Dr. George is Professor of Psychiatry in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto (UofT), and Senior Scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). He received his B.Sc. (1988) and M.D. (1992) degrees from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia and then did his psychiatry residency (1992-96) and a fellowship in translational neuroscience (1996-98) at Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut. He joined the Yale Psychiatry faculty in 1998, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2004. In 2006, he moved to UofT and CAMH as the inaugural Chair in Addiction Psychiatry, which he held until 2012. He has held several leadership positions, including as Chief of Schizophrenia (2008-16) and Addictions (2016-19) Divisions and Medical Director of the Complex Mental Illness Program (2012-16) at CAMH, and Co-Director of the Brain and Therapeutics Division in the UofT Department of Psychiatry (2006-2018).
Dr. George’s research focuses on understanding and treating substance use disorders in people with serious mental illness. He has published over 350 peer-reviewed articles, reviews and other reports. His work has been funded by NIDA and CIHR since 1999. From 2021-2023, he served as Chair of the Scientific Advisory Committee at the Canadian Centre for Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA). He wrote the chapter on Nicotine and Tobacco in Cecil Textbook of Medicine in the last four editions (2011, 2015, 2019 and 2023). He is Co-Principal Editor for Neuropsychopharmacology (NPP), an official journal of The American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP).
Alex currently serves as the Director of Practice Improvement and Consulting for the National Behavioral Health Network for Tobacco & Cancer Control as part of the parent organization the National Council for Mental Wellbeing. Based in Houston, Texas, Alex leads a multifaceted array of initiatives focused on eliminating tobacco and cancer related disparities in the mental health population. His purview spans the facilitation of numerous Community of Practices, the strategic development of resources and webinars and the provision of comprehensive training and technical assistance to local, state, and national partners. Prior to his current role, Alex held a position at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, where he served as the Program Director of the EndTobacco® Program within the Department of Behavioral Science. During his 8 year tenure, he spearheaded transformative initiatives, including the Certified Tobacco Treatment Training Program, Project ECHO TEACH, and the Eliminate Tobacco Use Initiative.
Dr. Vijayaraghavan is a practicing general internist and a researcher in tobacco control with a focus on populations experiencing homelessness. She is the Director of the UCSF Smoking Cessation Leadership Center, a Center focused on eliminating disparities in tobacco use prevalence among behavioral health populations. Through her work, funded by the NIH and the Tobacco Related Disease Research Program, she has intervened at the individual, community, health systems, and policy levels to increase access to tobacco treatment and tobacco-free policies. She has collaborated with homeless shelters and supportive housing to implement interventions to increase access to smoking cessation services and smoke-free policies for people who have experienced homelessness with co-occurring mental health and substance us disorders. She co-directs a NIDA-funded postdoctoral training program at the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, focused on tobacco and substance use related research. She practices primary care at the San Francisco General Hospital.
Webinar Description:
We’ll dive into the neurobiology of nicotine addiction in individuals with serious mental illness (SMI), review promising evidence-based interventions and discuss how tobacco treatment can be effectively integrated into psychiatric and behavioral health systems. We’ll also examine the epidemiological landscape, unpack misconceptions that hinder progress, and highlight population-specific considerations to ensure fair access to care. This session will support clinicians, public health professionals and behavioral health leaders in advancing tobacco-free recovery.
Learning Objectives:
By the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:
1. Describe the impact of tobacco use and nicotine addiction among individuals with serious mental illness and its public health impact.
2. Identify common myths, biases, and barriers that contribute to disparities in tobacco treatment within psychiatric settings.
3. Explain the neurobiological mechanisms that make individuals with SMI more vulnerable to nicotine dependence.
4. Discuss promising interventions and strategies for treating tobacco use among individuals with SMI, including pharmacologic and behavioral approaches.
5. Explain models/strategies for integrating tobacco treatment into mental health and psychiatric care systems to support long-term recovery and health disparities.
Participants who join the live session can earn one hour of free credit. You will receive instructions on how to claim credit via the post-webinar email.
ACCME Accreditation
In support of improving patient care, the University of California, San Francisco is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
UCSF designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CreditTM. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the webinar activity.
Advance Practice Registered Nurses and Registered Nurses: For the purpose of recertification, the American Nurses Credentialing Center accepts AMA PRA Category 1 CreditTM issued by organizations accredited by the ACCME.
Physician Assistants: The National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) states that the AMA PRA Category 1 CreditTM are acceptable for continuing medical education requirements for recertification.
California Pharmacists: The California Board of Pharmacy accepts as continuing professional education those courses that meet the standard of relevance to pharmacy practice and have been approved for AMA PRA category 1 CreditTM. If you are a pharmacist in another state, you should check with your state board for approval of this credit.
California Psychologists: The California Board of Psychology recognizes and accepts for continuing education credit courses that are provided by entities approved by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME). AMA PRA Category 1 CreditTM is acceptable to meeting the CE requirements for the California Board of Psychology. Providers in other states should check with their state boards for acceptance of CME credit.
APA: Continuing Education (CE) credits for psychologists are provided through the co-sponsorship of the American Psychological Association (APA) Office of Continuing Education in Psychology (CEP). The APA CEP Office maintains responsibility for the content of the programs.
Up to 1.0 CE Credit may be claimed.
ASWB: As a Jointly Accredited Organization, UCSF Continuing Education is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. Social workers completing this course receive 1.0 general continuing education credit.
Interprofessional Continuing Education Credit (IPCE): This activity was planned by and for the healthcare team, and learners will receive 1.0 Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE) credits for learning and change.
Disclosures
This UCSF CME activity was planned and developed to uphold academic standards to ensure balance, independence, objectivity, and scientific rigor; adhere to requirements to protect health information under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA); and include a mechanism to inform learners when unapproved or unlabeled uses of therapeutic products or agents are discussed or referenced.
All speakers, planning committee members and reviewers have disclosed they have no relevant financial relationships to disclose with ineligible companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.
Catherine Bonniot, Christine Cheng, Brian Clark, Tony P. George, MD, FRCPC, Alex Hurst, MHA, Jennifer Matekuare, Ma Krisanta Pamatmat, MPH, CHES, Jessica Safier, MA, Jason Satterfield, PhD, and Maya Vijayaraghavan, MD, MAS.
Don’t need to claim CME/CEUs? SCLC issues free certificates of attendance for those who want contact hours only.