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MyASPiRE

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    The ASPiRE Center is an
    NCI-funded collaborative of tobacco control researchers, practitioners, and legal experts investigating how tobacco retailer density and innovative retail tobacco interventions impact people and communities.

    Tobacco use still causes
    480,000
    DEATHS
    EACH YEAR     in the United States.

    Reductions in tobacco use have
    actually stalled as e-cigarette
    use has rapidly grown
    into an epidemic.

    Most tobacco is purchased from neighborhood stores, where the tobacco industry spends nearly $1,000,000 every hour on advertising
    and marketing.

    Communities have become hubs of local innovation to reduce tobacco marketing and limit access to tobacco products.

    This is especially important in neighborhoods with more people of color or low-income individuals, as these are the groups who continue to face higher rates of tobacco use, disease, and death.

    More research is needed to evaluate these recent and novel efforts so others can learn what works to reduce tobacco use, especially among these
    specific groups.

    Funded by the National Institutes of Health, the ASPiRE Center is a group of researchers and practitioners from three of the nation’s top universities and
    30 big cities working together
    to do just that.

    THE ASPIRE CENTER IS WORKING TO…

    Fill gaps in the evidence about how different aspects of the
    retail environment—like retailer density—affect tobacco use and disease.

    Look at the potential of different retail policies to raise the cost of tobacco products, reduce tobacco use, and increase cessation, especially for populations with the highest rates of tobacco use.

    Help communities implement scientifically sound, legally defensible,
    and practically feasible retail policies in retail settings by translating and
    sharing evidence about what works.

    To do this, the ASPiRE Center is undertaking three major, interrelated research projects:

    Retailer Density and Disease
    Big City Tobacco Control
    Tobacco Town

    Researchers at UNC are mapping 275,000 tobacco retailers across the U.S. and exploring the relationship between their density and tobacco-related illness.

    Led by Stanford, this project seeks to understand how the tobacco retail environment in a city may impede efforts to quit smoking. Researchers are surveying a panel of 2,400 adult smokers over 30 months and examining changes over time.

    Researchers at Washington University are using agent-based modeling to study the impact of innovative retail policies in different types of communities, especially those with low-income and minority populations.

    Latest News & Updates

    June 7, 2021

    June 2021 retail tobacco-related literature search results

    Library shelves

    At the beginning of each month, we conduct a search of the PubMed database for new peer-reviewed articles on the retail tobacco environment and policy.  Many of these articles are available for FREE. The June 2021 PubMed search results are now available. Check them out! And check back after the first Tuesday of each month [...]

    May 12, 2021

    ASPiRE D&I Pilot Research Program accepting applications

    ASPiRE New Logo

    The ASPiRE Center is awarding pilot grants of $10,000 each for the 2021-2022 grant cycle to fund developmental or early stage work, with the purpose of advancing D&I science and building capacity for D&I research in evidence-based tobacco retail policy. More information and downloadable application materials are available here. [...]

    May 5, 2021

    Redlining and tobacco retail density

    research article icon

    Researchers from The Ohio State University tracked maps of 13 Ohio cities over time using racially discriminatory redlining criteria and tobacco retailer licenses by location and found that tobacco retailer density increased as redlining grades decreased, reflecting higher densities in low-income and Black neighborhoods. See the paper. [...]

    Icon - USA

    Learn more about our Tobacco Retailer Mapping study in 30 large U.S. Cities.

    Learn more about the ASPiRE Center or explore our Resources.