Maya Vijayaraghavan, MD, MAS

Maya Vijayaraghavan, MD, MAS

Steven A. Schroeder Distinguished Professorship in Health and Health Care, UCSF

Assistant Professor in Residence, Department of Medicine, UCSF

Cancer Center Program Membership

Cancer Control

[email protected]

Phone: (415) 206-6959

Box 1211, UCSF
San Francisco, CA 94118-1211

UCSF Profiles

Research Summary

Dr. Vijayaraghavan is a practicing general internist and a researcher in tobacco control with a focus on populations experiencing homelessness. She is the Director of the UCSF Smoking Cessation Leadership Center, a Center focused on eliminating disparities in tobacco use prevalence among behavioral health populations. Through her work, she has intervened at the individual, community, health systems and policy levels to help increase access to cessation services. Her intervention research, funded by the NCI, TRDRP, NIMHD, and SFCAN, stems from collaborations with community organizations and healthcare systems. She has collaborated with homeless shelters and supportive housing to implement interventions to increase access to smoking cessation services and smoke-free policies for people who have experienced homelessness. Here team leads three studies: 1) a cluster randomized controlled trial of a smoke-free home intervention for formerly homeless adults in 38 permanent supportive housing sites in the San Francisco Bay Area; 2) a contingency management smoking cessation intervention for adults experiencing homelessness and engaged in primary care in the safety-net clinics; and 3) a community-pharmacy linked cessation program for people experiencing homelessness. She co-directs a NIDA-funded postdoctoral training program at the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, focused on tobacco and substance use related research. Dr. Vijayaraghavan received her Bachelors in Science from Brown University, her medical degree from Boston University of School of Medicine, and complete an internal medicine residency at Columbia University Medical Center.

Research Funding

  • August 15, 2023 - August 14, 2028 - A smoke-free home intervention in federally subsidized housing , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: Minority Health and Health Disparities Research, Sponsor Award ID: 1R01MD016898-01A1 12
  • September 16, 2021 - August 31, 2026 - Integrating tobacco use cessation into Family AIDS Care and Education Services (FACES) in Kisumu, Kenya , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: U01CA261620
  • March 3, 2021 - March 2, 2026 - A community-based trial of a voluntary smoke-free home intervention in permanent supportive housing for formerly homeless adults , Principal investigator . Sponsor: National cancer institute, Sponsor Award ID: R37 CA248448-01A1
  • July 1, 2020 - June 30, 2024 - Randomized trial of a contingency management smoking cessation intervention for homeless adults , Principal investigator . Sponsor: Tobacco Related Disease Research Program, Sponsor Award ID: T31IP1593
  • July 1, 2020 - June 30, 2024 - Promote smoking cessation and smoke-free environments in San Francisco low income and high cancer risk populations , PI . Sponsor: San Francisco Cancer Initiative, Sponsor Award ID:

Education

Brown University, Sc.B, 05/1999, Biology
Boston University School of Medicine, MD, 05/2006, Medicine
University of California, San Francisco, MAS, 06/2011, Clinical Research

Honors & Awards

  • 2005
    Alpha Omega Alpha, Medical Honor Society
  • 2006
    Glasgow-Rubin Achievement Citation, American Medical Women's Association
  • 2006
    Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award, Arnold P. Gold Foundation
  • 2009
    Joseph N. Muschel House Staff Award for Humanism and Excellence in Medicine
  • 2015
    Award for poster presentation in the category of Public Health in Action, Public Health Research Day, UCSD, April 9, 2015

Selected Publications

  1. Elser H, Vijayaraghavan M, Kasner SE. E-Cigarettes and Stroke Risk-Present Uncertainties and Future Directions. JAMA Neurol. 2023 Sep 01; 80(9):883-884.  View on PubMed
  2. De Los Reyes G, Ng A, Valencia Chavez J, Apollonio DE, Kroon L, Lee P, Vijayaraghavan M. Evaluation of a Pharmacist-Linked Smoking Cessation Intervention for Adults Experiencing Homelessness. Subst Use Misuse. 2023; 58(12):1519-1527.  View on PubMed
  3. Vijayaraghavan M, Hartman-Filson M, Vyas P, Katyal T, Nguyen T, Handley MA. Multi-Level Influences of Smoke-Free Policies in Subsidized Housing: Applying the COM-B Model and Neighborhood Assessments to Inform Smoke-Free Policies. Health Promot Pract. 2023 May 20; 15248399231174925.  View on PubMed
  4. Miller J, Cuby J, Hall SM, Stitzer M, Kushel M, Appiah D, Vijayaraghavan M. Tobacco use behaviors and views on engaging in clinical trials for tobacco cessation among individuals who experience homelessness. Contemp Clin Trials Commun. 2023 Apr; 32:101094.  View on PubMed
  5. Molina MF, Hall SM, Stitzer M, Kushel M, Chakravarty D, Vijayaraghavan M. Contingency management to promote smoking cessation in people experiencing homelessness: Leveraging the electronic health record in a pilot, pragmatic randomized controlled trial. PLoS One. 2022; 17(12):e0278870.  View on PubMed
  6. Odes R, Alway J, Kushel M, Max W, Vijayaraghavan M. The smoke-free home study: study protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial of a smoke-free home intervention in permanent supportive housing. BMC Public Health. 2022 11 14; 22(1):2076.  View on PubMed
  7. Lowenstein M, Karliner L, Livaudais-Toman J, Gregorich S, Velazquez AI, Vijayaraghavan M, Walsh JME, Kaplan CP. Barriers and Facilitators to Lung Cancer Screening: A Physician Survey. Am J Health Promot. 2022 09; 36(7):1208-1212.  View on PubMed
  8. Hiatt RA, Sibley A, Venkatesh B, Cheng J, Dixit N, Fox R, Ling P, Nguyen T, Oh D, Palmer NR, Pasick RJ, Potter MB, Somsouk M, Vargas RA, Vijayaraghavan M, Ashworth A. From Cancer Epidemiology to Policy and Practice: the Role of a Comprehensive Cancer Center. Curr Epidemiol Rep. 2022; 9(1):10-21.  View on PubMed
  9. Miller J, Vijayaraghavan M. Tobacco Industry Efforts to Respond to Smoke-Free Policies in Multi-Unit Housing: An Evaluation of Tobacco Industry Documents. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 03 05; 19(5).  View on PubMed
  10. Martinez J, Jafry MZ, Chen TA, Businelle MS, Kendzor DE, Britton M, Vijayaraghavan M, Reitzel LR. Guest Support for Outdoor Smoke-Free Policies within a Homeless Shelter. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 02 19; 19(4).  View on PubMed
  11. Hartman-Filson M, Chen J, Lee P, Phan M, Apollonio DE, Kroon L, Donald F, Vijayaraghavan M. A community-based tobacco cessation program for individuals experiencing homelessness. Addict Behav. 2022 06; 129:107282.  View on PubMed
  12. Suen LW, Rafferty H, Le T, Chung K, Straus E, Chen E, Vijayaraghavan M. Factors associated with smoking cessation attempts in a public, safety-net primary care system. Prev Med Rep. 2022 Apr; 26:101699.  View on PubMed
  13. Chung K, Rafferty H, Suen LW, Vijayaraghavan M. System-Level Quality Improvement Initiatives for Tobacco Use in a Safety-Net Health System During the COVID-19 Pandemic. J Prim Care Community Health. 2022 Jan-Dec; 13:21501319221107984.  View on PubMed
  14. Riley ED, Delucchi K, Rubin S, Weiser SD, Vijayaraghavan M, Lynch K, Tsoh JY. Ongoing tobacco use in women who experience homelessness and unstable housing: A prospective study to inform tobacco cessation interventions and policies. Addict Behav. 2022 02; 125:107125.  View on PubMed
  15. Rubin SB, Vijayaraghavan M, Weiser SD, Tsoh JY, Cohee A, Delucchi K, Riley ED. Homeless women's perspectives on smoking and smoking cessation programs: A qualitative study. Int J Drug Policy. 2021 12; 98:103377.  View on PubMed
  16. Durazo A, Hartman-Filson M, Elser H, Alizaga NM, Vijayaraghavan M. E-Cigarette Use among Current Smokers Experiencing Homelessness. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 04 01; 18(7).  View on PubMed
  17. Durazo A, Hartman-Filson M, Perez K, Alizaga NM, Petersen AB, Vijayaraghavan M. Smoke-Free Home Intervention in Permanent Supportive Housing: A Multifaceted Intervention Pilot. Nicotine Tob Res. 2021 01 07; 23(1):63-70.  View on PubMed
  18. Vijayaraghavan M, Elser H, Frazer K, Lindson N, Apollonio D. Interventions to reduce tobacco use in people experiencing homelessness. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2020 12 03; 12:CD013413.  View on PubMed
  19. Katyal T, Durazo A, Hartman-Filson M, Vijayaraghavan M. Responses to Graphic Warning Labels among Low-income Smokers. Am J Health Behav. 2020 09 01; 44(5):603-616.  View on PubMed
  20. Vijayaraghavan M. Improving Access to Clinical Trials for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Treatment. JAMA Neurol. 2020 06 01; 77(6):671-672.  View on PubMed

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