Tobacco Online Policy Seminar 2023
Abstract
The Tobacco Online Policy Seminar (TOPS) series has established itself as a leading venue for disseminating
policy-relevant tobacco research, having hosted over 50 events in its two-year history. TOPS is a free,
multidisciplinary, biweekly Zoom-based seminar series for research with tobacco policy implications using
experimental or quasi-experimental study designs (i.e., with a well-defined counterfactual). This forum is
designed to bring together academics, students, government employees, policy researchers, healthcare
professionals, advocates, and funders, with the goal of breaking silos in tobacco policy research and providing
a platform for high-quality research to be discussed and disseminated. The ultimate goal of the forum is to
facilitate the production and sharing of knowledge to develop an effective tobacco policy framework for
improving population health. TOPS strives to be a respectful, inclusive, and diverse forum, with participants
and attendees united around the concept of presenting and learning from tobacco research using study
designs capable of producing results with a causal interpretation. TOPS was conceptualized and is managed
by an Executive Board of four tobacco control researchers: Johanna Catherine Maclean, Michael Pesko, Ce
Shang, and Justin White. TOPS is supported by an advisory board of 37 experts in tobacco control research.
Since its first seminar on September 2020, TOPS has had a research seminar every two weeks and has
averaged 148 people per seminar and 184 people per seminar since Oct. 2021. The aims of this renewal
conference grant application are to: 1) continue TOPS and ensure that the series is maximally informative to
the FDA and other researchers in the field; and 2) introduce new opportunities for interaction between
presenters and seminar participants. To meet these aims, the TOPS Executive Board will meet regularly
throughout the year to continue planning and hosting TOPS seminars. The conference grant will also support
the effort of a part-time administrator to oversee day-to-day activities of TOPS.