About Us

The Pennsylvania Primary Care Network for Adolescent Smoking Cessation is an initiative to explore and disseminate novel approaches to helping adolescents quit using tobacco. Funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Health from Tobacco Master Settlement monies, the PA Network was initiated in 2004 for a 5 year grant period to The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) after a competitive RFP process. Initial partner Departments and Programs include the Division of Adolescent Medicine and Department of Psychiatry at CHOP, Division of Adolescent Medicine at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, Division of Adolescent Medicine at Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh, and the Section of Adolescent Medicine at Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network. During the first two years of the grant period, several qualitative studies and surveys of medical practitioners were conducted. Planning for a multi-site randomized control trial was also performed during this time. As a result of this planning, The University of Pennsylvania’s Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center was added as a partner to provide leadership and expertise towards reaching the scientific objectives of the project.

The primary mission of the PA Network is to perform a multi-site randomized controlled trial comparing different methods for counseling teens in medical office settings. This trial, named the PASStudy (Pennsylvania Adolescent Smoking Study) is actively recruiting cigarette users between the ages of 14 and 18 years from medical settings. Study sites include Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and Lehigh Valley Hospital. For more information on the PASStudy, including how to refer a teen to the study, please contact:

Agnieshka Baumritter, MS

PASStudy Project Manager, Clinical Trials Office

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

3535 Market Street, Room 1048

Philadelphia, PA  19104

Phone:   (267) 590-4956

FAX:       (215) 590-0426

or click here.

A second aim of the PA Network’s project involves the education of health professionals to improve clinical practice. Therefore, in 2007, a collaborative agreement between the PA Network and the PA Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics was formed. To date, this partnership as resulted in the successful completion of a statewide survey of health care provider attitudes and practices, and a Stakeholders meeting held in July 2007. These provided the impetus and background guiding the creation of this website, as well as a CME teleconference series.

For information on the PA AAP, click here.
For a schedule of CME teleconferences related to adolescent tobacco use, click here.
For enduring educational materials on prior teleconferences, click here.

Personnel

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Administrator: Peter Adamson, MD
Principal Investigator: Sara Kinsman, MD, PhD
Project Coordinator: Agnieshka Baumritter, MS
Research Coordinator: Wendy Mahoney, CRNP

The University of Pennsylvania
Principal Investigator: Janet Audrain-McGovern, PhD

The Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh
Principal Investigators: Pamela Murray, MD, MHP
                                     Deborah Moss, MD, MPH

                                     Jonathan Pletcher, MD
Research Coordinator: Melissa Jones, MPH

Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network
Principal Investigators: Sarah Stevens, MD, MPH
Research Coordinator: Susan Kalkhuis-Beam, MA

St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children
Principal Investigator: Tahniat Syed, MD, MPH

Website Design Team

PA Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics:Dottie Schell, BS, RN, CTAS

                                                                                Iris Colón-Burchette

The Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh:                      Jonathan Pletcher, MD

St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children:                    Tahniat Syed, MD, MPH

Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network:            Audrey Vanim

Weiss Communications:                                           Carl E. Weiss