Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center

USC's Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center (TTURC) supports two pilot studies that explore important areas of smoking behavior research that are expected to seed RO1-type projects in the future.

Psychosocial Predictors of Smoking Across Cultures
Principal Investigator: Dr. Elahe Nezami

This study hypothesizes that emotion and drive affects smoking differently in varying cultures, that culture (Californian, Chinese and Persian) moderates the relationship between depression, anxiety, and novelty seeking on one hand and cigarette smoking on the other.

Social Resources and Smoking Among Hispanic Youth »
Principal Investigator: Dr. Lourdes Baezconde-Garbanati

This project explores the availability and use of social resources (social networks, social support systems, etc.) by Hispanic/Latino youth as they relate to the onset and progression of tobacco use.

TTURC also funds developmental projects for Ph.D. students, new investigators, and established researchers who wish to expand into transdisciplinary tobacco research. Projects funded thus far include:

Race/Ethnicity & Student Tobacco Use
Principal Investigator: Tom Hanson, WestEd

A study of tobacco use by ethnically diverse California adolescents.

Intergenerational Pathways of Tobacco Use
Principal Investigator: Merrill Silverstein, USC Gerontology

A longitudinal, generational study of families and tobacco use.

Quality of Time Use & Adolescent Smoking
Principal Investigators: Ruth Zemke and Wenchun Qu, USC Occupational Science

A study of meaningful daily activities and their relation to tobacco use.

Wuhan Private School Project
Principal Investigator: Dr. Dexin Zhang

A study of smoking behavior, attitudes, and beliefs in private school students in China.

China Seven Cities Study »
Principal Investigator: Dr. C. Anderson Johnson

A longitudinal, collaborative study between TTURC researchers and Chinese public health leaders and academicians focusing on tobacco use and other health-related behaviors amid rapidly changing social, cultural and economic conditions in the People’s Republic of China.