Tobacco Research Gains Major Grant

Source from:  dailycampus.com Katy Nally 10/8/07 10/09/2007

UConn Wins Grants For Tobacco-Related Illness Research PrintEmail DoubleClick Any Word Page 1 of 1 The Connecticut Department of Public Health (CDPH) granted six research proposals, all of which deal with tobacco-related illnesses, for a total of $1,718,860 from the Biomedical Research Trust fund. Over $1.5 million was given to projects at UConn or the UConn Health Center. According to the state of Connecticut's Web site, "Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. Every year in Connecticut, more than 5,400 people die from smoking-related diseases." Lance Bauer, psychiatry professor at the UConn Health Center, proposed to research how smoking is associated with early signs of stroke. Bauer said he hopes to find how certain genes are affected by smoking. Quing Zhu and Molly Brewer M.D., director of gynecologic oncology at the NEAG Comprehensive Cancer Center, were granted $315,563 to research new ways to detect ovarian cancer earlier. Ovarian cancer has the highest mortality rate of all gynecological cancers, so diagnosing it early is crucial, Brewer said. Even though Brewer's research is for ovarian cancer, the State granted it as a proposal for tobacco-related illnesses. "Most states that have tobacco money, fund other research," Brewer said. Connecticut sued the tobacco industry in 1997 and won a year later. According to the state of Connecticut Web site, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal sued the industry because tobacco companies, "engaged in unlawful conduct, including fraud and conspiracy, and violated state antitrust and consumer protection laws." As a result, the Biomedical Research Trust Fund has received $4 million each year since it was established in 2001, according to the Tobacco and Health Trust Fund report. The Tobacco Free Kids Web site, which is an organization working to reduce tobacco use by minors, claims the state did not spend its settlement money wisely. According to the Web site, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggested Connecticut should have spent $12.2 million a year on tobacco prevention programs. However, during the 2006 fiscal year, the state only spent $2 million on tobacco prevention. The CDC ranked Connecticut 36th in the U.S. in terms of funding tobacco prevention. Brewer offered insight on the discrepancy. "Research funding has gone way down in the past 10 years because of the war," she said. "Money is being diverted to defense." The state is also utilizing tobacco in different ways. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Web site, on July 1, Gov. M. Jodi Rell raised cigarette taxes $0.49 to make it an even $2 extra per pack. The highest cigarette tax in the U.S. is $2.58 per pack in New Jersey. The USDA Web site also showed that Connecticut tobacco farmers generated $14.9 million in 2006, making tobacco the state's fifth largest commodity. The love-hate relationship between Connecticut and tobacco is a touchy one. When asked if preventing tobacco-use was a conflict of interest for the state of Connecticut, Bauer chuckled and replied, "That's a question for a politician." Enditem