Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Faculty Member

Joanna Cohen Ph.D., M.H.Sc.

Research Interests

• public health policy
• tobacco control policy
• factors influencing the adoption and implementation of public health policies
• evaluation of the positive and negative effects of public health policies
• role of ideology in public health debates
• industry-sponsored research
• ethics and tobacco control

Professional Summary & Appointments

2011 – Associate Professor, Department of Health, Behavior & Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

2010 – Director, Institute for Global Tobacco Control; Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

2011 – Associate Professor, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto (status appt)

1999 – Principal Investigator, Ontario Tobacco Research Unit, University of Toronto

2010-11 Associate Scientist, Department of Health, Behavior & Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

2008-11 Associate Professor, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto (CLTA)

2005-11 Director of Research and Training, Ontario Tobacco Research Unit, University of Toronto

2006-11 Associate Scientist, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

2002-05 Associate Director, Ontario Tobacco Research Unit, University of Toronto

2004 Acting Director, Ontario Tobacco Research Unit, University of Toronto (Aug – Dec)

1999-08 Assistant Professor, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto (CLTA)

Honours & Awards

• 2009 – Fred Fallis Award for Excellence in Online Continuing Education
• 2001-07 – Canadian Institutes for Health Research, New Investigator Award. “Identifying Barriers to Effective Tobacco Control”.
• 2004 – Robin Badgley Award (Teaching, Early Career Category), Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Toronto
• 2003 – Field Preceptor Award, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Toronto
• 2000 – “Mentor of the Year, 2000” Award, conferred by the National Mentoring Program of the American Public Health Association

Current Research Projects

• Global tobacco control policy
• Training in public health policy
• Tobacco marketing at point-of-sale
• Industry-sponsored research models
• “Hardcore” smokers
• Longitudinal survey of smokers

Representative Publications

Cohen JE. Saving Lives with the US Tobacco Control Act. Lancet 2013; 381:1513-1514. (invited commentary)

Latkin CA, Murray LI, Clegg Smith K, Cohen JE, Knowlton AR. The Prevalence and Correlates of Single Cigarette Selling Among Urban Disadvantaged Drug Users in Baltimore, Maryland. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 2013; doi:pii: S0376-8716(13)00101-4. 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2013.03.007.

Cohen JE, Donaldson EA. A Framework to Evaluate the Development and Implementation of a Comprehensive Public Health Strategy Public Health. Public Health (in press).

Riley B, Viehbeck S, Cohen J, Chia M. “The Magic is in the Mix”: Lessons from Research Capacity Building in the Canadian Tobacco Control Community, 2000-2009. Canadian Journal of Public Health 2013; 104(2):e173-176.

Mecredy G, Diemert L, Callaghan R, Cohen J. Association between use of contraband tobacco and smoking cessation outcomes. Canadian Medical Association Journal 2013; 185(7):e287-294. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.111861

Rutkow L, Vernick JS, Tung GJ, Cohen JE. Creating Smoke-free Places Through the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. American Journal of Public Health (in press).

Bondy SJ, Victor JC, Diemert L, Mecredy G, Chaiton M, Brown KS, Cohen JE, Ferrence R, Garcia J, McDonald P, Selby P, Schwartz R. Transitions in Smoking Status Over Time in a Population-based Panel Study of Smokers. Nicotine & Tobacco Research 2012; doi: 10.1093/ntr/nts259.

Ayers JW, Althouse BM, Allem JP, Ford DE, Ribisl KM, Cohen JE. A Novel Evaluation of World No Tobacco Day in Latin America. Journal of Medical Internet Research 2012; 14(3):e77; doi: 10.2196/jmir.2148.

Jarvis MJ, Cohen JE, Delnevo CD, Giovino GA. Dispelling Myths about Gender Differences in Smoking Cessation: Population Data from the United States, Canada and Britain. Tobacco Control 2012; [Epub ahead of print]

Bondy SJ, Diemert LM, Victor JC, McDonald PW, Cohen JE. Assessing the Reach of Nicotine Replacement Therapy as a Preventive Public Health Measure. Chronic Diseases in Canada 2012; 33(1);19-28.

Sornpaisarn B, Shield K, Cohen J, Schwartz R, Rehm J. Elasticity of Alcohol Consumption, Alcohol-related Harms, and Drinking Initiation in Low- and Middle-income Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. International Journal of Alcohol and Drug Research (in press).

Pabayo R, O’Loughlin J, Barnett TA, Cohen JE, Gauvin L. Does Intolerance of Smoking at School, or in Restaurants, or in Corner Stores Near Schools Decrease Cigarette Use Initiation in Adolescents? Nicotine & Tobacco Research 2012;14(10):1154-1160.

Cohen JE, McDonald PW, Selby P. Softening Up on the Hardening Hypothesis. Tobacco Control 2012; 21(2):265-6.

Ip DT, Cohen JE, Bondy SJ, Chaiton MO, Selby P, Schwartz R, McDonald P, Garcia J, Ferrence R. Do Components of Current “Hardcore Smoker” Definitions Predict Quitting Behaviours. Addiction 2012;107(2):434-440. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2011.03674.x. [Epub ahead of print]

*Mecredy G, Bondy S, Cohen JE. Cigarette Type “Switchers”: A Descriptive Analysis. Canadian Journal of Public Health 2011; 102(6):477-478.

Roerecke M, Greenfield TK, Kerr WC, Bond J, Ye Y, Bondy S, Cohen J, Rehm J. Heavy Drinking Occasions in Relation to Ischaemic Heart Disease Mortality – An 11-22 Year Follow-up of the 1984 and 1995US National Alcohol Surveys. International Journal of Epidemiology 2011; 40(5)1401-1410.

*Mecredy G, Cohen JE, Ferrence R, Poland B, McDonald P, Garcia J. Typologies of Smokers and Non-smokers: Encouraging Changes over Time. Tobacco Control 2011; 20(5):385.

Cohen JE, Planinac L, Lavack A, Robinson D, O’Connor S, Di Nardo J. Changes in Retail Tobacco Promotions in a Cohort of Stores Before, During and After a Tobacco Product Display Ban. American Journal of Public Health 2011; 101(10):1879-91.

*Diemert LM, Cohen JE, Bondy SJ, Callaghan RC, Ferrence R, Garcia J, Schwartz R, Selby P. Smoking Low-cost Cigarettes: Disparities Evident. Canadian Journal of Public Health 2011; 102(1):73-74.

Cohen JE, Chaiton MO, Planinac LC. Tobacco Control and the Epidemiological Framework. Tobacco Control 2011; 20(4):318.

Edwards SA, Bondy SJ, Kowgier M, McDonald PW, Cohen JE. Are Occasional Smokers a Heterogeneous Group? An Exploratory Study. Nicotine & Tobacco Research 2010; 12(12):1195-1202.

*Chaiton MC, Cohen JE, O’Loughlin J, Rehm J. Use of Cigarettes to Improve Affect and Depressive Symptoms in a Longitudinal Study of Adolescents. Addictive Behaviors 2010; 35(12):1054-1060.

Cohen JE, Chaiton MO, Planinac LC. Taking stock: A Bibliometric Analysis of the Focus of Tobacco Research from the 1980s to the 2000s. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 2010; 39(4):352-356.

*Planinac LC, Cohen JE, Reynolds J, Robinson DJ, Lavack A, Korn D. Lottery Promotions at the Point-of-sale in Ontario, Canada. Journal of Gambling Studies (in press).

*Costa ML, Cohen JE, Chaiton MO, Ip D, McDonald P, Ferrence R. “Hardcore” Definitions and their Application to a Population-Based Sample of Smokers. Nicotine & Tobacco Research 2010; 12: 860-864; doi:10.1093/ntr/ntq103.

Kaufman PK, Griffin K, Cohen JE, Perkins N, Ferrence R. Smoking in Urban Outdoor Public Places: Behaviour, Experiences and Implications for Public Health. Health & Place 2010; 16:961–968; doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2010.05.012

Bondy SJ, Victor JC, O’Connor S, McDonald PW, Diemert LM, Cohen JE. Predictive Validity and Measurement Issues in Documenting Quit Intentions in Population Surveillance Studies. Nicotine & Tobacco Research 2010; 12(1): 43-52; doi:10.1093/ntr/ntp171

Victor JC, Brewster JM, Ashley MJ, Cohen JE, Selby P, Ferrence R. Tobacco-related Medical Education and Physician Interventions with Parents who Smoke: A Survey of Canadian Family Physicians and Paediatricians. Canadian Family Physician 2010; 56(2):157-163.