Pebbles Fagan, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Professor
Background
Pebbles Fagan, Ph.D., M.P.H., is a professor and the director of the Center for the Study of Tobacco at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Fay. W. Boozman College of Public Health, Department of Health Behavior and Health Education. She formerly served as program director for the Cancer Prevention and Control Program at the University of Hawaii Cancer Center and served as a health scientist in the Tobacco Control Research Branch at the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Fagan has more than 20 years of experience in conducting research that aims to increase knowledge on how to reduce tobacco- and cancer-related health disparities in racial/ethnic, socially disadvantaged and marginalized communities. She has a long-standing track record of using team-based science to examine social, behavioral and biobehavioral factors associated with health disparities.
Her recent studies have focused on understanding the unique factors that contribute to the dual use of tobacco, quitting and switching behaviors and nicotine dependence among young adults who consume flavored tobacco products including menthol cigarettes, cigars and electronic cigarettes. Dr. Fagan has successfully collaborated with diverse disciplines and has lead projects/programs on several NIH-funded center grants including the University of Hawaii Cancer Center, the Center for the Study of Tobacco Products (CSTP) and the Arkansas Center for Health Disparities. As the project director on Project 4: "Quantitative and Qualitative Methods for Modified-Risk Tobacco Product Evaluation" at the CSTP, Virginia Commonwealth University, Dr. Fagan led a diverse team of scientists in the identification of consumption patterns, prevalence and unorthodox use of e-cigarettes using mixed-methods approaches. This project used concept mapping, electronic cigarette forums, YouTube, an online survey and Internet retailer data to understand unique aspects of e-cigarette user and manufacturer’s behaviors. As the PI of a subproject on the Arkansas Center for Health Disparities funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, Dr. Fagan leads an academic-community partnership that focuses on developing an intervention designed to increase comprehensive smokefree policies in the homes of African American women smokers who live in rural Delta Arkansas counties. Dr. Fagan is also a Co-I on a study that examines the effects of marketing on cigarette and electronic cigarette smoking initiation and continued use in a multiethnic sample of young adults. She is highly committed to diversifying the research workforce, dedicated to mentoring faculty and students and is invested in working with communities to eliminate health disparities.
Dr. Fagan served on the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee, Center for Tobacco Products, Food and Drug Administration from 2015-2018. In 2012, she received an Outstanding Alumni Award from the College of Education and Human Development, Texas A&M University. In 2007, she received the NIH Merit Award for her leadership in tobacco-related health disparities research. Dr. Fagan received a NCI Director's Award in 2006 for her collaborative work in training minority investigators and was recognized by Aetna Insurance in the Aetna African American History Calendar, 25th Anniversary Edition for her work in tobacco-related health disparities. Dr. Fagan is a member of the American Public Health Association; the American Association for Cancer Research; founding member of the Tobacco and Health Disparities Committee of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco; Soroptimist International of Waikiki Foundation, Incorporated; and The Links Incorporated, Little Rock Chapter.
