Robin Mermelstein, PhD

Robin Mermelstein, Ph.D. is Distinguished Professor, Department of Psychology, the Director of the Institute for Health Research and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the Co-Director (contact PI) of the Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CTSA award) at UIC, and the Co-Director of UIC’s Institute for Research on Addictions. As a clinician- scientist, Dr. Mermelstein’s interests span the full range from basic mechanisms of substance use to clinical research, to population health and dissemination. She has substantial experience conducting longitudinal cohort studies of high-risk populations. Her research has been continuously supported by the NIH since 1987, with a primary focus on understanding and reducing tobacco and substance use across all ages and vulnerable populations. She was the PI of a NCI-funded program project grant (for 14 years), investigating the integrative pathways (from genetics through macro- environmental influences) of adolescent and young adult tobacco use. Much of Dr. Mermelstein’s research has addressed the question of adolescent and young adulttobacco use; understanding the development and trajectories of tobacco use; and using novel methods, such as real-time data capture to examine the immediate contexts surrounding smoking and to understand, in-depth a variety of combinations of tobacco, cannabis, and alcohol use. Throughout her career, Dr. Mermelstein’s research has also addressed the development and evaluation of smoking cessation interventions for adolescents, young adults, unmotivated adult smokers, and special populations of adult smokers, and using innovative and efficient research designs and methods to address these problems. Dr. Mermelstein has served on, and chaired, multiple national working groups addressing methodological questions related to studying adolescent and young adult tobacco use and was a member of the IOM Committee and co-author of its report on the Public Health Implications of Raising the Minimum Age of Access for Tobacco Use. She is a former member and chair of the FDA’s Tobacco Product Scientific Advisory Committee, and a Past President of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco.