Research Summary

I am Professor of Medicine and Bioengineering & Therapeutic Sciences and Chief of the Division of Clinical Pharmacology at San Francisco General Hospital. With over 500 publications, I am a leading authority on the human pharmacology of nicotine and nicotine addiction. My laboratory also is a leading site for biomarker assessment of tobacco toxicant exposure. I am former president of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT), and the recipient of the Ove Ferno SRNT Award for Clinical Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. I have been a contributing author or editor to six US Surgeon General's Reports on tobacco including the 2010 Surgeon General's Report—How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease: The Biology and Behavioral Basis for Smoking-Attributable Disease.

Research Funding

  • July 1, 1977 - June 30, 2025 - Clinical Pharmacology, Drug Action and Pharmacogenetics , Co-Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: T32GM007546
  • September 1, 1999 - May 31, 2025 - Drug Dependence Clinical Research Program , Co-Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: P30DA012393
  • August 5, 1999 - May 31, 2023 - Cancer Center Support Grant , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: P30CA082103
  • August 15, 2018 - July 31, 2022 - Cigarette Harm Reduction with Scheduled Electronic Cigarette Use , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: U01DA045519

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

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, Warner KE, Myers ML, Hatsukami D, Berman ML, Vallone D, Cohen JE. How the FDA Can Improve Public Health - Helping People Stop Smoking. N Engl J Med. 2023 Apr 27; 388(17):1540-1542.  View on PubMed
  2. Giberson J, Nardone N, Addo N, Khan S, Jacob P, Benowitz N, St Helen G. Nicotine Intake in Adult Pod E-Cigarette Users: Impact of User and Device Characteristics. Nicotine Tob Res. 2023 Apr 15.  View on PubMed
  3. Jacobs C, Fonseca M, Rigotti NA, Benowitz N, Clarke A, Cain D. A Phase I, Double-blind, Randomized, Placebo-controlled, Single Dose-escalation Study to Evaluate the Tolerability, and Safety of Cytisinicline in Adult Smokers. Nicotine Tob Res. 2023 03 22; 25(4):814-820.  View on PubMed
  4. Yang H, Wang X, Wang P, He L, Schick SF, Jacob P, Benowitz N, Gundel LA, Zhu C, Xia Y, Inman JL, Chang H, Snijders AM, Mao JH, Hang B. Thirdhand tobacco smoke exposure increases the genetic background-dependent risk of pan-tumor development in Collaborative Cross mice. Environ Int. 2023 Mar 13; 174:107876.  View on PubMed
  5. Warner KE, Benowitz NL, McNeill A, Rigotti NA. Nicotine e-cigarettes as a tool for smoking cessation. Nat Med. 2023 03; 29(3):520-524.  View on PubMed
  6. Mendelsohn CP, Hall W, Borland R, Wodak A, Beaglehole R, Benowitz NL, Britton J, Bullen C, Etter JF, McNeill A, Rigotti NA. A critique of the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council CEO statement on electronic cigarettes. Addiction. 2023 Feb 20.  View on PubMed
  7. Shafie-Khorassani F, Piper ME, Jorenby DE, Baker TB, Benowitz NL, Hayes-Birchler T, Meza R, Brouwer AF. Associations of Demographics, Dependence, and Biomarkers With Transitions in Tobacco Product Use in a Cohort of Cigarette Users and Dual Users of Cigarettes and E-cigarettes. Nicotine Tob Res. 2023 02 09; 25(3):462-469.  View on PubMed
  8. Rebuli ME, Rose JJ, Noël A, Croft DP, Benowitz NL, Cohen AH, Goniewicz ML, Larsen BT, Leigh N, McGraw MD, Melzer AC, Penn AL, Rahman I, Upson D, Crotty Alexander LE, Ewart G, Jaspers I, Jordt SE, Kligerman S, Loughlin CE, McConnell R, Neptune ER, Nguyen TB, Pinkerton KE, Witek TJ. The E-cigarette or Vaping Product Use-Associated Lung Injury Epidemic: Pathogenesis, Management, and Future Directions: An Official American Thoracic Society Workshop Report. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2023 01; 20(1):1-17.  View on PubMed
  9. Benowitz NL, Havel C, Jacob P, O'Shea DF, Wu D, Fowles J. Vaping THC-O Acetate: Potential for Another EVALI Epidemic. J Med Toxicol. 2022 Dec 12.  View on PubMed
  10. Rosen RL, Ramasubramani RS, Benowitz NL, Gandhi KK, Williams JM. Caffeine levels and dietary intake in smokers with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Psychiatry Res. 2023 01; 319:114989.  View on PubMed
  11. White CM, Watson C, Bravo Cardenas R, Ngac P, Valentin-Blasini L, Blount BC, Koopmeiners JS, Denlinger-Apte RL, Pacek LR, Benowitz NL, Hatsukami DK, Donny EC, Carpenter MJ, Smith TT. Early Changes in Puffing Intensity When Exclusively Using Open-Label Very Low Nicotine Content Cigarettes. Nicotine Tob Res. 2022 10 26; 24(11):1798-1802.  View on PubMed
  12. Masson CL, Gubner NR, Benowitz N, Hosakote S, Le T, Guydish JR. Lifetime use of non-nicotine drugs in electronic cigarette devices among a sample of individuals in substance use disorder treatment. Addict Behav Rep. 2022 Dec; 16:100465.  View on PubMed
  13. Young-Wolff KC, Ray GT, Alexeeff SE, Benowitz N, Adams SR, Does MB, Goler N, Ansley D, Conway A, Avalos LA. Association of cannabis use during pregnancy with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection: a retrospective cohort study. Addiction. 2023 02; 118(2):317-326.  View on PubMed
  14. Sanders MA, Oppezzo M, Skan J, Benowitz NL, Schnellbaecher M, Prochaska JJ. Demographic and cultural correlates of traditional eating among Alaska Native adults at risk for cardiovascular disease. PLoS One. 2022; 17(9):e0275445.  View on PubMed
  15. McColl ER, Kwok J, Benowitz NL, Patten CA, Hughes CA, Koller KR, Flanagan CA, Thomas TK, Hiratsuka VY, Tyndale RF, Piquette-Miller M. The Effect of Tobacco Use on the Expression of Placental Transporters in Alaska Native Women. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2023 03; 113(3):634-642.  View on PubMed
  16. Benowitz NL, Goniewicz ML, Halpern-Felsher B, Krishnan-Sarin S, Ling PM, O'Connor RJ, Pentz MA, Robertson RM, Bhatnagar A. Tobacco product use and the risks of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19: current understanding and recommendations for future research. Lancet Respir Med. 2022 09; 10(9):900-915.  View on PubMed
  17. Oppezzo M, Knox M, Skan J, Chieng A, Crouch M, Aikens RC, Benowitz NL, Schnellbaecher M, Prochaska JJ. Traditional Heart-Healthy Diet and Medication Adherence in the Norton Sound Region: An 18-Month Telehealth Intervention. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 08 11; 19(16).  View on PubMed
  18. Tang X, Benowitz N, Gundel L, Hang B, Havel CM, Hoh E, Jacob Iii P, Mao JH, Martins-Green M, Matt GE, Quintana PJE, Russell ML, Sarker A, Schick SF, Snijders AM, Destaillats H. Thirdhand Exposures to Tobacco-Specific Nitrosamines through Inhalation, Dust Ingestion, Dermal Uptake, and Epidermal Chemistry. Environ Sci Technol. 2022 09 06; 56(17):12506-12516.  View on PubMed
  19. Klemperer EM, Luo X, Jensen J, al'Absi M, Cinciripini PM, Robinson JD, Drobes DJ, McClernon J, Strasser AA, Strayer LG, Vandrey R, Benowitz NL, Donny EC, Hatsukami DK. Smoking abstinence and cessation-related outcomes one month after an immediate versus gradual reduction in nicotine content of cigarettes. Prev Med. 2022 12; 165(Pt B):107175.  View on PubMed
  20. Rezk-Hanna M, Warda US, Stokes AC, Fetterman J, Li J, Macey PM, Darawad M, Song Y, Ben Taleb Z, Brecht ML, Benowitz NL. Associations of Smokeless Tobacco Use With Cardiovascular Disease Risk: Insights From the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study. Nicotine Tob Res. 2022 06 15; 24(7):1063-1070.  View on PubMed

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