Publications 

1- Lebanon has an exceptionally high tobacco use burden. The World Health Organization endorses smoking cessation advice integrated into primary care settings as well as easily accessible and free phone-based counseling and low-cost pharmacotherapy as standard of practice for population-level tobacco dependence treatment. The objective of this study is to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of promising multi-component interventions for implementing evidence-based tobacco treatment in primary healthcare centers within the Lebanese National Primary Healthcare Network.  This research is significant for its potential to guide the large-scale adoption of cost-effective strategies for implementing tobacco dependence treatment in low-resource settings, thereby reducing tobacco-related morbidity and mortality.

You can check our published protocol here: Salloum, R.G., Romani, M., Bteddini, D.S., El Jardali, F., Lee, J., Theis, R., Lelauren, J.H., Hamadeh, R., Osman, M., Abla, R., Khaywa, J., Ward, K.D., Shelley, D., Nakkash, R. An effectiveness-implementation hybrid trial of phone-based tobacco cessation interventions in the Lebanese primary healthcare system: protocol for project PHOENICS. Implementation Science Communications 4, 72 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s43058-023-00456-w 

Presentations

1-12th Annual Symposium on Global Cancer Research (ASGCR), May 6 – 9, 2024

Poster Presentation: Adaptation of a phone-based smoking cessation intervention in the context of Lebanon’s primary healthcare system: A Qualitative Study. Presented by Dr. Jennifer LeLauren. 

2-HOBI Education day, March 27, 2024

Oral Presentation: Tailoring Smoking Cessation Intervention for Social and Cultural Context: A Qualitative Study of Cigarette and Waterpipe Smokers in Lebanon. Presented by Ms. Dima Bteddini. 

3- SRNT 2024, March 20-24, 2024

• Poster Presentation: Developing a contextually-appropriate tobacco cessation program in Lebanon’s primary healthcare system: A Qualitative Study. Presented by Dr. Jennifer LeLauren. 

• Oral presentation: Evaluation of perceived self-efficacy to deliver tobacco cessation interventions among healthcare providers working in primary healthcare centers in Lebanon. Presented by Dr. Maya Romani. 

• Oral presentation: Phone Enabled Implementation of Cessation Support (PHOENICS). Presented by Dr. Tamar Kabakian. 

4- UF+FSU Translational Research Symposium, March 7, 2024

Poster Presentation: Tailoring Smoking Cessation Interventions for Social and Cultural Context: A Qualitative Study of Cigarette and Waterpipe Smokers in Lebanon. Presented by Ms. Dima Bteddini. 

5- COM Celebration of Research, February 12, 2024

Poster Presentation: Adaptation of Phone-Based Tobacco Cessation Program for Cigarette and Waterpipe Smokers in Lebanon: A Qualitative Study. Presented by Ms. Dima Bteddini. 

6-UF Health Cancer Center Annual Research Showcase, January 31, 2024

Poster Presentation: Misconceptions about tobacco smoking: A Qualitative Study of Cigarette and Waterpipe Smokers in Lebanon. Presented by Ms. Dima Bteddini. 

8- UF CTSI Learning Health System Initiative Research Day, April 10, 2023

Poster Presentation: An effectiveness-implementation hybrid trial in Lebanon to test evidence-based tobacco cessation interventions in primary care in a low-resource setting: a study protocol. Presented by Ms. A’lexus Brown. 

9-11th Annual Symposium on Global Cancer Research (ASGCR), April 4 – 6, 2023

Virtual Poster Presentation: An effectiveness-implementation hybrid trial in Lebanon to test evidence-based tobacco cessation interventions in primary care in a low-resource setting: a study protocol. Presented by Ms. Dima Bteddini.