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Erica N. Cruvinel, Ph.D., MPH

Erica Cruvinel
Research Assistant Professor, Population Health
ecruvinel@kumc.edu

Professional Background

Before joining the department of Population Health at the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC), Dr. Cruvinel gained extensive experience working with underserved communities in Brazil to implement Screening, Brief interventions and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) for tobacco, alcohol and other drug use. Her doctoral research—a hybrid phone/text messaging smoking cessation program for hospitalized patients in Brazil — was a pilot pragmatic clinical trial that involved collaborating with hospital physicians to coordinate pharmacotherapy, phone calls, and text messaging for follow up post-discharge. During her international postdoctoral training with Dr. Kimber Richter, funded by the American Association of University Women (AAUW), she undertook intensive training on secondary data analyses to analyze large databases from the World Health Organization and the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). In 2020, she transitioned to a postdoctoral position in the same department at KUMC with Dr. Taneisha Scheuermann in which she gained experience with the delivery of tobacco treatment among pregnant women using text messages. In the same year, Dr. Cruvinel received a NIDA Diversity Supplement to Dr. Nikki Nollen’s R01 which is examining a novel adaptive smoking cessation intervention for Black people who smoke. In 2022, Dr. Cruvinel was awarded a NIDA K01 to develop a remote intervention to provide contingency management to engage patients with smoking cessation treatments post-discharge.

Education and Training
  • BSc, Psychology, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais
  • MPH, Prevention of substance use disorders, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais
  • PhD, Social Psychology, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais
  • Post Doctoral Fellowship, Smoking cessation interventions for hospitalized patients in Brazil, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais
  • Post Doctoral Fellowship, Secondary data analyses and smoking cessation among patients with mental health diagnoses, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas
  • Post Doctoral Fellowship, Smoking cessation interventions using text messages, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas
Professional Affiliations
  • INSPIRE Affinity Group at KUMC, INSPIRE, Co-Chair, 2022 - Present
  • INSPIRE Affinity Group at KUMC, INSPIRE Affinity Group , Member, 2021 - Present
  • The Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, Member, 2021 - Present

Research

Overview

Research Interest: Tobacco treatment using mHealth; Tobacco treatment for underserved populations; Global Health

Dr. Cruvinel’s research focuses on reducing tobacco-related morbidity and mortality of tobacco users through novel systems of evidence-based care delivery, with an emphasis on mHealth interventions for underserved populations. Dr. Cruvinel’s research interests focus not only in developing novel strategies to increase access to care but also to increase engagement of persons who smoke in treatment. She has a special interest in remote interventions because of their potential for broad reach, low cost and scalability.
Dr. Cruvinel is currently working on her NIDA K01 grant (DA055779) to develop a remote behavioral intervention that can optimize engagement with smoking cessation medication and counseling among hospitalized patients who smoke in the US. Additionally, Dr. Cruvinel continues her collaboration with investigators in Brazil to develop smoking cessation interventions for underserved hospitalized patients.

Publications