Our Scientific Advisors

Through the years our company’s leadership has learned much and relied heavily on the world-class expertise of its nicotine Scientific Advisory Board. Over 20 experts with various interests in tobacco control and cessation have served as consultants, including:

Harry Lando, Ph.D. has been Chair of the Scientific Advisory Team since its inception in 1999. This 30-year veteran in smoking cessation has aided the development of the SmokeSignals® product and system through three clinical trials and six successful grant applications. He has supported the company’s vision of a self-help environment for smoking cessation, as he did for other well-recognized programs, such as the American Lung Association”s "Freedom From Smoking" and the American Cancer Society’s "Fresh Start" program. Dr. Lando is immediate Past-President of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT). He is Professor in the Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

Patricia L. Fiero, Ph.D. was one of the first users of the original SmokeSignals prototypes. In 2001, she bravely bought 10 units of the original units for her tobacco research studies at the Medical University of South Carolina. She had been a long-term believer in electronic tools from her early career with the Lifesign product, where she worked with Dr. Jerome. Now, Dr. Fiero is a Behavioral Scientist with Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and is contracted to the National Cancer Institute’s Tobacco Intervention Research Clinic where she is a lead investigator on studies related to the treatment of tobacco dependence.

Albert Jerome, Ph.D., is a pioneer in our field. Fifteen years ago he began an outstanding career focusing on the development and evaluation of hand-held computers that implement self-help behavior change programs for tobacco cessation and diet and exercise modification. Dr. Jerome developed many of the scheduled reduction algorithms used in various versions of the LifeSign program, the first commercial computerized program for tobacco cessation that employed scheduled reduction. He now runs his own research and consulting firm in Leesburg, VA. Al has been a dear friend to us and has helped develop many of the tailoring aspects of this website and program that are now the leading edge in our field.

Richard Olmstead, Ph.D. joined our Advisory Team in 2003 and has served as our statistician on all major projects since then. He holds dual academic appointments at UCLA and Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System (VA-GLAHS). Dr. Olmstead’s work with advanced statistics and research methodology extends more than a decade as an researcher, lecturer, and private consultant. His primary substantive interest is tobacco dependence as studied from a biobehavioral perspective.

Cheryl L. Perry, Ph.D. is a leading expert in prevention of childhood smoking and has advised SmokeSignals’ leadership on an exciting program in development for children. She is a Professor in the Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Perry began her career as a junior high and high school teacher, and junior high school vice-principal, in Sacramento and Davis, California. She received her Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1980. She was the senior scientific editor of the 1994 Surgeon General's Report on Preventing Tobacco Use among Young People.

Lt. Col. Alan Peterson, Ph.D. has collaborated with Ms. Brue and our research scientists on fascinating projects to test SmokeSignals devices for use by Air Force personnel. He is Chair of the Department of Psychology, Wilford Hall Medical Center, in San Antonio where much of the service’s nicotine research is performed. One study on which he serves as Co-Investigator represents one of the largest tobacco research studies ever conducted, (n= 25,996) involving Air Force basic trainees. Dr. Peterson is joining Mr. Hahn and our technology team now in redeveloping devices for the global demands of the USAF.

Herbert H. Severson, Ph.D. is Senior Research Scientist at Oregon Research Institute and Professor at the University of Oregon where he has been involved with tobacco programs for many years. In his consulting with us, Dr. Severson specializes in developing tools for smokeless tobacco users. He has authored self-help quitting materials for smokeless tobacco users including Enough Snuff: a Guide for Quitting Smokeless on Your Own (2000), and Enough Snuff: A Video Program for Quitting Spit Tobacco.