Erica Cruvinel, Ph.D., MPH

Professional Background

Before joining the department of Population Health at the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC), Dr. Cruvinel gained extensive experience working with underserved communities in Brazil to implement Screening, Brief interventions and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) for tobacco, alcohol and other drug use. Her doctoral research—a hybrid phone/text messaging smoking cessation program for hospitalized patients in Brazil — was a pilot pragmatic clinical trial that involved collaborating with hospital physicians to coordinate pharmacotherapy, phone calls, and text messaging for follow up post-discharge. During her international postdoctoral training with Dr. Kimber Richter, funded by the American Association of University Women (AAUW), she undertook intensive training on secondary data analyses to analyze large databases from the World Health Organization and the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). In 2020, she transitioned to a postdoctoral position in the same department at KUMC with Dr. Taneisha Scheuermann in which she gained experience with the delivery of tobacco treatment among pregnant women using text messages. In the same year, Dr. Cruvinel received a NIDA Diversity Supplement to Dr. Nikki Nollen’s R01 which is examining a novel adaptive smoking cessation intervention for Black people who smoke. In 2022, Dr. Cruvinel was awarded a NIDA K01 to develop a remote intervention to provide contingency management to engage patients with smoking cessation treatments post-discharge.

• BSc, Psychology, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais
• MPH, Prevention of substance use disorders, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais
• PhD, Social Psychology, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais
• Post Doctoral Fellowship, Smoking cessation interventions for hospitalized patients in Brazil, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais
• Post Doctoral Fellowship, Secondary data analyses and smoking cessation among patients with mental health diagnoses, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas
• Post Doctoral Fellowship, Secondary data analysis of smoking cessation clinical trials, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas

• INSPIRE Affinity Group at KUMC, INSPIRE, Co-Chair, 2022 - Present
• INSPIRE Affinity Group at KUMC, INSPIRE Affinity Group , Member, 2021 - Present
• The Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, Member, 2021 - Present

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Research

Overview

Research Interest: Smoking Cessation, mHealth interventions; Global Health; Treatment adherence; Implementation Science.

Dr. Cruvinel’s research focuses on reducing tobacco-related morbidity and mortality of tobacco users through novel systems of evidence-based care delivery, with an emphasis on mHealth interventions. Dr. Cruvinel’s research interests focus not only in developing novel strategies to increase access to care but also to increase engagement of persons who smoke in treatment. She has a special interest in remote interventions because of their potential for broad reach, low cost and scalability. Dr. Cruvinel is currently working on her NIDA K01 grant (DA055779) to develop and test a remote behavioral intervention that can optimize engagement with smoking cessation medication and counseling.

• Cruvinel Erica, Ellerbeck Edward, Richter Kimber P, Taylor Nandi L, Shergina Elena, Nazir Niaman, Scheuermann Taneisha S. 2023. Hospital to Outpatient Transitions of Care for Tobacco Treatment. CHEST, 164 (1), 262-265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chest.2023.01.028
• Cruvinel Erica, Mussulman Laura, Scheuermann Taneisha, Shergina Elena, He Jianghua, Sherman Scott, Harrington Kathleen, Rigotti Nancy A, Tindle Hilary, Zhu Shu-Hong, Richter Kimber. 2024. Hospital-Initiated Smoking Cessation Among Patients Admitted with Behavioral Health Conditions. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 39 (8), 1423-1430. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-024-08646-5
• Cruvinel Erica, P Richter Kimber, S Scheuermann Taneisha, M Machado Nathalia, Mayo Matthew S, R Brown Alexandra, L Nollen Nicole. 2022. The impact of COVID-19 on income and employment and willingness to become vaccinated among African Americans enrolled in a smoking cessation randomized trial. Vaccine, 40 (12), 1712-1716. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2022.01.064
• Richter Kimber P, Clark Lauren, Wick Jo A, Cruvinel Erica, Durham Dianne, Shaw Pamela, Shih Grace H, Befort Christie A, Simari Robert D. 2020. Women Physicians and Promotion in Academic Medicine. New England Journal of Medicine, 383 (22), 2148-2157. https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmsa1916935
• Cruvinel Erica, Liebman Edward, Leite Isabel, Hu Jinxiang, Richter Kimber P. 2020. Prevalence of smoking, quit attempts and access to cessation treatment among adults with mental illness in Brazil: a cross-sectional analysis of a National Health Survey. BMJ Open, 10 (5), e033959. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2019-033959
• Cruvinel Erica, Richter Kimber P, Colugnati Fernando, Ronzani Telmo Mota. 2019. An Experimental Feasibility Study of a Hybrid Telephone Counseling/Text Messaging Intervention for Post-Discharge Cessation Support Among Hospitalized Smokers in Brazil. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 21 (12), 1700-1705. https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/nty165
• Cruvinel Erica, Richter Kimber P, Stoney Catherine, Duffy Sonia, Fellows Jeffrey, Harrington Kathleen F, Rigotti Nancy A, Sherman Scott, Tindle Hilary A, Shireman Theresa I, Shelley Donna, Waiwaiole Lisa, Cummins Sharon. 2016. CHARTing a Path to Pragmatic Tobacco Treatment Research. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 51 (4), 630-636. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2016.05.025
• Cruvinel Erica, Richter Kimber P, Bastos Ronaldo Rocha, Ronzani Telmo Mota. 2013. Screening and brief intervention for alcohol and other drug use in primary care: associations between organizational climate and practice. Addiction Science & Clinical Practice, 8 (1). https://doi.org/10.1186/1940-0640-8-4