address tobacco use in those communities.
Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. The good news is there are some evidence-based interventions that have shown to reduce tobacco use. Unfortunately, these interventions aren't reaching all populations equally. The goal of my research is to take these evidence-based interventions and translate them to high-risk populations through innovative and sustainable approaches.
I think that if we can successfully reduce tobacco use among all populations, we can have a significant impact on improving human health.
