David B. Abrams Named 2014 Research Laureate

David B. Abrams, PhD, professor in the Department of Health, Behavior and Society (HBS) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, will be named the 2014 Research Laureate at the annual meeting of The American Academy of Health Behavior (AAHB) on March 16th. The Research Laureate Award honors an individual who has made a significant and enduring contribution to health behavior research. This prestigious award is the highest honor bestowed by AAHB.

As the 13th AAHB Research Laureate, Abrams succeeds another HBS faculty member—Andrea Gielen, ScD—the most recent recipient of this distinguished title in 2012. Also among the elite group of health behavior researchers that have received this honor are HBS adjunct professor Raymond Niaura, PhD (the 2009 Laureate) and former JHSPH faculty member Lawrence Green, DrPH, who was named the first AAHB Research Laureate in 2001.

In addition to his role in HBS, Abrams also serves as the Executive Director of the Schroeder Institute for Tobacco Research and Policy Studies at the American Legacy Foundation. The current focus of his work is on providing scientific leadership in tobacco control from a transdisciplinary perspective, including exploring innovative ways to put existing knowledge into widespread practice and policy to efficiently impact public health, and utilizing research to inform the FDA’s policies for the regulation of tobacco products. In 2008, Abrams received the Joseph W. Cullen Memorial Award from the American Society of Preventive Oncology in recognition of his contributions to the field of tobacco research. He is the author of The Tobacco Dependence Treatment Handbook: A Guide to Best Practices, a winner of the American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year award.