Dr. Arturo Durazo is the Director of the Nicotine & Cannabis Policy Center and is an Assistant Professor of Public Health at the University of California, Merced. Dr. Durazo completed a bachelor's degree from UC Irvine and his Ph.D. in Psychological Sciences from UC Merced. Also, he completed postdoctoral training at the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education (CTCRE) at UC San Francisco.
Dr. Durazo’s work focuses on individual and structural factors that promote well-being in low-income, racial/ethnic, and/or sexual/gender minority communities, who disproportionately bear the brunt of tobacco-related illnesses. He has over 30 years of experience implementing community-based research and developing evidence-based interventions to promote health equity. In his role as Principal Investigator of two TRDRP training grants in collaboration with CSU Stanislaus and with CSU Fresno — he is committed to mentoring and developing future public health leaders. He also has mentored over 30 undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral trainees in health psychology, public health, sociology, and pre-medicine, enhancing their research skills and mentorship capacity.
