April 1, 2005

Smoking expert to talk about tobacco concerns in the 21st century

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A nationally known smoking policy expert will speak at Purdue University on April 6 about changes in policies and resources locally, nationally and internationally.

Stephen J. Jay, professor of medicine and public health and chair of the Department of Public Health at Indiana University School of Medicine, will present "Are U.S. Health Research Priorities Aligned to Meet Global Health Needs in the Early 21st Century?" The internist and pulmonary specialist also is chairperson of the Indiana State Medical Association Tobacco Control Task Force.

The talk, at 7 p.m. in Stewart Center, Room 320, is free and open to the public.

Jay's presentation will look at policy trends, including Indiana's statewide tobacco control initiative, which is led by the Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Agency, said Thomas Templin, professor and head of Purdue's Department of Health and Kinesiology.

"Dr. Jay has been researching tobacco-related issues since 1972," Templin said. "He is best known for his research on the changes in human lungs' structure and function as a result of tobacco smoke and his clinical research on the effects of smoking in lung disease. He also has looked at cost-effective smoking cessation programs."

Jay also teaches students and health professionals about tobacco use and smoking cessation, environmental tobacco smoke, and tobacco-control policy. He is co-director of the Indiana University Nicotine Dependence Program.

The lecture is part of the Department of Health and Kinesiology Spring 2005 Visiting Scholar Lecture Series. The second lecture in this series is at 7 p.m. on April 18 in Stewart Center, Room 314. Stephan Swinnen, professor from the Department of Kinesiology at Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven, Belgium, will speak on "Changes in Brain Activation as a Result of Learning Motor Skills."

Writer: Amy Patterson-Neubert, (765) 494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu

Source: Thomas Templin, (765) 494-3178, ttemplin@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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