About the National Center of Excellence for Tobacco-Free Recovery (CoE-TFR)
The National Center of Excellence for Tobacco-Free Recovery (CoE-TFR) is partnering with state public health authorities, their internal and external partners, and people with lived experience and their families to reduce the high rate of commercial tobacco use among people with mental health and substance use conditions. To do this we are employing an inclusive process to:
- Strengthen policies and systems so that they are responsive to the unique barriers and needs of people with behavioral health conditions.
- Foster social norms changes that prioritize treatment of commercial tobacco use as an essential part of a path to recovery.
- Promote a unified one-voice message that affirms that treating commercial tobacco use is important, achievable, and will improve behavioral health treatment outcomes.
- Center the voices of people with lived experience, family and friends to design and implement the way forward to improve impact.
The CoE-TFR is funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and administered by CAI.
How we support policy and systems change
The National Center of Excellence for Tobacco-Free Recovery is providing capacity building services for states and their partners that includes:
- Conducting webinar training on effective evidence-based and innovative strategies to support people along their quit journey. View our previous webinars.
- Providing technical assistance (TA) to identify and integrate new policies, systems, interventions, and ways of doing work. Request TA.
- Providing access to quality resources and materials to support identifying and making change. See all current resources.
- Convening Tobacco-Free Recovery Learning Communities to design, plan and co-facilitate Tobacco-Free Recovery Leadership Academies and develop state/territory/Native Nation tobacco-free recovery action plans. Learn more and apply to participate in an upcoming cohort.
Our team and advisors
The CoE-TFR is led by a CAI team with experience as public health administrators, health and supportive service leaders, and providers. They bring expertise in the areas of tobacco control and prevention, behavioral health, and delivering training and technical assistance.
The CoE-TFR is supported and informed by partners and a national planning committee.
David Davis
David Davis is the Director of Tobacco Control Initiatives at CAI and the Project Director for the National Center of Excellence for Tobacco-Free Recovery. He has more than 13 years of experience as a social worker providing clinical services to people with behavioral health conditions, and over 8 years of experience in the tobacco field. David earned his Master of Social Work from the University of Albany - SUNY.
Jennifer Lee, PhD, MPH
Jennifer Lee is a Senior Public Health Advisor at CAI. Before joining CAI, Jennifer was the Director of the New York State Department of Health Bureau of Tobacco Control. Jennifer has championed community engagement initiatives that address health disparities and inequities. She has a Doctor of Philosophy, Community Health and Health Policy, and Master of Public Health in Health Policy from the City University of New York School of Public Health.
Michael Graziano, MPA
Michael Graziano is a Continuous Quality Improvement subject matter expert for the CoE-TFR and the Project Director for CAI’s Center of Excellence for Protected Health Information Michael has more than 20 years of experience working in health care settings. He has a Master of Public Administration from Baruch College and is a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ).
Nikki Filion, MPH
Nikki Filion is the Project Manager for the National Center of Excellence for Tobacco-Free Recovery at CAI. Nikki has a background in public health consulting and experience providing evaluation technical assistance to local health departments. She has a Bachelor of Science in Health Behavior Science from the University of Delaware and a Master’s in Public Health, with a focus in health equity, from the University of Maryland.
Emily Leung, MPH
Emily Leung is a Research and Data Analytics lead at CAI. She has more than a decade of experience designing and implementing program evaluation activities for projects related to tobacco; STIs, HIV/AIDS; maternal and infant health; and community engagement. Emily has a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from the University of Chicago and a Master’s in Public Health from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.
Elise Berrier
Elise Berrier is a Materials Development Specialist at CAI. She works on the curriculum team supporting nationwide technical assistance projects on curricula design and implementation. Elise has a background in capacity building, training design, and training facilitation for health systems. Elise has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Women’s and Gender Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Marisa Altamura
Marisa Altamura is the Project Coordinator for the National Center of Excellence for Tobacco-Free Recovery. Prior to joining CAI, Marisa supported event management, marketing, and administrative teams in higher education, performing arts, and the menswear industry.
Dawn Middleton
Dawn Middleton is the Senior Vice President of Performance Management and Continuous Quality Improvement at CAI and the Senior Administrator for the CoE-TFR. Dawn has provided leadership for multidisciplinary teams in the design, delivery, evaluation and continuous improvement of training and technical assistance initiatives across a wide range of public health priorities at the national, regional, state and local levels for over 20 years.
Partners
Co-Chief, Section on Tobacco, Alcohol and Drug Use, Department of Population Health, New York University Grossman School of Medicine. Read about Dr. Sherman's research on the NYU website.
Associate Professor, Department of Population Health, New York University Grossman School of Medicine. Read about Dr. Roger's research on the NYU website.
National planning committee
American Heart Association
Allyson Perron Drag, Government Relations Director, Senior Regional Lead (Northeast)
Association of State and Territorial Health Officials–Tobacco Control Network (ASTHO-TCN)
Amy Ciarlo, Senior Analyst of Chronic Disease Risk Factors
Behavioral Health and Wellness Environments for Living and Learning (BH WELL), University of Kentucky
Chizimuzo Okoli, PhD, MPH, MSN, PMHNP-BC, FAAN, Executive Director of Mental and Behavioral Health
Behavioral Health and Wellness Environments for Living and Learning (BH WELL), University of Kentucky
Heather Robertson, RN, MPA, Director of Executive Operations
Center for the Study of Tobacco at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Pebbles Fagan, PhD, Director
Columbia University, Center for Practice Innovations
Nancy Covell, PhD, Program Director for Focus on Integrated Treatment (FIT)
Division of Community and Health Systems, North Dakota Department of Health
Neil Charvat, Tobacco Prevention and Control Program Director, Chair of TCN- Program Director
Faces and Voices of Recovery
Patty McCarthy, Executive Director
National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC)
Mandar Jadhav, MD, Deputy Director, Federal Affairs
National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD)
Melanie Whitter, Deputy Executive Director
National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD)
Aaron Walker, Policy Director
National Association on Mental Illness (NAMI) – New York State
Sharon Horton, Executive Director
National Association on Mental Illness (NAMI) – New York State
Christine Rickeman, Helpline and Community Support Coordinator
National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Alex Hurst, Director, Practice Improvement & Consulting
National Federation of Families / National Family Support Technical Assistance Center
Lachelle Freeman, Project Manager
New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
Achala Talati, Director, Tobacco Policy and Programs
North American Quitline Consortium (NAQC)
Tracey Strader, MSW, Senior Program Manager, Quitline Sustainability
Individual Expert Advisors
Nathaniel C. Brown
Susan Friedlander, LCSW
About CAI
CAI helps health care and social service organizations improve the quality of their services, particularly for communities that have been marginalized, by providing training, technical assistance, research, and other capacity-building support.
The National Center of Excellence for Tobacco-Free Recovery is one of a growing number of CAI projects designed to reduce commercial tobacco use.