PROJECT SUMMARY
Candidate: My career goal is to become a leading tobacco control investigator combining epidemiological and
mobile health (mHealth) approaches to address substance use among diverse populations. The overarching
goal of this career development award is to become equipped with mHealth intervention in order to develop a
smartphone-based intervention reducing e-cigarette use (nicotine vaping) among young adults (18-25 years old).
Career development plan: To achieve my career and research objectives, I require three mentored training
goals: (T1) machine learning approaches to mHealth data analysis; (T2) clinical treatment for tobacco cessation,
and (T3) mHealth intervention development and implementation. The training and research plan will be guided
by my multidisciplinary mentoring team: Dr. Ling (clinical treatment for young adult vaping cessation), Dr. Marcus
(mHealth methods), Dr. Capra (machine learning methods), Dr. Rigotti (tobacco cessation intervention), Dr. Thrul
(smartphone-based intervention), and Dr. Koester (qualitative methods). Environment: The University of
California San Francisco (UCSF) with a distinguished record of research on tobacco control and mHealth
provides an intellectually outstanding environment for the proposed training and research. In addition to physical
resources, I have access to experts at multiple research centers at UCSF. Research Project: The proposed
research has three specific aims: (1) Assess patterns (e.g., vaping frequency and intensity) and real-time
predictors of young adult vaping (e.g., craving, stress, location); (2) Develop an intervention prototype that
delivers messages tailored to high-risk situations for vaping; and (3) Examine feasibility and acceptability of
delivering the intervention in real-time situations. This study will be the first to assess the potential of a
smartphone-based intervention delivering just-in-time adaptive supports during risky situations for vaping
occurrence. The study is highly significant because: it addresses a major public health concern (i.e., the vaping
epidemic) in a priority population for tobacco control (i.e., young adults); and it provides new scientific evidence
on innovative intervention strategies to curb the vaping epidemic and related negative health effects among
young people. Summary: This proposal uses a rigorous approach combining innovative methods of ecological
momentary assessment, machine learning, Just-In-Time Adaptive Intervention, and user-centered design to
develop a personalized vaping cessation intervention that adapts the provision of supports to an individual’s
changing internal and contextual state. The multidisciplinary mentoring team and the outstanding institutional
environment ensure the success of this proposal. This proposal will provide me with critical knowledge and
expertise and preliminary data to launch my independent research career in tobacco control and successfully
submit an R01 application to examine the efficacy of the established vaping cessation intervention.