To Smoke or Not to Smoke: That is the Adolescent’s Question

Dr. Bonnie Halpern-Felsher is a Professor in the Division of Adolescent Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco. She is also the Director of Research for the Adolescent Medicine Fellowship, Co-Director of the General Pediatrics Fellowship, and is a faculty member at UCSF’s Psychology and Medicine Postdoctoral Program, The Center for Health and Community, The Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, the UCSF Heller Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the Robert Wood Johnson Scholars Program. Dr. Halpern-Felsher is a developmental psychologist whose research has focused on cognitive and psychosocial factors involved in health-related decision-making, perceptions of risk and vulnerability, health communication, and risk behavior; and she has published in each of these areas. Much of her research has focused specifically on sexual decision-making and reproductive health, including identifying cognitive and psychosocial predictors of adolescent sexual behavior. In particular, she has examined adolescents’ patterns of vaginal sex behavior, sex-related perceptions and attitudes, decision-making processes, and social factors such as the role of parents and peers on sexual behavior. Dr. Halpern-Felsher has been the Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator on several grants concerning adolescent and young adult risk behavior. She has served as a consultant to a number of community-based adolescent health promotion programs and has been an active member on several national campaigns to understand and reduce adolescent risk behavior. She has served as a Committee Member for the Institute of Medicine Committee on Reducing Underage Drinking, which published the 2004 report “Reducing Underage Drinking: A Collective Responsibility.” Dr. Halpern-Felsher was also appointed a member of the Institute of Medicine Committee on Reducing Tobacco Use, which published a report, “Ending the Tobacco Problem: A Blueprint for the Nation,” as well as the Committee on Contributions from the Behavioral and Social Sciences in Reducing and Preventing Teen Motor Crashes, Institute of Medicine and the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, The National Academies of Sciences. Most recently, she was appointed to a new IOM committee, “Committee on Scientific Standards for Studies on Reduced Risk Tobacco Products.”