2025 Smokefree SC Summit
From Smoke to Hope: Exploring Cessation Strategies Across Generations
SPEAKERS
Anthony Alberg, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Anthony Alberg is an epidemiologist whose research has primarily focused on 1) cancer epidemiology and 2) the health effects of tobacco and tobacco control. Areas of interest in cancer epidemiology include lung cancer, ovarian cancer, and the excess risk of malignancies experienced by those with a personal history of keratinocyte carcinoma (non-melanoma skin cancer). His research on the health effects of tobacco has included the relationship of secondhand smoke exposure to the risk of cancers other than lung cancer; tobacco control research has included topics ranging from determinants of adolescent smoking to the epidemiology of smoking cessation pharmacotherapy use in populations.
Mike Cummings, Ph.D, MPH
Dr. Cummings has a Master’s degree and PhD. in Health Education and Health Behavior from the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan. He is currently a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and member of the Hollings Cancer Center’s Cancer Prevention and Control Program where he co-leads the tobacco control research program. He joined the MUSC faculty in October 2011 and has been involved in establishing a tobacco dependence treatment service for patients seen in the University hospital and outpatient clinics. Before coming to MUSC, Dr. Cummings worked at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) in Buffalo, New York, where he was a senior research scientist and Chairman of the Department of Health Behavior.
Kymburle Gripper Sims
Reston Hartwell, MS-MPH
Beth Johnson
Just Say Something (formerly Greenville Family Partnership)
The Just Say Something vision goes back to 1984 when the organization was founded. Just Say Something was established to provide programs and services to parents and youth throughout the upstate in order to help fulfill the vision of creating a healthy community where all are enlightened and empowered to reach their full potential. Thee nonprofit organization seeks to help youth, parents and communities have open, honest, and ongoing conversations about risky behavior, drugs, and alcohol.
Dan Kilpatrick, Ph.D, MPH, CEPR
Dan Kilpatrick earned his doctorate in Environmental Health Sciences from the University of South Carolina in 2018, a master’s in Public Health from Loma Linda University in 2010, as well as a post-baccalaureate certificate in Emergency Preparedness and Response also in 2010. He is currently the surveillance and evaluation director for the Tobacco Prevention and Control division at the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control and has served in this role since 2012. He also serves as an adjunct professor at the Arnold School of Public Health teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in environmental health & pollution and emergency management. His research interests include chronic disease, slow onset disasters such as chronic disease epidemics, and global health. He is married and has three children ages 6, 4, and 2.
Jim F. Thrasher, Ph.D., MA, MS
Dr. Thrasher’s research focuses on how media and policies influence tobacco and nutrition-related perceptions and behaviors. His projects are generally international in scope and often assess the consistency of media and policy effects across different sociocultural contexts. He teaches courses on public health policy, advocacy, and communications.