UAMS’ Barone Named to FDA Tobacco Products Advisory Panel

July 30, 2014 | LITTLE ROCK – Claudia Barone, Ed.D., A.P.R.N., a professor in the College of Nursing at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), has become the first nurse appointed to the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Barone is a nationally known expert in tobacco cessation. She has trained as a Tobacco Treatment Specialist at the University of Massachusetts Medical School’s Center for Tobacco Treatment Research and Training. Her research interest in tobacco cessation includes grant-supported work studying clinic-based cessation techniques.

The 12-member FDA committee is selected from among those knowledgeable in the fields of medicine, medical ethics, science, or technology involving the manufacture, evaluation or use of tobacco products. The panel advises on issues related to the regulation of tobacco products.

The committee reviews and evaluates safety, dependence and health issues relating to tobacco products and provides appropriate advice, information and recommendations.

The group will submit reports or recommendations on tobacco-related topics, including:

• The impact of the use of menthol in cigarettes on the public health, including use among children, African-Americans, Hispanics and other racial and ethnic minorities
• The nature and impact of the use of dissolvable tobacco products on the public health, including use on children
• The effects of the alteration of nicotine yields from tobacco products and whether there is a threshold level below which nicotine yields do not produce dependence on the tobacco product involved
• Any application submitted by a manufacturer for a modified-risk tobacco product

Among her professional affiliations and service, Barone is a commissioner for the Association for the Treatment of Tobacco Use and Dependence, a grant reviewer for the Susan B. Komen Foundation; serves on the board for the American Heart Association, Southwest Affiliate, Central Arkansas Division; and serves on the Little Rock Workforce Investment Board. She is a member of the American Public Health Association, American Society of Perianesthesia Nurses, National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing and the Southern Nursing Research Society.

UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and eight institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute, Institute for Digital Health & Innovation and the Institute for Community Health Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,275 students, 890 medical residents and fellows, and five dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 12,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube or Instagram.

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