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Experts in Many Disciplines Gather to Discuss State of the Art in Each
Conference on the Science of Preventing Tobacco Use
In 1999, Pyramid Communications, Inc., Seattle, planned and implemented a tobacco prevention conference — "New Partnerships and Paradigms for Tobacco Prevention Research."
The conference created the first opportunity for tobacco prevention experts with widely varying backgrounds to come together.
Key Results
- On May 6–9, 1997, 62 invited biomedical, behavioral, and policy experts, in addition to others whose work is relevant to the prevention of tobacco use (see the Appendix for details) gathered at the Sundance Conference Center in Utah to:
- Network and share ideas. Conferees met others with an interest in tobacco prevention, whom they likely would not have met outside the conference.
- Receive summaries on state-of-the-art research. Twenty papers in five categories — biomedical, psychosocial, tobacco in society, social forces, and intervention research — were developed by participants for the conference.
- Engage in transdisciplinary brainstorming sessions. The use of break-out sessions, videotapes, and facilitators encouraged discussions and the exchange of ideas among researchers, including ways to collaborate and share information and future approaches to tobacco prevention.
- Participate in informal discussions. Participants met during free time outside conference sessions for informal interactions.
Funding
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) helped support the project with two grants totaling $250,586 between January 1996 and July 1998.