A Nicotine-Focused Regulatory Strategy: The Science

Dorothy Hatsukami, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Forster Family Chair in Cancer Prevention
Masonic Cancer Center
University of Minnesota
Pioneers in Biomedical Research Seminar
A Nicotine-Focused Regulatory Strategy: The Science
Date: March 13, 2026
Time: 11 a.m. to noon
In-person: Room G101 A/B, 4 Riverside Circle, Roanoke, Virginia
Virtual: Watch via Zoom
About this Seminar
In a 2017 New England Journal of Medicine article, Scott Gottlieb (former FDA Commissioner) and Mitch Zeller (former Director of the FDA Center for Tobacco Products) described a comprehensive nicotine focused regulatory strategy that entailed reducing nicotine in cigarettes to minimally or non-addictive, while at the same time providing people who smoke and who need or want nicotine with access to alternative less harmful sources. This presentation will describe the scientific basis to support the nicotine regulatory strategy proposed by Gottlieb and Zeller. Additionally, the challenges and concerns about this strategy will be addressed along with future directions.
Additional Details
This is a free event hosted by the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute and co-sponsored by the institute's Cancer Research Center — Roanoke. The Pioneers in Biomedical Research Seminar Series, which runs annually from September to May, has featured leading biomedical researchers from throughout the country since the program began in 2012. The lectures are also open to all members of the Virginia Tech community including graduate students, undergraduates, faculty, and staff, as well as the public.
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