The European Centre of Excellence in Clinical Tobacco Research (ECECTR)

Finding ways of preventing and treating tobacco dependence represents an important research priority. In Europe, as compared to North-America, clinical smoking research has a relatively low profile. To support research on smoking cessation interventions in Europe, the European Centre of Excellence in Clinical Tobacco Research (ECECTR) has been set up with the aim to expand research capacity in the field of treatment of tobacco dependence.

The objectives of ECECTR include:

identification of individuals from all over Europe who will be the next generation of leading clinical researchers in this field;
assistance to new researchers to develop relevant methodological skills
establishment of a network of young tobacco researchers in Europe;

The First European Seminar on Methodology of Clinical Research in Smoking of the ECECTR was held in Prague, Czech Republic, June 28-29, 2007. The second was held in Brussels, Belgium, June 26-27, 2008. It was organised under the auspices of the European branch of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT-Europe), with the help of an unrestricted educational grant from Pfizer Inc.

The faculty members, all SRNT Europe members, are: Anil Batra, Ivan Berlin (coordinator), Peter Hajek, Jaakko Kaprio, Jacques Le Houezec, Philip Tønnesen, Serena Tonstad, and Robert West.

Apart from formal presentations by the faculty members, interactive sessions are organised in small groups. Feedback from the participants of the first and second seminar was highly positive and very helpful to improve the format. The exchanges were very fruitful and attendees were eager to continue networking through SRNT. This is why we would like to offer them the possibility to keep contact and to get more contacts through SRNT. We have then arranged for SRNT members to have access to a listing of those young researchers with their contact info and research interests.

We hope to be able to reiterate the seminar next year, and we will keep you updated on progress.

If you want to learn more about this initiative, please contact Ivan Berlin or Jacques Le Houezec (contact details in the Members’ section).