Pennsylvania State University Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science (TCORS)

描述（由申请人提供）：宾夕法尼亚州立大学烟草监管科学中心（tors）的总体目标是开发一个领先的、最先进的研究和培训基础设施，为烟草制品监管政策提供信息。为了实现这些目标，PSTCORS将宾夕法尼亚州立医学院的资源与宾夕法尼亚州立大学的大学公园主校区、哈佛大学和乔治华盛顿大学联合起来。宾夕法尼亚州立大学的许多设施将用于促进创新研究和培训，包括新建的吸烟实验室、核磁共振实验室和我们的美国国立卫生研究院资助的临床与转化科学研究所。TCORS将使我们能够增加额外的专业知识，例如吸烟生物标志物核心实验室，该实验室将为所有TCORS进行烟草科学的专门分析。我们的tcoors的一个中心主题是在弱势群体（如低社会经济地位、精神障碍）和少数群体中研究烟草监管科学。这将通过三个互补的研究项目来实现，这些项目具有共同的方法、共同的核心多学科方法和共同的领导，其总体目标是与烟草管制政策相关。宾夕法尼亚州立大学认识到烟草管理研究卓越中心的更普遍需求，并大力支持其研究和培训的跨学科努力和多样性

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall goal of the Penn State Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science (TCORS) is to develop a leading state-of-the-art research and training infrastructure that will inform policy on the regulation of tobacco products. To achieve these goals, the PSTCORS is uniting the resources of the Penn State College of Medicine with the main University Park campus in State College, PA, Harvard University and George Washington University. A number of Penn State's facilities will be utilized to foster innovative research and training including a newly built smoking laboratory, MRI labs, and our NIH-funded Clinical &Translational Science Institute. The TCORS will allow us to add additional expertise, such as a Smoking Biomarkers Core Laboratory that will perform specialized assays for tobacco science for all TCORS. A central theme of our TCORS is the study of tobacco regulatory science in vulnerable (e.g. low socioeconomic status, mental disorders) and minority populations. This will be accomplished through three complementary research projects that share common methodologies, common core multidisciplinary approaches, and common leadership with the overarching aim of relevancy for tobacco regulatory policies. Penn State University recognizes the more general needs of a Centers for Excellence for tobacco regulatory research in general and strongly supports interdisciplinary efforts and diversity in both its research and its training and educational programs. This commitment will be realized through the development of a dedicated educational program for tobacco regulation scholars and a pilot project program that fosters innovative ideas and research methods for testing and studying tobacco harm. The Penn State World Campus will facilitate our efforts in training young scientists in tobacco regulatory research and collaborating with other TCORS. These efforts are designed to sustain the TCORS concept in the future. RELEVANCE: Cigarettes constitute 90% of all combustible tobacco smoke products consumed in the United States and are the single most important cause of avoidable diseases. The Penn State TCORS will evaluate the health effects of switching smokers from their usual cigarettes to reduced nicotine cigarettes on nicotine dependence and tobacco harm. If safe and effective, this strategy will have large public health benefits.