Colorado Nicotine, E-Cigarettes, and Tobacco Research Alliance (CoNECTR)

CoNECTR is a research program that aims to bring together people conducting diverse research on nicotine, tobacco and vaping around the University of Colorado. We hope to create communications and build community among colleagues in diverse disciplines who are studying tobacco, nicotine and vaping.

The goal of this community building is to lay the groundwork for collaboration and identify needed resources that will support multidisciplinary research, extramural projects or center grants, or possibly develop into a Center in the future.

CoNECTR: Vision and Mission

Vision:

To facilitate innovative transdisciplinary research, in partnership with clinical care and public health, to improve health outcomes in all communities by reducing illness and death caused by tobacco and nicotine products.

Mission Statement:

To cultivate innovative and impactful tobacco and nicotine research within our community of scientists, spanning disciplines from basic science to clinical and population-based research. We seek to grow a pipeline of scientists and practitioners in partnership with our community. Our work is driven by the needs of all Coloradans, with the overarching goal of reducing the harms of commercial tobacco and nicotine products and improving health across the full spectrum of our population.

Guiding Principles:

To conduct research guided by community needs and to build sustainable tobacco control solutions
To nurture tobacco research partnerships through collaboration with public health, advocates, educators, and community organizations, striving to support health and empower all individuals
To lead with empathy and combat the stigma of tobacco and nicotine use

Gina Kruse, MD, MPH
Director of CoNECTR Research Program
Associate Professor

Dr. Kruse is a physician researcher in the Division of General Internal Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. She trained in internal medicine and primary care at Massachusetts General Hospital, completed a Harvard Medical School General Internal Medicine research fellowship, earned her MPH in Clinical Effectiveness from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health followed by a post-doctoral fellowship in Cancer Prevention from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences. Dr. Kruse’s research uses clinical trials, observational research, and mixed methods to test interventions and examine implementation strategies to improve the delivery of preventive services with a focus on improving tobacco cessation treatment in healthcare settings in the US and internationally.

Link to Kruse Profile

Executive Committee

Sara Cooper, PhD, MSPH

Director of Community Epidemiology & Program Evaluation (CEPEG), Senior Instructor, Clinical Teaching Track

Department of Community & Behavioral Health | Colorado School of Public Health

Link to Cooper Profile

Jamie L Studts

Scientific Director of Behavioral Oncology, Co-Leader of Cancer Prevention and Control Program, Co-Director of Population Health Shared Resource, Professor

Medical Oncology | School of Medicine

Link to Studts Profile