Built to Serve
Advancing Public Health Through Policy
Health policy is far more than a series of directives; it is a powerful tool to shape everything from disease prevention to health care access. Whether monitoring environmental exposures, recommending dietary and physical activity guidelines, or addressing emerging biotechnology, the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at University of California San Diego is making a profound impact on individual and community well-being by influencing policy locally, nationally and globally.
Eric C. Leas, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Impact on US Tobacco Policy
John P. Pierce, Ph.D.
Since its founding, UC San Diego has influenced local and national policies, especially in preventing chronic diseases and improving health care services. One notable example is its pivotal role in advancing tobacco control legislation.
According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of disease, disability and death in the US. Tobacco policies work to prevent youth from starting to use tobacco products, eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke, help people quit and reduce smoking-related costs, which were $600 billion in 2018.
In 1987, after the publication of the Sydney Quit for Life campaign — the first state-based tobacco control program — the CDC recruited John P. Pierce, Ph.D., who had helped implement the successful Australian initiative. At the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, Pierce established an epidemiology division to rejuvenate US tobacco control research.
In 1989, Pierce co-authored three groundbreaking papers in JAMA containing trend analyses of 25 years of National Health Interview Surveys. These results provided the basis for the Surgeon General’s report entitled “Reducing the Health Consequences of Smoking: Twenty-Five Years of Progress.”
In his federal role, Pierce consulted with the California Department of Public Health on the development of the California Comprehensive Tobacco Control Program, which aims to change social norms surrounding tobacco use.
In 1990, Pierce joined UC San Diego, where he created and led the California Tobacco Surveys. These surveys gather data on tobacco use behavior and tobacco-related beliefs among Californians and have become an essential tool in tracking progress and guiding future public health strategies.
Pierce also designed a randomized trial at UC San Diego to test a telephone counseling line to help people quit smoking. With the help of Shu-Hong Zhu, Ph.D., who still directs this program, the trial was successful and led to the creation of the California Smokers Helpline, now known as Kick It California, an innovation that has since been replicated worldwide.
Throughout the 1990s, Pierce and his team’s research contributed to major policy changes, including limits to the advertising and sales of tobacco products to minors, which resulted in the first sustained decline in smoking initiation in the US.
In 1994, the world’s first smoke-free workplace law was passed in California after a key paper from Pierce’s group documented the level of exposure to secondhand smoke. The law’s success informed the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, an international treaty that required nations to implement similar policy protections.
Thanks to this research and these policies, California went from having more smokers and higher lung cancer deaths than the national average to a state with far fewer smokers and deaths than most of the country.
Since its founding, UC San Diego has influenced local and national policies. One notable example is its pivotal role in advancing tobacco control legislation.
Evolution of Educational Programs and Research
Public health has long been a cornerstone at UC San Diego, but in 2019, the university took a transformative step by establishing the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health with a $25 million pledge from the Wertheim Family Foundation — uniting education, research and community engagement under a bold new vision.
Early tobacco research laid the foundation. As tobacco use patterns evolved, so did the research. Pierce, who is now a distinguished professor, and colleagues at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health refocused their research to answer questions about emerging trends, such as whether e-cigarettes help smokers quit (no) and whether they lead youth to become daily smokers (yes).
In 2021, Pierce, David R. Strong, Ph.D., professor, and Eric C. Leas, Ph.D., M.P.H., assistant professor, published research in the journal BMJ showing that menthol flavoring impairs smokers’ ability to quit. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cited this study in its 2022 proposal to ban menthol cigarettes — though the ban was withdrawn in 2025. That same year, California passed Senate Bill 793 (SB-793), prohibiting the sale of flavored tobacco products, including menthol.
Leas, who uses online data and tools to better understand public health and inform health policy, published a 2023 study in Tobacco Control showing a 194% spike in online searches for cigarettes and a 162% increase for vape products following SB-793’s implementation. California lawmakers responded by passing SB-1230 in 2025 to strengthen oversight of online tobacco sales, citing Leas’ findings.
Leas and Dennis Trinidad, Ph.D., M.P.H., professor, were enlisted as co-authors on the 2024 Report of the Surgeon General Eliminating Tobacco-Related Disease and Death: Addressing Disparities, which communicates scientific findings to the public, policymakers and health care professionals.
Eric C. Leas, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Faculty Contributions to National Public Health Policy
David Strong, Ph.D., and Eric Leas, Ph.D., discuss research with a colleague.
Leas’ research extends beyond tobacco. A panel of FDA toxicologists cited his research in the Journal of Cannabis Research when reviewing scientific literature on the safety of delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-8 THC), a psychoactive compound often sold as a legal alternative to marijuana.
In 2024, the FDA issued a memo determining that delta-8 THC products do not satisfy Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) and therefore are unsafe for public consumption. Later that year, his paper on the dangers posed by unregulated sales of toxic and hallucinogenic Amanita muscaria mushrooms was cited in another FDA memo saying these products also do not satisfy GRAS determination.
In a 2025 American Journal of Preventive Medicine research paper, Leas and colleagues reported that delta-8 THC products are most commonly used in states where marijuana use remains illegal and delta-8 THC sales are unregulated, highlighting how gaps in cannabis policy may inadvertently steer people toward less-regulated substances and have allowed manufacturers to evade restrictions placed on marijuana products.
Gaps in cannabis policy may inadvertently steer people toward less-regulated substances and have allowed manufacturers to evade restrictions placed on marijuana products.
But health policy spans much more than substance use. For example, Alexandra Heaney, Ph.D., assistant professor, published research on environmental drivers of valley fever, a fungal disease that can cause dangerous or even deadly complications. The research identified seasonal cycles influenced by drought across California counties. The California Department of Health issued a public announcement based on her findings, and Heaney is US now working on a similar analysis with the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Cheryl A.M. Anderson, Ph.D., M.P.H., founding dean of the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and inaugural Hood Family Endowed Dean’s Chair in Public Health, served as a co-author of the Scientific Report of the 2025 Dietary Guidelines, an evidence-based document published every five years that provides independent advice on nutrition to the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Alexandra Heaney, Ph.D.
Sara McMenamin, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Sara McMenamin, Ph.D., M.P.H., associate professor, along with co-principal investigator Irene Su, M.D., UC San Diego School of Medicine professor, evaluated the impact of the 2019 California SB-600, which mandates insurance coverage for fertility preservation services when medical treatments may impact future fertility. Their analysis on implementation barriers was incorporated into final regulations by the California Department of Managed Health Care.
In 2022, Michael Pratt, M.D., M.S.P.E., M.P.H., professor, spent 10 months working at the Palacky University Olomouc in the Czech Republic as a Fulbright Distinguished Chair, the most prestigious award offered by the Fulbright Scholar Program. He has worked with peers at Palacky since 2010 through the International Physical Activity and the Environment Network Project and the Global Observatory for Physical Activity (GoPA!).
Pratt and colleagues used a tool designed by GoPA! to evaluate physical activity policies in the Czech Republic and four Latin American countries. They found that policies were generally well developed nationally but implementation was challenging, in part due to poor integration with city and state governments. These analyses could help close gaps and inform policy processes to review similar programs in other European and Latin American countries.
The breadth of research with potential to shape health policy spans from the exploration school-based online surveillance and its effects on secondary school students by Cinnamon Bloss, Ph.D., professor, to investigating the investment in community-led advocacy infrastructure to empower local leaders to drive policy change led by Borsika Rabin, Ph.D., Pharm.D., M.P.H., professor.
The Hebert Wertheim School of Public Health is building on a rich history of public health. In just five years, it is already transforming UC San Diego’s legacy into measurable impact. With eyes on the future, its bold commitment to evidence-driven policy and inclusive collaboration is driving change from San Diego to the world stage.
Borsika Rabin, Ph.D., Pharm.D., M.P.H.
Policy Leadership Beyond Campus
Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health faculty serve on influential state and national committees to support evidence-based policymaking to advance health. Current committees include:
- José Ricardo Suárez, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., associate professor, was reappointed by California Governor Gavin Newsom to the Biomonitoring California Scientific Guidance Panel within the California Department of Public Health and Cal EPA, advising on exposure studies and environmental health in the State of California.
- Richard Kronick, Ph.D., professor, joined the board of the Office of Health Care Affordability, helping set cost growth targets for California’s health care system.
- Ryan Bradley, N.D., M.P.H., associate professor, was appointed to the National Advisory Council for Complementary and Integrative Health, which reviews National Institutes of Health research grants and initiatives.
- McMenamin serves as the UC San Diego vice chair for the California Health Benefits Review Program (CHBRP), a UC taskforce evaluating proposed health insurance legislation for the California State Legislature. Through CHBRP, Todd Gilmer, Ph.D., professor, Carlos Gould, Ph.D., assistant professor, Thet Nw Myo Khin, M.P.H., project policy analyst, Danielle Casteel, M.A., project manager, and Steve Tally, Ph.D., director of clinical research, also contribute to the analyses for the Senate Health and Assembly Health committees to use in their deliberations.
- Lawrence Palinkas, Ph.D., professor and assistant dean for community partnerships, serves on the Standing Committee on Aerospace Medicine and the Medicine of Extreme Environments, advising NASA on health policy for space travel.
