The Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society
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From the DirectorMissonParticipantsSupportExhibitionsPeer-Reviewed Research PostersInvited and Peer-Reviewed Conference PresentationsUniversity of Alabama Presentations Journal PublicationsNewspaper CommentariesFilmAcknowledgements
Welcome to the Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society
Alan Blum, MD
Director
Professor and Gerald Leon Wallace, MD, Endowed Chair in Family Medicine
University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa
ablum@ua.edu
As the Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society enters its 20th year at the University of Alabama, I am proud to report that 2017-2018 has been the most productive in the Center’s history. The creation of two full-time archival positions has led to the appointment of a talented collection manager, Mary Clare Johnson (MLIS, University of South Carolina) and an innovative digital archivist, Kevin Bailey (Masters in Public History, University of North Alabama). Together we have accelerated the digitization of material from our vast historical collection on the tobacco industry, cigarette marketing, and the anti-smoking movement, and we have revised the collection into 54 subject categories.
A renewed emphasis on online exhibitions has led to the release in April of the Center’s twelfth and largest exhibition, Big Tobacco in the Big Apple: How New York City Became the Heart of the Tobacco Industry…and Anti-Smoking Activism, which was begun three years ago by former collections manager Natalie Thompson (MLIS, University of Alabama). The year also marked the creation of an updated presentation and soon-to-be-released exhibition, Smoking in the Balcony Only: When Movie Stars Sold Cigarettes, and an original film, Puff Your Cares Away…, which premiered at the annual conference of the Theatre Historical Society of America in June. Three more exhibitions are slated for release in 2018, and our decade-in-the-making exhibition and oral history of DOC and the origins of anti-smoking activism will be released in 2019.
The Center produced five original peer-reviewed research posters and two original peer-reviewed presentations for the 17th World Conference on Tobacco or Health in Cape Town, South Africa, and I have now given more invited and peer-reviewed presentations at world conferences on smoking than any other attendee–over 45 at 12 conferences since 1983. In September at Tufts University School of Medicine, I had the honor of presenting both Oncology Grand Rounds (“The Oncologist’s Role in Ending the Tobacco Pandemic”) and Internal Medicine Grand Rounds ( “Successes and Failures of the Anti-smoking Movement”). In October I was invited for the fifth time to present the family medicine guest lecture for the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Primary Care Week (“How a Band of Family Medicine Residents Sparked the Modern Anti-smoking Movement”). In commentaries for The Cancer Network and other publications, I continue to question the lack of accountability, foot-dragging, misplaced priorities, and wasteful spending on duplicative research in “tobacco control.”
Utilizing the lessons learned from nearly five decades of attempting to counter the use and promotion of tobacco products, in recent years I have mentored student research projects to address the parallel rise in tanning bed use and malignant melanoma in young women (The Tanning Bedlam Project); the increase in alcohol marketing targeted to college students; universities’ and high schools’ conflicted role in counteracting the increase in adolescent obesity; the lack of knowledge by physicians about electronic cigarettes (The ABCD’s of E-Cigarettes Project), the growing threat to public health by the anti-science, anti-vaccination movement and the re-emergence of once-eradicated infectious diseases(original presentation: Polio: Forgotten but Not Gone), and the deficient understanding on the part of both physicians and college students alike of the health consequences of marijuana. In the past year, University of Alabama Catherine J. Randall Scholar and Computer-based Honors Program premedical student Tom Gruchala and I have created an original research poster, presentation, and website to raise awareness among university administrators, students, and physicians of the alarming rise in digital media addiction and adverse physical and mental health effects among college students–research that was awarded second place in April at the University of Alabama Undergraduate Research Day.
I wish to thank the University of Alabama, the College of Community Health Sciences, and our benefactors, advisors, and participants for their ongoing support of this unique historical resource on tackling the single most preventable cause of death and disease of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Mission
The mission of the University of Alabama Center for Study of Tobacco and Society, founded by Alan Blum, MD in 1999, is to explore, investigate, compare and contrast the historical and contemporary aspects of the tobacco issue and the role and influence of tobacco in society through an interdisciplinary approach that involves research, professional education, and community outreach. The Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society serves as an international resource on tobacco issues.
Participants
Alan Blum, MD
Director
Professor, Department of Family Medicine
Gerald Leon Wallace, MD, Endowed Chair in Family Medicine
College of Community Health Sciences
Mary Clare Johnson, MLIS
Collections Manager
Kevin Bailey, MA
Digital Archivist
Eric Solberg, MS
Vice-President
University of Texas Health Sciences Center at Houston
Associate Dean
University of Texas Health Sciences Center at Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
Medical Activism Advisor
Edward Anselm, MD
Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Medical Director
EmblemHealth, New York City
Smoking Cessation Advisor
Robert Riter, PhD
Assistant Professor
School of Library and Information Studies
Archives Advisor
Mark Usry
Graduate Student
School of Library and Information Studies
University of Alabama
Natalie Thompson Shacklett, MLIS
Former Collections Manager
John Hamilton, MLIS
Former Digital Archivist
Tomasz Gruchala
Undergraduate Honors Student
Catherine J Randall Research Scholar
University of Alabama
Christopher Burks
Undergraduate Student
University of Alabama
Support
Mrs. Celia Wallace, Alan Blum MD, and the portrait of Dr. and Mrs. Gerald Leon Wallace, at Springhill Medical Center, Mobile, Alabama. Dr. Wallace, founder of the medical center, was a compassionate and innovative leader in patient care.
Rick Richards, MD and Alan Blum, MD (along with Thomas Houston, MD) are awarded the Surgeon General’s Medallion in 1987 by Dr. C. Everett Koop, for their pioneering efforts to inspire the medical profession to counter the tobacco pandemic
The University of Alabama Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society is supported by grants from Mrs. Celia Wallace and the Richards Family Foundation. Mrs. Wallace is chair of the board of directors of Springhill Memorial Hospital in Mobile, Alabama, and a leading advocate for disease prevention and community health. Dr. Lee Wallace, PhD, son of Dr. and Mrs. Gerald Wallace, is the chief executive officer of Southern Medical Health Systems the parent company of Springhill Medical Center. Dr. Rick Richards of Augusta, Georgia, is a family physician and medical activist who has created innovative health care cost-containment programs and health-related companies.
Exhibitions
Released
Blum A. “Big Tobacco in the Big Apple: How New York City Became the Heart of the Tobacco Industry…and Anti-Smoking Activism.” Released April 2018.
Blum A., et al. “Wedded to Smoking.” Released May 2018.
(Topic Focused Exhibit)
Upcoming
Blum A., et al. “Of Mice and Menthol.” September 2018.
Blum A. “Smoking in the Balcony Only: When Movie Stars Sold Cigarettes.” October 2018.
Blum A., et al. “Cartoonists Take Up Smoking.” November 2018.
Blum A, Novotny T. The filter fraud: Debunking the myth of “safer” as a key new strategy of tobacco control. 17th World Conference on Tobacco or Health, Cape Town, South Africa. March 7-8, 2018.
Blum A. Of mice and menthol: Rethinking well-intentioned but insufficient strategies to counteract tobacco use and promotion in minority populations. 17th World Conference on Tobacco or Health, Cape Town, South Africa. March 9, 2018.
Blum A. From anti-smoking activist to archivist… and back again: How exhibitions on the history of tobacco control are helping to educate a new generation: Highlights of Six Exhibitions. 17th World Conference on Tobacco or Health, Cape Town, South Africa. March 9, 2018.
Blum A. Ongoing relationships between the tobacco industry and universities: An insidious obstacle to tobacco control. 17th World Conference on Tobacco or Health, Cape Town, South Africa. March 7-8, 2018.
Blum A. Reflections on 50 years as an anti-smoking activist: The danger of the single narrative. 17th World Conference on Tobacco or Health, Cape Town, South Africa. March 9, 2018.
Blum A, Gruchala, T. Digital media addiction: An emerging problem among college students. University of Alabama System Student Honors Research Day. February 3, 2018; University of Alabama Undergraduate Research Day. April 2018. (Awarded second place); Alabama Rural Health Conference. April 2018.
Blum A. The Surgeon Genral vs. The Marlboro Man: Who Really Won. 16th World Conference on Tobacco or Health, Abu-Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. 2015. (Updated 2018)
Tsugios L, Blum A. Pet therapy. University of Alabama College of Community Health Sciences Research and Scholarly Activity Day. November 9, 2017.
Invited Lectureships and Peer-Reviewed Conference Presentations
By Alan Blum, MD
“The Oncologist’s Role in Ending the Tobacco Pandemic.” Oncology Grand Rounds. Tufts University School of Medicine.
September 15, 2017.
“Successes and Failures of the Anti-Smoking Movement.” Internal Medicine Grand Rounds. Tufts University School of Medicine. September 15, 2017.
“Obesity and the Mass Media.” Noon Seminar. University of Cape Town School of Public Health and Family Medicine. March 5, 2018.
“From Anti-Smoking Activist to Archivist and Back Again: How Museum Exhibitions on the History of Tobacco Control are Helping to Educate a New Generation.” 17th World Conference on Tobacco or Health, Cape Town, South Africa. March 9, 2018.
“The Philip Morris Genome Project: A Guide to Tracking Alliances of the World’s Largest Cigarette Company.” 17th World Conference on Tobacco or Health, Cape Town, South Africa. March 8, 2018.
University of Alabama Presentations by Alan Blum, MD
“Fighting Smoke with Fire: How a Band of Family Medicine Residents Sparked the Modern Anti-Smoking Movement.” University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine Annual Primary Care Week Lecture in Family Medicine, October 6, 2017.
“Tackling Tobacco.” Premedical students’ UH 400 Class. October 23, 2017.
“Obesity and the Mass Media: The Big Picture.” Premedical students’ UH 400 Class. January 12, 2018.
“Advocacy Advertisements in the Print Media.” Professor Jessy Ohl’s Undergraduate and Graduate Class on Visual and Digital Rhetoric. February 15, 2018.
Medical Student Didactic Session on Smoking Cessation. July 7, 2017; September 1, 2017; September 29, 2017; February 23, 2018; May 11, 2018.
Community Presentation:
“Overview of the Tobacco Issue in Alabama: Fighting Smoke With Fire.” Alabama Community Health. September 5, 2017.
Journal Publications
This article inspired an editorial in the British Medical Journal: Mintzes B: The rise of ambiguous competing interest declarations. BMJ 2018;361 [10 April 2018]
Newspaper Commentaries
Blum A. Electronic cigarettes. Wall Street Journal. September 15, 2018. https://www.wsj.com/articles/e-cigarettes-arent-the-answer-for-the-young-1505424740. Accessed July 30, 2018.
Blum A. Unhealthy profits: We’re all addicted to tobacco stocks. The Birmingham News. February 21, 2018(A):4. https://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2018/02/it_might_surprise_you_who_else.html. Accessed July 30, 2018.
Film
Blum A, Burks C. Puff Your Cares Away: Smoking and the Silver Screen. Premiere at the Theatre Historical Society of America Annual Conference. Detroit, Michigan, June 19, 2018.
Previewed at The Art of Medicine Rounds, College of Community Health Sciences, June 7, 2018.
Premier screening at the annual conference of the Theatre Historical Society of America, Chrysler Black Box Theatre, Detroit Opera House, June 19, 2018.
Acknowledgements
Rick Streiffer, MD
Dean, 2012-2018
College of Community Health Sciences (CCHS)
Richard Friend, MD
Chair, Department of Family, Internal, and Rural Medicine, CCHS
Melani Harrell
Administrative Secretary
Department of Family, Rural, and Internal Medicine, CCHS
Allison Arendale
Director of Financial Affairs, CCHS
Johnathan Bean, PhD
Professor of History
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
Nelle Williams, MLIS
Director, Medical Library
College of Community Health Sciences
Pamela Ewing, MLIS candidate
Medical Librarian
College of Community Health Sciences
Jacqueline Cochrane
Library Assistant
College of Community Health Sciences
Benjamin Rapaport
Antiquarian Tobacciana
Sam, David, Leon and Doris Blum
Steven MacCall, PhD
Associate Professor
School of Library and Information Studies
Greg Randall
CCHS Webmaster
Craig Remington
Cartographic Lab Supervisor
Department of Geography
The University of Alabama
Allison Leitner
Director of Advancement
University of Alabama
Nora Ray and Anne Landry
The Cancer Network