Robin J. Mermelstein, PhD

Dr. Robin Mermelstein, a professor of psychology and distinguished professor of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, directs the Institute for Health Research and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She also is a clinical professor of community health sciences in the UIC School of Public Health, an assistant dean of the UIC College of Medicine, and the co-principal director of the UIC Center for Clinical and Translational Science.

Her research interests fall broadly in the area of tobacco use, with studies ranging from longitudinal examinations of the etiology of youth smoking to cessation interventions for adult smokers.

Since the mid 1990s, Dr. Mermelstein has been the principal investigator of a series of studies, including two consecutive program projects funded by the National Cancer Institute, to investigate trajectories of smoking patterns among adolescents and young adults, with a focus on social and emotional contextual factors.

In addition, she has been funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to examine factors related to youth smoking, and by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and NCI for studies of adult smoking cessation. Other areas of research focus include health behaviors of young adults and motivational interventions to increase smoking cessation.

Dr. Mermelstein is the past-president of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco and serves on national research review committees of the National Institutes of Health. She served on the Institute of Medicine committee that wrote the 2015 consensus study report, Public Health Implications of Raising the Minimum Age of Legal Access to Tobacco Products.

She directed the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's national program office of Partners with Tobacco Use Research Centers: A Transdisciplinary Approach to Advancing Science and Policy Studies. As part of this program, RWJF collaborated with both NCI and the National Institute on Drug Abuse in funding the Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Centers.

In 2014, the University of Illinois at Chicago named Dr. Mermelstein Woman of the Year for her contributions to women's health and professional development.

Selya AS, Rose JS, Dierker L, Hedeker D, Mermelstein RJ. Evaluating the mutual pathways among electronic cigarette use, conventional smoking and nicotine dependence. Addiction. 2018 Feb;113(2):325-333.

Selya AS, Dierker L, Rose JS, Hedeker D, Mermelstein RJ. The role of nicotine dependence in e-cigarettes’ potential for smoking reduction. Nicotine Tob Res. In press.

Petersen A, Mermelstein R, Berg KM, Baker TB, Smith SS, Jorenby D, et al. Offering smoking treatment to primary care patients in two Wisconsin healthcare systems: Who chooses smoking reduction versus cessation? Prev Med. 2017 Dec;105:332-336.

Villanti AC, Johnson AL, Rath JM, et al. Identifying “social smoking” U.S. young adults using an empirically-driven approach. Addict Behav. 2017 Jul;70:83-89.

Piasecki TM, Trela CJ, Mermelstein RJ. Hangover symptoms, heavy episodic drinking, and depression in young adults: a cross-lagged analysis. J Stud Alcohol Drugs. 2017 Jul;78(4):580-587.

Gorka SM, Hedeker D, Piasecki TM, Mermelstein R. Impact of alcohol use motives and internalizing symptoms on mood changes in response to drinking: An ecological momentary assessment investigation. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2017 Apr 1;173:31-38.

Pugach O, Cannon DS, Weiss RB, Hedeker D, Mermelstein RJ. Classification tree analysis as a method for uncovering relations between CHRNA5A3B4 and CHRNB3A6 in predicting smoking progression in adolescent smokers. Nicotine Tob Res. 2017 Apr 1;19(4):410-416.

Gao W, Hedeker D, Mermelstein R, Xie H. A scalable approach to measuring the impact of nonignorable nonresponse with an EMA application. Stat Med. 2016 Dec 30;35(30):5579-5602.

Curry SJ, Mermelstein RJ, Sporer AK. Sustainability of community-based youth smoking cessation programs: results from a 3-year follow-up. Health Promot Pract. 2016 Nov;17(6):845-852.

Selya AS, Dierker L, Rose JS, Hedeker D, Mermelstein RJ. Early-emerging nicotine dependence has lasting and time-varying effects on adolescent smoking behavior. Prev Sci. 2016 Aug;17(6):743-750.

Piasecki TM, Hedeker D, Dierker LC, Mermelstein RJ. Progression of nicotine dependence, mood level, and mood variability in adolescent smokers. Psychol Addict Behav. 2016 Jun;30(4):484-93.

Cannon DS, Mermelstein RJ, Medina TR, Pugach O, Hedeker D, Weiss RB. CYP2A6 effects on subjective reactions to initial smoking attempt. Nicotine Tob Res. 2016 May;18(5):637-641.

Schuster RM, Mermelstein RJ, Hedeker D. Ecological momentary assessment of working memory under conditions of simultaneous marijuana and tobacco use. Addiction. 2016 Aug;111(8):1466-1476.

Cannon DS, Medina TR, Mermelstein RJ, Hedeker D, Bakian AV, Coon H, Cook EH, Hamil C, Weiss RB. CYP2A6 longitudinal effects in young smokers. Nicotine Tob Res. 2016 Feb;18(2):196-203 [See abstract.]

Cook JW, Collins LM, Fiore MC, et al. Comparative effectiveness of motivation phase intervention components for use with smokers unwilling to quit: a factorial screening experiment. Addiction. 2016 Jan;111(1):117-28. [See abstract.]

Schuster RM, Mermelstein RJ, Hedeker D. Acceptability and feasibility of a visual working memory task in an ecological momentary assessment paradigm. Psychol Assess. 2015 Dec;27(4):1463-70 [See abstract.]

Crane NA, Langenecker SA, Mermelstein RJ. Gender differences in the associations among marijuana use, cigarette use and symptoms of depression during adolescence and young adulthood. Addict Behav. 2015 Oct;49:33-9. [See abstract.]

Crane NA, Schuster RM, Mermelstein RJ, Gonzalez R. Neuropsychological sex differences associated with age of initiated use among young adult cannabis users. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol. 2015;37(4):389-401.

Passarotti AM, Crane NA, Hedeker D, Mermelstein RJ. Longitudinal trajectories of marijuana use from adolescence to young adulthood. Neuropsychology. 2015 Sep;29(5):759-66. [See abstract.]

Nadell MJ, Mermelstein RJ, Hedeker D, Marquez DX. Work and non-work physical activity predict real-time smoking level and urges in young adults. Nicotine Tob Res. 2015 Jul;17(7):803-9. [See abstract.]

Dierker L, Rose J, Selya A, Piasecki TM, Hedeker D, Mermelstein R. Depression and nicotine dependence from adolescence to young adulthood. Addict Behav. 2015 Feb;41:124-128. [See abstract.]

Pugach O, Hedeker D, Mermelstein R. A bivariate mixed-effects location-scale model with application to ecological momentary assessment (EMA) data. Health Serv Outcomes Res Methodol. 2014 Dec;14(4):194-212. [See abstract.]

Mermelstein RJ. Adapting to a changing tobacco landscape: research implications for understanding and reducing youth tobacco use. Am J Prev Med. 2014 Aug;47(2 Suppl 1):S87-9. [See abstract.]

Sokolovsky AW, Mermelstein RJ, Hedeker D. Factors predicting compliance to ecological momentary assessment among adolescent smokers. Nicotine Tob Res. 2014 Mar;16(3):351-8. [See abstract.]

Cannon DS, Mermelstein RJ, Hedeker D, Coon H, Cook EH, McMahon WM, Hamil C, Dunn D, Weiss RB. Effect of neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor genes (CHRN) on longitudinal cigarettes per day in adolescents and young adults. Nicotine Tob Res. 2014 Feb;16(2):137-44. [See abstract.]

Selya AS, Wakschlag LS, Dierker LC, Rose JS, Hedeker D, Mermelstein RJ. Exploring alternate processes contributing to the association between maternal smoking and the smoking behavior among young adult offspring. Nicotine Tob Res. 2013;15(11):1873-82. [See abstract.]

Schuster RM, Mermelstein R, Wakschlag L. Gender-specific relationships between depressive symptoms, marijuana use, parental communication and risky sexual behavior in adolescence. J Youth Adolesc. 2013;42(8):1194-209. [See abstract.]

Weinstein SM, Mermelstein RJ. Influences of mood variability, negative moods, and depression on adolescent cigarette smoking. Psychol Addict Behav. 2013;27(4):1068-78. [See abstract.]

Hernandez C, Kim H, Mauleon G, Ruiz A, Robinson JK, Mermelstein RJ. A pilot program in collaboration with community centers to increase awareness and participation in skin cancer screening among Latinos in Chicago. J Cancer Educ. 2013;28(2):342-345.

Weinstein SM, Mermelstein RJ. Dynamic associations of negative mood and smoking across the development of smoking in adolescence. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol. 2013;42(5):629-42. [See abstract.]

Schuster RM, Hertel AW, Mermelstein R. Cigar, cigarillo, and little cigar use among current cigarette-smoking adolescents. Nicotine Tob Res. 2013;15(5):925-31. [See abstract.]

Mermelstein RJ, Revenson TA. Applying theory across settings, behaviors, and populations: Translational challenges and opportunities. Health Psychol. 2013;32(5):592-6. [See abstract.]

Hernandez C, Mermelstein R, Robinson JK, Yudkowsky R. Assessing students’ ability to detect melanomas using standardized patients and moulage. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2013;68(3):e83-8 [See abstract.]

Curry SJ, Mermelstein RJ, Emery SL, Sporer AK, Berbaum ML, Campbell RT, Flay B, Warnecke RB. A national evaluation of community-based youth cessation programs: end of program and twelve-month outcomes. Am J Community Psychol. 2013;51(1-2):15-29. [See abstract.]