Dina M. Jones, Ph.D., MPH, is making a difference in Alabama by focusing on a unique area of study: tobacco cessation.
Jones recently joined the UAB Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Division of Global and Rural Health with a focus on improving health outcomes for women and rural communities across Alabama.
Jones is an epidemiologist whose work examines why people start using tobacco products, why they continue, and why quitting remains so difficult, particularly for women, rural residents, and individuals facing financial or social stressors. Her work also extends to other contributors to health disparities including poor mental health, non-tobacco substance use, and systemic barriers.
“I am an epidemiologist by training, and I have over 10 years of experience conducting tobacco prevention and control research, specifically focused on understanding and combating disparities in tobacco use, cessation, and related health outcomes such as cancer,” Jones said.
Jones’s work aligns with the mission of Global and Rural Health, which uses a bidirectional model to strengthen women’s health worldwide. In this model, research and resources developed internationally are brought back to Alabama, particularly to rural communities, while insights from rural Alabama are shared and applied abroad. The result is a cycle of innovation that improves health outcomes both globally and locally.
Her research explores how product characteristics and social environments interact to shape tobacco behaviors.
“My work has focused on understanding how tobacco product characteristics like flavors or product type, alongside social-environmental and psychosocial factors like rurality, poverty, stress, and poor coping resources, contribute to why people start using tobacco products, continue using them, and have such a difficult time quitting tobacco,” she said.
Through pre- and postdoctoral fellowships, Jones also developed proficiency in tobacco regulatory science, a field dedicated to generating evidence that informs the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s tobacco policies. Much of her early work examined the rise of novel products, including e-cigarettes, little cigars, hookah, and dissolvables.
Her research has centered on “informing federal/national tobacco regulations and understanding who was using these products, why, how different groups perceived the risks of using these products, and whether they were actually helping people to quit cigarettes or if they led to dual use behaviors.”
Over time, her focus expanded toward interventions that support quitting. Jones’s current work includes a K01-funded project known as the UQuit Study, which uses several approaches to identify predictors of momentary smoking lapse among adults trying to quit menthol cigarettes. “My goal is to leverage the UQuit Study data to create a mobile health (mHealth) supported intervention to help adults successfully quit menthol cigarettes, which are harder to quit than non-menthol cigarettes,” she said.
Her motivation is both personal and scientific. “My interest in understanding and developing strategies to reduce tobacco-related disparities began as a child,” Jones said.
She remembers watching family members struggle with tobacco addiction. She recalls “a stand-out moment from childhood” when she won an essay contest after encouraging an uncle to quit smoking menthol cigarettes. “Thankfully, my uncle has been cigarette-free for over nine years.”
“My hope is that my work will increase access to health information, tobacco cessation resources, interventions, and other evidence-based strategies to the groups who need and can benefit the most from them.”
Jones’ long-term goal is to partner across disciplines and borders to reduce preventable harm. “I also hope that my work will help bolster and advance ongoing efforts… to improve women’s health and eliminate tobacco-related disparities,” she said.
Eliminating these health risks is work that she believes could reshape how entire communities, both here and abroad, confront tobacco use and its consequences.