Lorien Abroms

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Bio

Dr. Lorien Abroms is a professor in the Department of Prevention and Community Health at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University and the Associate Dean for PhD/MS Studies at the Milken Institute School of Public Health. Dr. Abroms' career focuses on the application of digital communication technologies for health promotion, including for smoking cessation and vaccine uptake. The aims of her research are to understand the effects of the digital information environment on health and to develop and evaluate evidence-based tobacco treatment programs that run on digital platforms. Dr. Abroms has developed and evaluated several apps and text messaging programs for smoking cessation, including Text2Quit which is offered through 1-800-QUITNOW and SmokefreeMoms which is offered through the National Cancer Institute's Smokefree.gov.

At George Washington University (GW), Dr. Abroms is Public Health and Governance Lead at the Institute for Data Democracy and Politics and is the founding director of the GW mHealth Collaborative, an interdisciplinary group of faculty and students in clinical medicine, public health, biostatistics, and engineering. In conjunction with the Society for Public Health Education, she is also a convener of the Digital Health Promotion Executive Leadership Summit, an annual event to convene academics, digital media executives, and government officials around social media and digital health promotion. She is an advisor to the WHO on their “Be Healthy Be Mobile” initiative.

Dr. Abroms was awarded the Early Career Award by the Public Health Education and Health Promotion (PHEHP) Section of the American Public Health Association, the Best Materials Award from the American Public Health Association, and the Gareth M. Green Award for Excellence in Public Health Practice by the Harvard School of Public Health.

She can be found on Twitter @lorien_a

Expertise

Expertise:

Health Communication

Smoking Cessation

Social Marketing

Prevention

Substance Abuse Prevention & Cessation

Education:

Bachelor of Science (Psychology), Brown University, 1993

Master of Arts (Sociology), Brown University, 1996

Doctor of Science, Harvard School of Public Health, 2002

Post-Doctoral Fellowship, National Institutes of Health, 2003

Teaching:

PubH 6503-Introduction to Public Health Communication & Marketing, Department of Prevention and Community Health

PubH 6570-Advanced Health Communication, Department of Prevention and Community Health

PubH 8099- Cross Cutting Topics in Public Health: Adv Doctoral Seminar

PubH 8035-Dissertation Proposal Writing

Community Service:

Professor Abroms reviews manuscripts for a number of peer reviewed journals, including the American Journal of Public Health, Nicotine and Tobacco Research, the Journal of Health Communication, the Journal of Internet Medical Research, and the American Journal of Health Behavior. Professor Abroms is a member of the Society for Behavioral Medicine, the Society for Public Health Education and the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco.

Institutes and Centers:

Research

Research:

Dr. Abroms' career focuses on the application of communication technologies for health behaviors. Current and selected past research projects are listed below:

Vaccine Uptake Promotion:

Dr. Abroms is examining the role of social media in misinformation around vaccines and how social media can be used to promote vaccine uptake.

Using the Promotora Model to Increase COVID-19 Pro-Vaccination Attitudes with Social Media

Principal Investigator: Lorien C. Abroms ScD
Other Collaborators: Elizabeth Andrade, DrPH (MPI); David Broniatowski, PhD (co-I)
Funding Agency: Institute for Data Democracy & Politics
Project Period: 9/2021-8/2021

Addressing vaccine misinformation on social media

Principal Investigator: Lorien C. Abroms ScD

Funding Agency: Institute for Data Democracy & Politics

Project Period: 9/2020-12/2021

Tobacco Treatment:

Dr. Abroms has developed Text2Quit, a text-messaging program for adult smokers that is currently offered to quitline callers (1-800-QUIT-NOW) in selected States. She conducted a randomized trial on Text2Quit in a sample of adult smokers recruited on the Internet. Dr. Abroms has also developed a smoking cessation program geared toward pregnant smokers called Quit4Baby, which is currently being pilot-tested. Dr. Abroms is also researching the content of smartphone apps for smoking cessation and is involved with the development of a text messaging program for smoking cessation in Israel.

IQOS Marketing and Consumer Behavior in Israel and the US: Evidence to Advance US Regulation
Berg, Levine (MPIs), Abroms L (co-I).
This project examines the marketing of a heated tobacco product by PMI and the impact of its marketing on consumer behavior among adults in Israel and the US.

SmokefreeMOM: Reaching Pregnant Smokers with Health Information via Text Messaging
Cigarette smoking in pregnancy poses serious health risks to both the woman and the fetus. It has been shown to cause adverse fetal outcomes, including stillbirths, spontaneous abortions, premature births, low birth-weight, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS); and has been linked to cognitive and behavioral problems in children. Mobile phones and text messaging have are widespread with 85% of all American adults have mobile phones. Seventy-two percent of mobile phone owners send and receive text messages (Pew Internet 2010). Automated text messaging for smoking cessation in adult populations is feasible on a large scale and effective in both the short and long-term. This project aims to develop, pilot test and conduct an RCT of a theory-based smoking cessation program for pregnant women who smoke. This text messaging intervention is designed based on the National Cancer Institute’s SmokefreeTXT program and uses automated text messaging, to aide pregnant smokers in their efforts to quit.
Principal Investigator: Lorien C. Abroms ScD
Other Collaborators: Margaret Montgomery, CNM (Co-I) (Medstar Health Research Institute)
Funding Agency: NCI (1R15CA167586)

Developing and Scaling an Interactive Text Messaging Tool to Help Pregnant Smokers
This fast track SBIR (Phases 1&2) aims to develop a commercially viable smoking cessation texting program for pregnant smokers who are enrolled in Text4Baby. The program in development, Quit4Baby, is an automated, interactive bi-directional text messaging program based on one previously designed and tested by Abroms (Text2Quit). While over half of the nearly 11% of pregnant women who report smoking in their last trimester quit while pregnant, over half of those temporary quitters are back to smoking within 6 months after giving birth. The Quit4Baby program offers tips, on-demand tools and social support for quitting smoking while pregnant and staying quit after baby is born.
Principal Investigator: Lorien C. Abroms ScD
GW Collaborators: Sean Cleary, PhD
Other Collaborators: Pamela Johnson, PhD, Co-Investigator (Voxiva)
Funding Agency: NIDA (R44 DA035017-01)

Using Text Messaging & Email to Enhance Counseling Services at NCI’s Smoking Cessation Quitline
Email and text messages have the potential to improve the reach and efficacy of smoking cessation interventions. Text message and email offer low cost means of communicating with an audience in a format already highly integrated into their lives. Information delivered via text message or email can be easily tailored to the individual and data can be easily transmitted by the recipient to indicate smoking status and other relevant information. Studies indicate that text messaging programs delivered on mobile phones have shown some promise in delivering treatment for tobacco dependence. This project focused on developing piloting and trailing an automated, interactive smoking cessation program called Text2Quit. Text2Quit sends tailored text messages and emails to offer advice, support, and reminders about quitting smoking to the general adult population. Results from an RCT provide initial support for the relative efficacy of the Text2Quit program.
Principal Investigator: Lorien C. Abroms ScD
GW Collaborators: Sean Cleary, PhD
Funding Agency: NCI (1K07CA124579 - 01A2)

Publications

Publications:

An Updated list can be found at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=abroms+l

Abroms L, Levine H, Romm K, Wysota C, Broniatowski D, Bar-Zeev Y, Berg C. Anticipating IQOS market expansion in the United States. Tob Prev Cessat. 2022 Jan 27;8:04. doi: 10.18332/tpc/144650. PMID: 35174298; PMCID: PMC8792994.

Krishnan N, Abroms LC, Berg CJ. Electronic nicotine product cessation and cigarette smoking: analysis of waves 3 and 4 from the PATH study. Nicotine Tob Res. 2021 Jul 27:ntab155. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntab155. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34313780.

Abroms, LC., Allegrante, J. P., Auld, M. E., Gold, R. S., Riley, W. T., & Smyser, J. (2019). Toward a common agenda for the public and private sectors to advance digital health communication. American Journal of Public Health.

Abroms, LC. "Public Health in the Era of Social Media." American Journal of Public Health. (2019): S130-S131.

Bar-Zeev Y, Berg CJ, Abroms LC, Rodnay M, Elbaz D, Khayat A, Levine H. Assessment of IQOS Marketing Strategies at Points-of-Sale in Israel at a Time of Regulatory Transition. Nicotine Tob Res. 2021 Jul 3:ntab142. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntab142. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34216461.

Abroms LC, Wu KC, Krishnan N, Long M, Belay S, Sherman S, McCarthy M. A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of Text Messaging to Increase Tobacco Treatment Reach in the Emergency Department. Nicotine Tob Res. 2021 Aug 18;23(9):1597-1601. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntab036. PMID: 33684207.

Berg CJ, Krishnan N, Graham AL, Abroms LC. A synthesis of the literature to inform vaping cessation interventions for young adults. Addict Behav. 2021 Aug;119:106898. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2021.106898. Epub 2021 Mar 8. PMID: 33894483; PMCID: PMC8113079.

Bar Zeev, Yael; Berg, C; Abroms, LC; Levine, H; IQOS point-of-sale marketing strategies at a time of legislation transition in Israel European Journal of Public Health 30 Supplement_5 ckaa165. 185 2020 Oxford University Press

Abroms, L. C., Heminger, C. L., Boal, A. L., Van Alstyne, J. M., & Krishnan, N. (2020). Text2Quit: an analysis of user experiences with a mobile smoking cessation program. Journal of Smoking Cessation, 15(1), 23-28.

Amato MS, El-Toukhy S, Abroms LC, Goodfellow H, Ramsey AT, Brown T, Jopling H, Khadjesari Z. Mining Electronic Health Records to Promote the Reach of Digital Interventions for Cancer Prevention Through Proactive Electronic Outreach: Protocol for the Mixed Methods OptiMine Study. JMIR Res Protoc. 2020 Dec 31;9(12):e23669. doi: 10.2196/23669. PMID: 33382041; PMCID: PMC7808893.

Berg CJ, Duan X, Romm K, Pulvers K, Le D, Ma Y, Krishnan N, Abroms LC, Getachew B, Henriksen L. Young adults' vaping, readiness to quit, and recent quit attempts: The role of co-use with cigarettes and marijuana. Nicotine Tob Res. 2020 Dec 17:ntaa265. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntaa265. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33331889.

Graham AL, Papandonatos GD, Cha S, Amato MS, Jacobs MA, Cohn AM, Abroms LC, Whittaker R. Effectiveness of an optimized text message and Internet intervention for smoking cessation: a randomized controlled trial. Addiction. 2021 Sep 2. doi: 10.1111/add.15677. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34472676.

Graham AL, Papandonatos GD, Jacobs MA, Amato MS, Cha S, Cohn AM, Abroms LC, Whittaker R. Correction: Optimizing Text Messages to Promote Engagement With Internet Smoking Cessation Treatment: Results From a Factorial Screening Experiment. J Med Internet Res. 2020 Jul 28;22(7):e21027. doi: 10.2196/21027. Erratum for: J Med Internet Res. 2020 Apr 2;22(4):e17734. PMID: 32721924; PMCID: PMC7420627.

Kruse GR, Park ER, Chang Y, Haberer JE, Abroms LC, Shahid NN, Howard S, Haas JS, Rigotti NA. Proactively Offered Text Messages and Mailed Nicotine Replacement Therapy for Smokers in Primary Care Practices: A Pilot Randomized Trial. Nicotine Tob Res. 2020 Aug 24;22(9):1509-1514. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntaa050. PMID: 32198520; PMCID: PMC7443591.

Krebs P, Sherman SE, Wilson H, El-Shahawy O, Abroms LL, Zhao X, Nahvi S, Shelley D. Text2Connect: a health system approach to engage tobacco users in quitline cessation services via text messaging. Transl Behav Med. 2020 Feb 3;10(1):292-301. doi: 10.1093/tbm/ibz033. PMID: 32011721.

Krishnan N, Gu J, Abroms LC. Mobile phone-based messaging for tobacco cessation in low and middle-income countries: A systematic review. Addict Behav. 2021 Feb;113:106676. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2020.106676. Epub 2020 Sep 25. PMID: 33038676.

White JS, Toussaert S, Thrul J, Bontemps-Jones J, Abroms L, Westmaas JL. Peer Mentoring and Automated Text Messages for Smoking Cessation: A Randomized Pilot Trial. Nicotine Tob Res. 2020 Mar 16;22(3):371-380. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntz047. PMID: 30892616.

LC Abroms, RS Gold, JP Allegrante. Promoting health on social media: The way forward. Health Education & Behavior 46 (2_suppl), 9-11, 2019.

Abroms LC, Heminger C, Mendel J, Krishnan N. Text2Quit: An analysis of user experiences with a mobile smoking cessation program. Journal of Smoking Cessation. In press.

Chiang SC*, Abroms LC , Cleary, Pant*, Doherty*, Krishnan*. E-cigarettes and smoking cessation: a prospective study of a national sample of pregnant smokers. BMC public health 19 (1), 964.

Bary-Weisberg D, Meltser, Oberman M, Benari AP, Bar-Zeev Y, Berg C, Abroms LC. Feasibility of a text-messaging smoking cessation program for soldiers in Israel. BMC public health 19 (1), 715.

Abroms, L. C., Allegrante, J. P., Auld, M. E., Gold, R. S., Riley, W. T., & Smyser, J. (2019). Toward a common agenda for the public and private sectors to advance digital health communication. American Journal of Public Health.

Abroms, LC, et al. A Motion-Activated Videogame for Prevention of Substance Use Disorder Relapse in Youth: Pilot Randomized Trial. JMIR serious games 7 (2), e11716

Abroms, LC. "Public Health in the Era of Social Media." American Journal of Public Health. (2019): S130-S131.

Hoeppner, Bettina B., Susanne S. Hoeppner, Melissa R. Schick, Connor M. Milligan, Helmuth E, Brandon G. Bergman, Abroms LC, and Kelly JF. "Using the text-messaging program SmokefreeTXT to support smoking cessation for nondaily smokers." Substance use & misuse 54, no. 8 (2019): 1260-1271.

Spears, C. A., Bell, S. A., Scarlett, C. A., Anderson, N. K., Cottrell-Daniels, C., Lotfalian, S., ... & Abroms, L. C. (2019). Text messaging to enhance mindfulness-based smoking cessation treatment: program development through qualitative research. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 7(1), e11246.

Kruse GR*, Park EP, Shahid NN, Abroms L, Haberer JE, Rigotti NA Combining Real-Time Ratings With Qualitative Interviews to Develop a Smoking Cessation Text Messaging Program for Primary Care Patients. JMIR mHealth and uHealth 7 (3), e11498.

Kruse GR*, Park E, Haberer JE, Abroms L, Shahid NN, Howard SE, Chang Y, Haas JS, Rigotti NA. Proactive text messaging (GetReady2Quit) and nicotine replacement therapy to promote smoking cessation among smokers in primary care: A pilot randomized trial protocol. Contemp Clin Trials. 2019 Mar 25. pii: S1551-7144(18)30624-4.

Krebs, Paul, Scott E. Sherman, Hannah Wilson, Omar El-Shahawy, Lorien C. Abroms, Xiaoquan Zhao, Shadi Nahvi, and Donna Shelley. "Text2Connect: a health system approach to engage tobacco users in quitline cessation services via text messaging." Translational Behavioral Medicine 10, no. 1 (2020): 292-301.

Justin S White, Séverine Toussaert, Johannes Thrul, Jeuneviette Bontemps-Jones, Lorien Abroms, J Lee Westmaas, Peer Mentoring and Automated Text Messages for Smoking Cessation: A Randomized Pilot Trial, Nicotine & Tobacco Research, , ntz047, https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntz047

Abroms LC, Johnson PR, Brandon TH. Response to Raising the Bar for Pregnant Smokers. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, in press.

Abroms, Lorien C., et al. "A Randomized Trial of Text Messaging for Smoking Cessation in Pregnant Women." American Journal of Preventive Medicine (2017).

Abroms, Lorien C., et al. "Assessing the National Cancer Institute’s SmokefreeMOM Text-Messaging Program for Pregnant Smokers: Pilot Randomized Trial." Journal of Medical Internet Research 19.10 (2017): e333.

Westmaas, J. Lee, et al. "Randomised controlled trial of stand-alone tailored emails for smoking cessation." Tobacco Control(2017): tobaccocontrol-2016.

Hoeppner, Bettina B., Susanne S. Hoeppner, and Lorien C. Abroms. "How do text‐messaging smoking cessation interventions confer benefit? A multiple mediation analysis of Text2Quit." Addiction 112.4 (2017): 673-682.

Randomized Controlled Trial of the text4baby program in the Military Women’s Population: Initial Outcomes from a 4-week Follow up Study
Evans D, Abroms LC. et al., Randomized Controlled Trial of the text4baby program in the Military Women’s Population: Initial Outcomes from a 4-week Follow up Study, Journal Medical Internet Research

Abroms L, Schindler-Ruwisch, Jennifer M., et al. "A content analysis of electronic health record (EHR) functionality to support tobacco treatment." Translational behavioral medicine 7.2 (2017): 148-156.

Abroms LC, Boal AL, Simmens SJ, Mendel JA, Windsor RA, A Randomized Trial of Text2Quit: A Text Messaging Program for Smoking Cessation, American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Integrated Phone Counseling and Text Messaging Services at Quitlines: A User Satisfaction Study
Abroms LC, Boal A., Mendel J, Carpenter K, and Carrol P. Integrated Phone Counseling and Text Messaging Services at Quitlines: A User Satisfaction Study. Journal of Smoking Cessation. 2014 (in press).

Effectiveness of the Smoking Cessation and Reduction in Pregnancy Treatment (SCRIPT) Dissemination Project: A Science to Prenatal Care Practice Partnership.
Windsor R, Clark J, Cleary S, Davis A, Thorn S, Abroms LC, Wedeles J. Effectiveness of the Smoking Cessation and Reduction in Pregnancy Treatment (SCRIPT) Dissemination Project: A Science to Prenatal Care Practice Partnership. Matern Child Health J. 2013 Mar 13.

Text2Quit: Results from a pilot test of a personalized, interactive mobile health smoking cessation program
Abroms LC, Ahuja M, Kodl Y, Thaweethai L, Sims J, Winickoff J, Windsor RA. Text2Quit: Results from a pilot test of a personalized, interactive mobile health smoking cessation program. Journal of Health Communication. 2012.Vol. 17 (S1) 44-53.

Weight loss - There's an app for that! But does it adhere to evidence-informed practices?
Evans WD, Abroms LC, Poropatich R, Nielsen P, Wallace J. mHealth evaluation methods: Opportunities, Challenges and the text4baby Case Study. Journal of Health Communication. 2012. Vol. 17 (S1): 22-29.

mHealth evaluation methods: Opportunities, Challenges and the text4baby Case Study
Evans WD, Abroms LC, Poropatich R, Nielsen P, Wallace J. mHealth evaluation methods: Opportunities, Challenges and the text4baby Case Study. Journal of Health Communication. 2012. Vol. 17 (S1): 22-29.

Development and Evaluation of the Validity of the Smoking Adoption Scale for the W.V. Right From the Start Program
Ramiah, K., Windsor, Cleary, S, Abroms LC. Clark, J, Development and Evaluation of the Validity of the Smoking Adoption Scale for the W.V. Right From the Start Program. 2012. Journal of Health Communication (in press).

A Content Analysis of iPhone Apps for Smoking Cessation
Abroms LC, Padmanabhan N, Thaweethai L, and Phillips. A Content Analysis of iPhone Apps for Smoking Cessation. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2011 Mar;40(3):279-85

Using the Internet to Understand Smokers' Treatment Preferences: Informing Strategies to Increase Demand.
Westmaas L; Bade J; Bontemps-Jones J; Bauer JE; Abroms LC. Using the Internet to Understand Smokers' Treatment Preferences: Informing Strategies to Increase Demand. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 2011 Aug 26;13(3):e58.

The Effectiveness of Mass Communication to Change Public Behavior.
Abroms LC, Maibach EW. The Effectiveness of Mass Communication to Change Public Behavior. Annual Review of Public Health. 2008 Apr 21;29:219-234.

A Case Study of Using New Media to Promote Recycling in North Carolina.
Hamilton L, Dennings K, Abroms LC. A Case Study of Using New Media to Promote Recycling in North Carolina. Cases in Public Health Communication & Marketing. Vol 2 (August), 2008. Available at : http://www.casesjournal.org

Getting young adults to quit smoking: a formative evaluation of the X-Pack Program.
Abroms LC, Windsor R, Simons-Morton B. Getting young adults to quit smoking: a formative evaluation of the X-Pack Program. Nicotine and Tobacco Research. 2008 Jan;10(1):27-33.

New Media Cases in Cases in Public Health Communication & Marketing: The Promise and Potential.
Abroms LC, Schiavo R, Lefebvre RC. New Media Cases in Cases in Public Health Communication & Marketing: The Promise and Potential. Cases in Public Health Communication & Marketing. Vol 2 (August), 2008. Available at :http://www.casesjournal.org

Web 2019 Update - CSS

Lorien

Abroms, ScD, MA

Professor of Prevention and Community Health; Associate Dean for PhD & MS Programs

Lorien Abroms

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