ICE Team Activities

In addition to a strong and productive research agenda, a central objective of our original protocol was to increase Canadian capacity to understand the genetic, biologic, psychosocial, and environmental determinants of tobacco use, as well as its prevention and treatment in adults and youth. The main mechanism proposed to accomplish this was through developing a cross-disciplinary, public health/university-partnered team of new and established tobacco researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers. We aimed to promote networking and collaboration between researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers on the team to facilitate two-way knowledge exchange that fosters the development of research that reflects practitioners’ needs, and translation of results into relevant preventive and clinical practices and policy. General strategies used to date to increase capacity among researchers and trainees as well as among our public health colleagues (i.e., practitioners and policy-makers) include: team development, mentoring, and knowledge translation. Below is a list of specific examples of activities that we have engaged in, related to each of these strategies.

Training Environment and Opportunities for Mentorship
One of the specific aims of our ICE proposal was to increase Canadian leadership in tobacco control research by increasing the critical mass of highly qualified researchers working in this domain Read more

Building the ICE Team
The original ICE proposal was put forward by 12 investigators with substantial expertise and experience in tobacco research, representing genetic, clinical, psychosocial, health behaviour, epidemiological, and public health program and policy-making perspectives Read more

Tobacco Control Among Youth- Mini Conference
In March 2007, in partnership with the Institute national de santé public Québec (INSPQ), the ICE team hosted a half day mini conference entitled "Tobacco Control among Youth: Contemporary approaches to smoking cessation among teens and young adults." Read more

Teen Acquisition and Genetics Workshop
This two-day workshop brought together 30 basic scientists, geneticists, epidemiologists, social scientists, and statisticians who work either in animal research or with longitudinal cohorts of children and adolescents to investigate gene-environment interactions in relation to tobacco use uptake. Read more

Drogue, Santé et Société
The ICE team supported the publication of a special issue of Drogue, Santé et Société, devoted completely to tobacco. This issue includes 12 articles that together reflect on state-of-the art tobacco control research. Read more

Youth Cessation Workshop
This 2-day bilingual event was funded by the Canadian Tobacco Control Research Initiative, the MSSS, and the ICE team. The workshop brought together a total of 31 tobacco control researchers, public health practitioners, policy makers, and interventionists working in the area of youth smoking cessation. Read more