Kurt M. Ribisl, PhD
About
Kurt M. Ribisl, PhD, is chair and Jo Anne Earp Distinguished Professor in the Department of Health Behavior at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Ribisl is also the program leader for Cancer Prevention and Control at UNC’s Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. He served as a member of the congressionally-mandated Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC) for the United States Food and Drug Administration Center for Tobacco Products from 2012 to 2016.
Professor Ribisl’s primary research interest is evaluating and improving the reach of population-level efforts to reduce tobacco use with a particular emphasis on policy and information technology. He specializes in studying policy issues related to the sales and marketing of tobacco products at the point of sale and on the Internet. He has researched tobacco product marketing, pricing, promotions and youth access as well as use of geographic information systems in tobacco control.
Kurt Ribisl in the Gillings News
- University collaboration to create public depository of nearly 4 million documents associated with NC vaping settlement
- NIH and FDA award $18.6M to UNC Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science
- NC youth leaders champion vaping prevention at inaugural UNC-led summit
- Gillings School experts named to Clarivate's 2022 Highly Cited Researchers List
- Which strategies will really make North Carolinians healthier?
Honors and Awards
Joseph W. Cullen Award for excellence in tobacco research
2017, American Society of Preventive Oncology
Teaching Innovation Award
2015, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
Teaching Innovation Award
2013, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
Health Behavior Health Education Teacher of the Year
2012, Department of Health Behavior and Health Education
Representative Courses
HBEH 730 Theoretical Foundations of Social and Behavioral Science | Syllabus
Research Activities
Cancer
Health behavior
Health communication
Technology
Tobacco prevention, marketing, and control
Key Publications
Impact of the Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network: Accelerating the Translation of Research into Practice. Ribisl, K. M., Fernandez, M. E., Friedman, D., Hannon, P., Leeman, J., Moore, A. A., Olson, L. T., Ory, M., Risendal, B., Sheble, L., Taylor, V., Williams, R., Weiner, B. J. (2017). American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 52(3, Supplement 3), S233-S240.
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Reducing disparities in tobacco retailer density by banning tobacco product sales near schools. Ribisl, K. M., Luke, D. A., Snider, D., Sorg, A., Moreland-Russell, S. (2017). Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 19(2), 239-244.
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Integrating Tobacco Control and Obesity Prevention Initiatives at Retail Outlets. Ribisl K. M., D'Angelo H., Evenson K. R., Fleischhacker S., Myers A. E., Rose S. W. (2016). Preventing Chronic Disease, 13.
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Education
- Postdoctoral Fellow, Cardiovascular disease epidemiology and prevention, Stanford University Center for Research in Disease Prevention, 1997
- PhD, Ecological - Community Psychology, Michigan State University, 1995
- MA, Ecological - Community Psychology, Michigan State University, 1992
- BA, Psychology, Wake Forest University, 1989
