Janet Audrain-McGovern, PhD

Biography

Dr. Audrain-McGovern is Professor and Director of the Addictions Section in the Department of Psychiatry and a member of the Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Her epidemiological research focuses on identifying and understanding the bio-behavioral determinants of adolescent smoking acquisition, the relationship between adolescent e-cigarette use and subsequent combustible cigarette smoking, and the pathways to the dual use of tobacco products. This research has used behavioral economic theory to conceptualize the initiation, escalation and persistence of tobacco use among adolescents and young adults. Dr. Audrain-McGovern’s human laboratory research has focused on understanding (1) how substitute alternative reinforcers can compete with cigarette smoking to promote smoking cessation, and (2) how behavioral economic paradigms can be used to identify novel smoking cessation treatment targets as well as the abuse liability of emerging tobacco products. Dr. Audrain-McGovern’s clinical trial research involves using behavioral economic informed interventions to target multiple co-occurring behaviors. For example, she is currently evaluating how targeting one underlying mechanism, reward deficits, can promote smoking cessation while minimizing post-cessation increases in food intake and subsequent weight gain. This research has created a foundation for examining the role of the gut microbiome in post-cessation weight gain and smoking relapse. Dr. Audrain-McGovern has served as the Director of the Career Development Core for four P50 centers of tobacco research and is currently the Co-Director of the Career Enhancement Core for the UPENN-RU Tobacco Center for Regulatory Science. Research areas: smoking cessation, adolescent tobacco uptake, gut-brain-behavior relationships