Neal L. Benowitz, MD

Professor, Departments of Medicine, Biopharmaceutical Sciences, Psychiatry, and Clinical Pharmacy, UCSF

nbenowitz@medsfgh.ucsf.edu

Phone: (415) 206-8324 (voice)
Box 1220, UCSF
San Francisco, CA 94143-1222

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Education

Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY
University of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester, NY, MD, 1969, Medicine
Bronx Municipal Hospital Center, Bronx, New York, Intern and Resident, Internal Medicine, 1969-1971
Fellow in Clinical Pharmacology, Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, 1971-1972
 

Professional Experience

• 1973-1972
  Clinical Instructor, Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco
• 1975-1972
  Director, Drug Detoxification Unit, San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco, California
• 1974-present
  Member of Staff, Medical Service, San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco, California
• 1979-present
  Associate Medical Director, San Francisco Bay Area Regional Poison Center, San Francisco, CA
• 1974-1982
  Asst. Professor, Depts of Medicine and Psychiatry, University of Calif-ornia San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
• 1981-1982
  Assoc. Professor, Depts of Medicine and Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
• 1987-present
  Professor, Departments of Medicine, Psychiatry and Pharmacy, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California
• 1983-present
  Chief, Division Clinical Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, University of California San Francisco
• 1994-2010
  Vice Chair, Department of Biopharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, San Francisco
• 2004-present
  Professor of Medicine, Biopharmaceutical Sciences, Psychiatry and Clinical Pharmacy, University of California, San Francisco

Honors & Awards

• Oscar B. Hunter Award
• Ove Ferno Award
• 2002
• UCSF Annual Distinguished Clinical Research Lecturer
• Rawls Palmer Award for Progress in Medicine
• Alton Ochsner Award Relating Smoking and Health
• 1994-2002
• NIDA Merit Award
• American Board of Internal Medicine (Diplomate, 1968)
• American Board of Medical Toxicology
• American Board of Clinical Pharmacology
• American Federation for Clinical Research (President 1996 to 1997)
• American Society for Clinical Inves-tigation
• American Society of Clinical Pharma-cology and Therapeutics
• American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
• Association of American Physicians
• Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (President, 1996-1997)

Selected Publications

1. Benowitz NL, Henningfield JE. Reducing the nicotine content to make cigarettes less addictive. Tob Control. 2013 May; 22 Suppl 1:i14-i17.
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2. Jacob P, Abu Raddaha AH, Dempsey D, Havel C, Peng M, Yu L, Benowitz NL. Comparison of nicotine and carcinogen exposure with water pipe and cigarette smoking. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2013 May; 22(5):765-72.
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3. Benowitz NL, Zhu AZ, Tyndale RF, Dempsey D, Jacob P. Influence of CYP2B6 genetic variants on plasma and urine concentrations of bupropion and metabolites at steady state. Pharmacogenet Genomics. 2013 Mar; 23(3):135-41.
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4. Benowitz NL, Prochaska JJ. Smoking cessation after acute myocardial infarction. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2013 Feb 5; 61(5):533-5.
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5. Bergen AW, Javitz HS, Krasnow R, Nishita D, Michel M, Conti DV, Liu J, Lee W, Edlund CK, Hall S, Kwok PY, Benowitz NL, Baker TB, Tyndale RF, Lerman C, Swan GE. Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor variation and response to smoking cessation therapies. Pharmacogenet Genomics. 2013 Feb; 23(2):94-103.
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6. Zhu AZ, Renner CC, Hatsukami DK, Swan GE, Lerman C, Benowitz NL, Tyndale RF. The Ability of Plasma Cotinine to Predict Nicotine and Carcinogen Exposure is Altered by Differences in CYP2A6: the Influence of Genetics, Race, and Sex. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2013 Apr; 22(4):708-18.
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7. Benowitz NL, Dempsey D, Tyndale RF, St Helen G, Jacob Iii P. Dose-independent kinetics with low level exposure to nicotine and cotinine. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2013 Jan; 75(1):277-9.
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8. Faseru B, Nollen NL, Mayo MS, Krebill R, Choi WS, Benowitz NL, Tyndale RF, Okuyemi KS, Ahluwalia JS, Sanderson Cox L. Predictors of cessation in African American light smokers enrolled in a bupropion clinical trial. Addict Behav. 2013 Mar; 38(3):1796-803.
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9. Zhu AZ, Cox LS, Nollen N, Faseru B, Okuyemi KS, Ahluwalia JS, Benowitz NL, Tyndale RF. CYP2B6 and Bupropion's Smoking-Cessation Pharmacology: The Role of Hydroxybupropion. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2012 Dec; 92(6):771-7.
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10. Repace J, Zhang B, Bondy SJ, Benowitz N, Ferrence R. Air quality, mortality, and economic benefits of a smoke - free workplace law for non-smoking Ontario bar workers. Indoor Air. 2013 Apr; 23(2):93-104.
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11. St Helen G, Dempsey D, Wilson M, Jacob P, Benowitz NL. Racial differences in the relationship between tobacco dependence and nicotine and carcinogen exposure. Addiction. 2013 Mar; 108(3):607-17.
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12. Hatsukami DK, Benowitz NL, Donny E, Henningfield J, Zeller M. Nicotine reduction: strategic research plan. Nicotine Tob Res. 2013 Jun; 15(6):1003-13.
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13. Rubinstein ML, Shiffman S, Moscicki AB, Rait MA, Sen S, Benowitz NL. Nicotine metabolism and addiction among adolescent smokers. Addiction. 2013 Feb; 108(2):406-12.
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14. Zhu AZ, Binnington MJ, Renner CC, Lanier AP, Hatsukami DK, Stepanov I, Watson CH, Sosnoff CS, Benowitz NL, Tyndale RF. Alaska Native smokers and smokeless tobacco users with slower CYP2A6 activity have lower tobacco consumption, lower tobacco-specific nitrosamine exposure and lower tobacco-specific nitrosamine bioactivation. Carcinogenesis. 2013 Jan; 34(1):93-101.
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15. Renner CC, Lanier AP, Lindgren B, Jensen J, Patten CA, Parascandola M, Benowitz NL, Tyndale RF, Hatsukami DK. Tobacco use among southwestern alaska native people. Nicotine Tob Res. 2013 Feb; 15(2):401-6.
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16. Avila-Tang E, Al-Delaimy WK, Ashley DL, Benowitz N, Bernert JT, Kim S, Samet JM, Hecht SS. Assessing secondhand smoke using biological markers. Tob Control. 2013 May; 22(3):164-71.
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17. Williams JM, Gandhi KK, Lu SE, Steinberg ML, Benowitz NL. Nicotine intake and smoking topography in smokers with bipolar disorder. Bipolar Disord. 2012 Sep; 14(6):618-27.
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18. Dempsey DA, Meyers MJ, Oh SS, Nguyen EA, Fuentes-Afflick E, Wu AH, Jacob P, Benowitz NL. Determination of tobacco smoke exposure by plasma cotinine levels in infants and children attending urban public hospital clinics. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2012 Sep 1; 166(9):851-6.
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19. Mozaffarian D, Afshin A, Benowitz NL, Bittner V, Daniels SR, Franch HA, Jacobs DR, Kraus WE, Kris-Etherton PM, Krummel DA, Popkin BM, Whitsel LP, Zakai NA. Population approaches to improve diet, physical activity, and smoking habits: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2012 Sep 18; 126(12):1514-63.
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20. Lee W, Ray R, Bergen AW, Swan GE, Thomas P, Tyndale RF, Benowitz NL, Lerman C, Conti DV. DRD1 associations with smoking abstinence across slow and normal nicotine metabolizers. Pharmacogenet Genomics. 2012 Jul; 22(7):551-4.
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