In 2012, the University of Wisconsin Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention (UW-CTRI) is celebrating 20 years of helping smokers to quit. UW-CTRI combines ground-breaking tobacco research with practical application. This has resulted in the UW-CTRI achieving a national reputation for expertise in the study of tobacco treatment and dependence.

UW-CTRI also provides services to thousands of Wisconsin residents through its outreach program and the Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line, which provides cessation service to anyone anywhere in Wisconsin, supported by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

Changes to clinical practice and health-care systems are best guided by scientific research. UW-CTRI conducts state-of-the-art tobacco research in real-world clinics that is grounded in principles of methodical, transparent, rigorous research.

Since the launch of UW-CTRI’s Outreach Program in 2001 as part of a comprehensive, statewide tobacco control program, UW-CTRI outreach specialists have worked with virtually every health-care system and insurer – as well as thousands of clinics and dozens of hospitals across Wisconsin. The goal has been to ensure that smokers throughout the state have access to affordable, effective treatments to quit smoking or chewing tobacco. These specialists provide training and technical assistance to clinics, hospitals and health systems to create sustainable improvements to the way they treat tobacco dependence.

UW-CTRI has:

• Published more than 300 research articles.
• Helped more than 200,000 smokers to quit.
• Generated more than $100 million in grant funding.
• Become a go-to source for journalists.
• Created the No. 1 Web site for tobacco research listed on Google.
• Changed the way health-care systems approach tobacco treatment.

Some of the Center’s top achievements include:

• Being a driving force to institute tobacco use as a standard vital sign for all patients.
• Chairing the U.S. Public Health Service Clinical Practice Guideline: Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence. (2000 and 2008)
• Contributing to the National Action Plan to reduce tobacco dependence.
• Researching key quit-tobacco counseling strategies and medications, such as bupropion and varenicline.
• Creating the Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line.
• Training tens of thousands of health-care practitioners.
• Assisting with passing a workplace smoking ban in Madison and then statewide in Wisconsin.
• Working with disadvantaged populations to help smokers quit.
• Conducting ground-breaking research in areas such as dependence, cessation, and genetics.
• Working on systems change such as incorporation of tobacco treatment into health-care settings, including electronic health records.

A historical video shows how UW-CTRI fits into tobacco-control over the last two decades.