UCL Tobacco & Alcohol Research Group (UTARG)
Our central Cancer Research UK programme aims to develop and apply novel scientific approaches to increase the population rate of smoking cessation and alcohol reduction, targeting multiple levels by:
- integrating theory and data from population surveys (Smoking Toolkit Study/Alcohol Toolkit Study) and experimental studies in computational models;
- optimising and evaluating wide-reach, hybrid human-digital-pharmacological interventions;
- addressing inequalities using a mixed-methods approach, combining co-design and lived experience with epidemiology;
- methodological innovation including use of ontologies and open-science principles;
- transdisciplinary integration to identify risk profiles and accelerate development of emerging treatments.
Meet the Team
Professor Jamie Brown (Director)
Professor Lion Shahab (Co-Director)
Emeritus Professor Martin Jarvis
Emeritus Professor Robert West
PhD Students:
Alumni:
Research
Ongoing projects
- The Smoking Toolkit Study (STS) and the Alcohol Toolkit Study (ATS)
- Development and evaluation of digital behaviour change interventions
- The Human Behaviour Change Project
- Behavioural Research UK Leadership Hub (BR-UK)
- Shaping Public hEalth poliCies To Reduce ineqUalities and harM (SPECTRUM)
- Understanding lapse dynamics in smokers attempting to stop: An Ecological Momentary Assessment and wearable sensor study (EMASENS)
- Evaluating and responding to the public health impact of no and low alcohol drinks: A multi-method study of a complex intervention in a complex system
- Biomarker identification and discovery associated with different phenotypic risk profiles: a lab-based study
- E-cigarettes for Smoking Cessation And reduction in People with mEntal illness (ESCAPE trial)
- Understanding patterns and perceptions of non-cigarette tobacco use and barriers and facilitators for cessation: a mixed-methods study in England
Current PhD projects
- Development and evaluation of a brief school-based intervention to prevent tobacco initiation and to promote mental health and well-being of adolescents in Bangladesh
- Developing and evaluating a Just-In-Time Adaptive Intervention (JITAI) to prevent smoking lapses and support smoking cessation
- Developing a brief, immersive virtual reality scenario for smokers unmotivated to quit, using a theory and person-based approach
Completed projects
- iDE@S Trial
- Health Behaviours During the COVID-19 Pandemic (HEBECO study)
- Use of smartphone applications to enhance smoking cessation support
- Impact of long-term nicotine replacement therapy use and impact of nicotine metabolite ratio on pharmacotherapy effectiveness
- Association between electronic cigarette use and changes in quit attempts, success of quit attempts, use of smoking cessation pharmacotherapy, and use of stop smoking services in England: time series analysis of population trends
- Deconstructing the alcohol harm paradox: a population based survey of adults in England
- Internet-based intervention for smoking cessation (StopAdvisor) in people with low and high socioeconomic status: a randomised controlled trial
- Exposure to nicotine and tobacco-related toxicants in long-term users of nicotine-containing products
- Mapping incorrect causal beliefs about cancer: the IBAC study
Recent publications
Jackson SE, Tattan-Birch H, Buss V, Shahab L, Brown J. (2024). Trends in daily cigarette consumption among smokers: a population study in England, 2008-2023. Nicotine and Tobacco Research.
Tattan-Birch H, Brown J, Shahab L, Beard E, Jackson SE. (2024). Trends in vaping and smoking following the rise of disposable e-cigarettes: a repeat cross-sectional study in England between 2016-2023. Lancet Regional Health - Europe
Jackson SE, Cox S, Buss V, Brown J. (2024). Trends in motives for trying to stop smoking: a population study in England, 2018-2023. BMJ Public Health. 2: e000420.
Tattan-Birch H, Jackson SE, Shahab L, Brown J. (2024). Are people more likely to vape or smoke indoors? A population survey of adults in England. Nicotine and Tobacco Research. ntae094. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntae094.
Kale D, Jackson S, Brown J, Garnett C, Shahab L. (2024). Social smoker identity and associations with smoking and quitting behaviour: A cross-sectional study in England. Drug and Alcohol Dependence
Jackson SE, Tattan-Birch H, East K, Cox S, Shahab L, Brown J. (2024). Trends in harm perceptions of e-cigarettes relative to cigarettes among adults who smoke in England, 2014-2023. JAMA Network Open. 2024; 7(2): e240582.
Buss VH, Kock L, Beard E, Shahab L, Brown J, Jackson S. (2024). Impact of Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulations on cigarette consumption and youth smoking in England: interrupted time-series analysis. Tobacco Control. doi: 10.1136/tc-2023-058560
Jackson SE, Brown J, Tattan-Birch H, Shahab L. (2024). Estimating the population impact of the disruption in supply of varenicline since 2021 on smoking cessation in England. Addiction.
Kale, D., Shoesmith, E. K., Herbec, A., & Shahab, L. (2024). Willingness to get vaccinated initially and yearly against Covid-19 and its association with vaccine hesitancy, vaccine knowledge and psychological well-being: a cross-sectional study in UK adults. BMJ Open.
Leppin, C., Okpako, T., Brown, J., Garnett, C. and Perski, O. (2024). Does socioeconomic position moderate the associations between the content and delivery features of digital behaviour change interventions for smoking cessation and intervention effectiveness? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Health Psychology Review, pp.1-34.
Jackson SE, Brown J, Notley C, Shahab L, Cox S. (2024). Characterising smoking and nicotine use behaviours among women of reproductive age: a ten-year population study in England. BMC Medicine. 22: 99.
Okpako T, Kale D, Perski O, Brown J. (2024). Developing content for a virtual reality scenario that motivates quit attempts in adult smokers: A focus group study with art-based methods. Plos Digital Health
Jackson SE, Shahab L, Brown J. (2024). Trends in exclusive non-cigarette tobacco smoking in England: a population survey 2013-2023. Nicotine and Tobacco Research.
Buss V, Shahab L, Bauld L, Kock L, Cheeseman H, Brown J. (2024). 'Stopping the start': support for proposed tobacco control policies - a population-based survey in Great Britain 2021-2023. Tobacco Control
Garnett C, Oldham M, Brose L, Cheeseman H & Cox S. (2024). Prevalence and characteristics of co-occurrence of smoking and increasing-and-higher-risk drinking: A population survey in England. Addictive Behaviors 150:107928
Oldham M, Beard E, Loebenberg G, Dinu L, Angus C, Burton R, Field M, Greaves F, Hickman M, Kaner E, Michie S, Munafo M, Pizzo E, Brown J, & Garnett C (2024). Effectiveness of a smartphone app (Drink Less) versus usual digital care for reducing alcohol consumption among increasing-and-higher-risk adult drinkers in the UK: a two-arm, parallel-group, double-blind, randomised controlled trial. eClinicalMedicine.
Jackson SE, Oldham M, Angus C, Holmes J, & Brown J. (2024). Trends in purchasing cross-border, illicit, and home-brewed alcohol: a population study in Great Britain, 2020-2023. Drug and Alcohol Review. https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13838
Jackson SE, Tattan-Birch H, Shahab L, Oldham M, Kale D, Brose L, Brown J. (2024). Who would be affected by a ban on disposable vapes? A population study in Great Britain. Public Health.
Kale, D., Brown, J., Dawkins, L., Goniewicz, M.L., Leppin, C., Tattan-Birch, H., Shahab, L. (2023). Comparing identity, attitudes, and indicators of effectiveness in people who smoke, vape or use heated tobacco products: a cross-sectional study. Addictive Behaviors, 107933
Jackson, S.E., Brown, J., Shahab, L., McNeill, A., Munafò, M., Brose, L. (2023). Trends in psychological distress among adults in England, 2020-2022. JAMA Network Open (In press)
Kale, D., Tattan-Birch, H., Brown, J., Cox, S., Dawkins, L., Goniewicz, M.L., Morris., K., Shahab, L. (2023) Examining acute psychopharmacological effects of nicotine vaping versus heated tobacco products in a randomised crossover study of product naïve adult smokers. Scientific Reports 13 (1), 22676
Jackson, S. E., Cox, S., Brown, J. (2023). Trends in cross-border and illicit tobacco purchases among people who smoke in England, 2019-2022. Tobacco Control (In press)
Buss, V., Cox, S., Moore, G., Shahab, L., Angus, C., Bauld, L., Brown, J. (2023). Alcohol and smoking brief interventions by socioeconomic position: British population-based survey. British Journal of General Practice Open (In press).
Jackson, S. E., Shahab, L.; Brown, J. (2023). Examining the influence of tobacco control mass media campaign expenditure on the association between motivation to stop smoking and quit attempts: A prospective study in England. Addictive Behaviors, 144
Tattan-Birch, H., Kock, L., Brown, J., Beard, E., Bauld, L., West, R., & Shahab, L. (2023). E-cigarettes to Augment Stop Smoking In-person Support and Treatment With Varenicline (E-ASSIST): A Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 25 (3), 395-403. doi:10.1093/ntr/ntac149
Kimber, C., Zaidell, L., Hunter, S., Cox, S., Notley, C., & Dawkins, L. (2023). Comparing the Effects of the EU- Versus the US-JUUL Pod in a Sample of UK Smokers: Nicotine Absorption, Satisfaction and Other Nicotine-Related Subjective Effects. Nicotine and Tobacco Research. doi:10.1093/ntr/ntac289
Shahab, L. (2023). Nicotine – friend or foe? The complex interplay between its role in dependence, harm reduction and risk communication. Nicotine and Tobacco Research.