NCPC Interns Presenting Research Posters at A Billion Lives Symposium
NCPC Interns Present Research at "Its About A Billion Lives Symposium"
Our amazing NCPC Interns and Research Assistants we accepted to present thier research posters at the "It’s About a Billion Lives Symposium", hosted by the UCSF Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, UCSF’s Multiethnic Health Equity Research Center, and UCSF’s Smoking Cessation Leadership Center
NCPC Interns Presenting Research Posters at TESS 2026
NCPC Interns Present Research Posters at Symposium
Wonderful to see so many of our NCPC Interns and Research Assistants present their reseach, at the recent NCPC Tobacco Endgame Scholarship Symposium (TESS). We are incredible proud of this new generation of amazing tobacco advocates.
Dr. Dorie Apollonio, UCSF Students and NCPC team members conducting field research
Dr. Dorie Apollonio, UCSF Students & NCPC team conduct field research
NCPC and UCSF collaborative team interview pharmacists across the San Joaquin Valley as part of the joint study to help boost effective tobacco cessation treatment in California’s Central Valley.
Dr. Sara Schneider Attending SRNT conference
NCPC Attends SRNT to Present Poster
Dr. Sara Schneider, NCPC posdocotral scholar attended the The Society for Research on Nicotine & Tobacco (SRNT) confernence in Baltimore to present the lastes NCPC findings.
Dr. Colleen Naughton collecting wastewater samples and being interviewed by ABC30 News
ABC30 Action News Film NCPC Wastewater Research
Dr. Colleen Naughton and Dr. Marc Beutal are interviewed by TV news crew while taking samples of UC Merced's wastewater. This is part of Dr. Naughton's innovative pilot grant, funded by the NCPC, uncovering the true prevalence of smoking by testing for nicotine metabolites in sewage.

 

 

THE MISSION

The mission of the Nicotine and Cannabis Policy Center (NCPC), following our funding renewal in June 2024 from the Tobacco Related Disease Research Program, has been refined to reflect the data gathered in our first 5 years. When first created, the NCPC aimed to gather, understand, and promote the thoughts and feelings of rural California residents on tobacco and cannabis policy, via large scale surveys across 11 counties of the San Joaquin Valley and adjoining mountains. 

As we look to the next 5 years, we aim to embolden community partners and share policy-influencing data in the long battle against the pervasive use of tobacco and other inhalants, helping work towards reducing tobacco-related diseases and deaths in this overlooked and underserved region of rural California.

The center will continue to be at the forefront of examining the impacts of tobacco and cannabis use, while also engaging local residents through community workshops to gather feedback, which in turn can help develop new and existing tobacco and cannabis policies. The NCPC's success relies on our close collaborations with San Joaquin Valley county health departments and community-based organizations.

The Nicotine and Cannabis Policy Center (NCPC) is part of the Health Sciences Research Institute (HSRI)

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COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS

The NCPC is partnering with several key community organizations in the San Joaquin Valley. Click the logos below.

The NCPC will work closely with CDPH members and local Public Health Departments to identify crucial policy issues within the 11 counties and help with research recruitment and disseminating our findings.

The California Health Collaborative is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization based in Fresno, committed to enhancing the quality of life and health of people in California, particularly the underserved and underrepresented. 

The Tobacco-Use Prevention Education (TUPE) Capacity Building Project aims to build the capacity of school-based TUPE programs across the state by using a collaborative approach to highlight model programs and best practices, share resources, and support data-driven continuous improvement efforts. 

 

NCPC MEDIA SPOTLIGHT

Click the links for NCPC related news or stories utilizing our expertize.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

COVID-19 News

VOICES OF THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY

  What concerns me the most about smoking and vaping now, is the vaping - the E-cigarettes. Those are flavored and they makes kids think that its OK, because it's flavored. A lot of people don't see danger in things that look and tastes good. They don't know how deadly or addictive it could be.
- Necola Adams, Merced Resident.

 

TOBACCO AND NICOTINE EFFECTS ON COVID-19

Please review the attachments below for information in both English and Spanish, summarizing the emerging literature on COVID-19 and the effects of tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure. The literature is evolving as research on COVID-19 is rapidly emerging and disseminating; these reports and fact sheets will be updated regularly. Click the Images for the full PDF and watch the Retro Report documentary featuring Dr. Anna Song:

COVID-19 REPORT NCPC Uc Merced AprilCOVID-19 and smoking NCPC UC Merced

To get the latest information on COVID-19 and the association with tobacco, vaping & secondhand smoke, click the button below

 

NCPC OFFICE LOCATIONS

NCPC MERCED OFFICE, SOCIAL SCIENCE & MANAGEMENT BUILDING

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UC Merced Health Research News

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UC Merced is abuzz with celebration as students, families, friends, staff and faculty finish last-minute preparations for the largest commencement in university history. Across three outdoor...

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Five UC Merced faculty members are among the first awardees of a UC-wide honor given for exemplary research in budding academic careers. The Early Career Faculty Research Excellence Awards, launched...

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On a spring day in Merced’s Applegate Park, the man sat in front of a camera, spinning memories. He described decades of Latin music and dance pulsing in the city, moments drawn from eight decades of...

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