SVFSIP People

 

The CSU PI is Dr. Kim Pulvers, a Professor and an active tobacco scholar with 20 years of experience in tobacco research. Dr. Pulvers’ research focuses on reducing the burden of tobacco-related death and disease through testing smoking cessation treatments, harm reduction approaches, and regulatory strategies and has been funded by the American Cancer Society, California Tobacco Related Disease Research Program (TRDRP), National Institutes of Health (NIH), and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She is an experienced grant administrator, leading projects totaling $5 million in costs at CSUSM. She has published 70 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Pulvers is a dedicated mentor with a track record of engaging under-represented students in research and promoting their career success.

 

The CSU Co-I is Dr. Richard Armenta, an Assistant Professor and the Associate Director of the CSUSM Office for Training, Research, and Education in the Sciences (OTRES) which houses training programs for minoritized students. He is also PI of the CA Native American Research Centers for Health Student Development Program (CA-NARCH SDP) that trains American Indian students in the sciences. Dr. Armenta’s research is devoted to improving health equity and access to care among underserved and minoritized populations through examining cultural, historical, structural, and individual level factors influencing disease transmission and acquisition. He has published over 30 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals and serves as an investigator on numerous externally funded grants. Dr. Armenta is an award-winning mentor devoted to supporting and training students from minoritized and underserved backgrounds.

The UC PI is Dr. Dennis Trinidad, Professor and Interim Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs in the HWSPH at UCSD. He is also Director of the Bachelor of Science in Public Health Program at UCSD. Dr. Trinidad has been a tobacco control researcher for 24 years and an administrator of complex academic and research training programs for 13 years. His research focuses on population-level studies of tobacco use and tobacco-related disparities and has been funded by the American Cancer Society, American Legacy Foundation, California Department of Health Services, California Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program, National Cancer Institute, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, and the National Institute on Aging.  He has published extensively on trends and influences on cigarette smoking initiation and quitting among health-disparity populations, as well as the impact of state-level tobacco control efforts on cigarette smoking behaviors.