Neal Benowitz

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Neal L. Benowitz is an American academic physician and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), with expertise on the pharmacology of nicotine and tobacco addiction.

Contents

Education

Benowitz studied physics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute from 1962 to 1965. [1] He received his M.D. from the University of Rochester in 1969, after which he worked as an intern and resident at Bronx Municipal Hospital Center for two years as a resident and intern. He then spent the next year working as a fellow in clinical pharmacology at the University of California, San Francisco. [2]

Career

Benowitz joined the faculty of UCSF in 1973 as a clinical instructor. He was appointed an assistant professor there the following year, and became an associate professor in 1981. Since 1987, he has been a professor of medicine, psychiatry, and biopharmaceutical sciences at UCSF. [1] Since 1983, he has also been the chief of UCSF's Clinical Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics division. [2]

Research

Benowitz is known for studying the pharmacology of nicotine, [3] and he has been called "one of the country's preeminent experts on nicotine." [4] In 1988, he served as a senior scientific editor of the Surgeon General's report on nicotine addiction. [5] In 2009, he co-wrote a report from the Institute of Medicine on the cardiovascular effects of passive smoking. [6]

FDA Committee membership

In 2010, Benowitz was named a member of the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee, an advisory panel of the Food and Drug Administration. [7] At the time, some were concerned that he might have a conflict of interest due to the fact that he had served as a consultant to GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer, who make smoking cessation products, but Benowitz dismissed these accusations, saying that he didn't see a "direct conflict of interest" because the panel does not oversee smoking cessation products. [7] In 2011, tobacco companies Lorillard and RJ Reynolds sued the Food and Drug Administration, claiming that Benowitz, along with Jack Henningfield and Jonathan Samet, had conflicts of interest that disqualified them from being members of the committee. Specifically, the tobacco companies claimed that Benowitz, Henningfield and Samet had conflicts of interest because all three of them had received thousands of dollars to testify against tobacco companies and had served as advisors to companies that make smoking cessation products. [8] In July 2014, Judge Richard J. Leon ruled in favor of the companies, finding that Benowitz, Henningfield and Samet all were ineligible to serve on the panel due to their conflicts of interest, and ordering the FDA to reorganize the panel. [9]

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The scientific community in United States and Europe are primarily concerned with the possible effect of electronic cigarette use on public health. There is concern among public health experts that e-cigarettes could renormalize smoking, weaken measures to control tobacco, and serve as a gateway for smoking among youth. The public health community is divided over whether to support e-cigarettes, because their safety and efficacy for quitting smoking is unclear. Many in the public health community acknowledge the potential for their quitting smoking and decreasing harm benefits, but there remains a concern over their long-term safety and potential for a new era of users to get addicted to nicotine and then tobacco. There is concern among tobacco control academics and advocates that prevalent universal vaping "will bring its own distinct but as yet unknown health risks in the same way tobacco smoking did, as a result of chronic exposure", among other things.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco</span>

The Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) is an international nonprofit organization and professional association that studies and shares research on nicotine and tobacco use from a public health and scientific perspective. It is the largest organization focused on nicotine and tobacco, with members in 40 countries. SRNT has its own official scientific journal, Nicotine & Tobacco Research, founded in 1999 and published by Oxford University Press. SRNT’s work has been used by the World Health Organization and governments in setting policies on topics such as tobacco advertising, taxation, smoke-free laws, and smoking cessation. SRNT has been particularly active in work on the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement in the US. SRNT does not accept funding from the tobacco industry. The organization does accept funding from pharmaceutical companies that make medications to help people quit smoking.

References

  1. 1 2 "Neal L. Benowitz, M.D. Curriculum Vitae" (PDF). Food and Drug Administration . Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. 1 2 "Neal L. Benowitz, MD". UCSF. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  3. ↑ Tavernise, Sabrina (23 February 2014). "A Hot Debate Over E-Cigarettes as a Path to Tobacco, or From It". New York Times. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  4. ↑ Moriarty, Erin (17 April 2015). "Killer poison: Nicotine as a murder weapon?". CBS News. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  5. ↑ Wilson, Duff (8 June 2010). "Group Objects to 2 Members of Tobacco Safety Panel". New York Times. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  6. ↑ "Report: Smoking bans protect nonsmokers' hearts". USA Today. Associated Press. 15 October 2009. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  7. 1 2 Kesmodel, David (1 March 2010). "FDA Tobacco Panel Includes Members With Quit-Smoking Ties". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  8. ↑ Wilson, Duff (26 February 2011). "Lorillard and Reynolds Sue F.D.A." New York Times. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  9. ↑ Levin, Myron (5 October 2014). "Why Big Tobacco keeps demolishing the FDA in federal court". Salon. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
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