Lorien Abroms, Sc.D.
Lorien Abroms is an assistant professor of Prevention and Community Health at The George Washington University (GWU) School of Public Health and Health Services.
- Phone: 202-994-3518
- Email: lorien@gwu.edu
Dr. Abroms' research focuses on the application of communication technologies—including emails, text messaging, and smartphone apps--for smoking cessation and other health behaviors. She has developed and evaluated a smoking cessation kit for young adults smokers called the X-Pack, which has been widely distributed, and which was awarded the Best Materials Award by the Public Health Education and Health Promotion (PHEHP) Section of American Public Health Association. She has developed and is currently leading an evaluation of the Text2Quit Program, an interactive text messaging program for smoking cessation. Prior to joining the faculty at GW in 2004, Dr. Abroms received her doctorate from the Harvard School of Public Health and was a post-doc at the National Institute of Child Health & Human Development. In 2008, she was awarded the Early Career Award by the Public Health Education and Health Promotion (PHEHP) Section of the American Public Health Association. Dr. Abroms' bookmarks on social media and other topics of interest can be found at: http://delicious.com/lorien_a
Education
Bachelor of Science (Psychology), Brown University, 1993
Master of Arts (Sociology), Brown University, 1996
Doctor of Science, Harvard School of Public Health, 2002
Post-Doctoral Fellowship, National Institutes of Health, 2003
Teaching
PubH 6503-Introduction to Public Health Communication & Marketing, Department of Prevention and Community Health
PubH 6570-Advanced Health Communication, Department of Prevention and Community Health
PubH 6005-Policy Approaches to Public Health, SPHHS Interdepartmental Course
Research
As principal investigator for "X-Pack: Smoking Cessation for Youth," funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Dr. Abroms led a study to evaluate the effects of email counseling and a self-help kit (the X-Pack) on smoking cessation in young adults. Other research projects are focused on identifying ways of increasing consumer demand among young adult smokers for smoking cessation services, on developing a smoking cessation kit for Latinos, and on developing a social support intervention to help pregnant smokers quit smoking. Dr. Abroms has also conducted research on the psychosocial predictors of smoking, on gender and family influences on sun protection, and on cancer prevention in adolescent girls. Through a grant from the National Institutes of Health, "Using New Media to Enhance Counseling Services at the National Cancer Institute's Smoking Cessation Quitline," Abroms will explore how new media could enhance phone counseling at the NCI Quitline. Computer generated email or text messages, which follow the recommendations of the U.S. Public Health Service Clinical Practice Guideline, may be effective for smoking cessation because they can increase the intensity and contact time of a smoking cessation intervention; they can enhance the problem solving and coping skills of the recipient; and, combined with phone counseling, they can serve as an additional treatment modality for smoking cessation. Because this research is built around an existing platform for smoking cessation counseling, the Quitline, the potential for dissemination is high.
Community Service
Professor Abroms reviews manuscripts for a number of peer–reviewed journals, including Social Science and Medicine, the Journal of Health Communication, the Journal of Internet Medical Research, and the American Journal of Health Behavior. She serves on the executive board of the DC Tobacco Control Coalition and has served on the editorial committee of the DC Cancer Consortium. She is on the editorial board of Cases in Public Health Communication & Marketing and was the guest editor of a special volume focused on the application of new media in public health campaigns (Summer 2008). Professor Abroms is a member of the Society for Public Health Education and the American Public Health Association.
Expertise
- Health Communication
- Smoking Cessation
- Social Marketing