Babalola Faseru, MB.ChB (MD Equivalent), MPH, CPH, CPAHA, SRNT Fellow

Professional Background

Dr. Babalola Faseru is a Professor of Population Health, Family Medicine, and Community Health at the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC) and Consultant Medical Epidemiologist at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE). He received his Medical Degree from Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria and obtained his Master of Public Health from the University of Kuopio (Eastern Finland) in Finland with a Cancer Research Fellowship award from the WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France. He worked as a researcher at the Environmental Epidemiology Division of the National Public Health Institute in Finland before his appointment at KUMC where he did a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Nicotine Dependence and Smoking Cessation and another NIH K30 Fellowship in Clinical Epidemiology before his faculty appointment. He is a full member of the University of Kansas Cancer Center and the Director of the Tobacco Treatment Education program at the University of Kansas. He has served as a Faculty Advisor to over 40 KU medical students posted to 15 countries on international health electives. He received Excellence in Public Health Teaching awards in 2011, 2014, and 2022.
He is a Fellow of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) and he received the Murray Goldstein Commemorative Lectureship award in Public Health and Preventive Medicine from the American Osteopathic College of Occupational and Preventive Medicine and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) Lectureship Award in Tobacco Control and Smoking Cessation. Dr. Faseru has served on the Executive Board of Association for Multidisciplinary Education and Research in Substance use and Addiction (AMERSA) and on the Program Committees of IASLC World Conferences and the Annual Meetings of the SRNT, SBM and AMERSA. He was a section head of the SRNT Global Certification Program Curriculum Review Board. He currently serves as a member of the Kansas Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant Advisory Committee, Kansas Cancer Partnership steering committee and the Tobacco Free Kansas Coalition board. He serves on NIH study sections, Council for Tobacco Treatment Training Programs (CTTTP) and National Certification Commission for Addiction Professionals Nicotine Dependence Specialist Task Force. He is the Lead Section Editor of the Epidemiology and Prevention Section of the Seventh Edition of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) Principles of Addiction Medicine. He is a member of Council of Science Editors, the editorial board of Contemporary Clinical Trials, Journal of Community Medicine and Primary Health Care, and he is the Deputy Editor of Substance Use and Addiction Journal.

• MBChB, Medicine and Surgery, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria
• MPH, Public Health, University of Kuopio (University of Eastern Finland), Kuopio, Finland
• Clinical Fellowship, Clinical Epidemiology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas
• Post Doctoral Fellowship, Nicotine Dependence and Smoking Cessation, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas
• Post Doctoral Fellowship, Cancer Research, WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Lyon, France
• Residency, Community Medicine, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria

• Association for the Treatment of Tobacco Use and Dependence (ATTUD), Member, 2014 - Present
• Association for Multidisciplinary Education and Research in Substance use and Addiction (AMERSA), Member, 2008 - Present
• Kansas Public Health Association (KPHA), Member, 2007 - Present
• International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC), Member, 2006 - Present
• Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM), Member, 2005 - Present
• Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT), Member, 2004 - Present
• International Epidemiological Association, Member, 2003 - Present

Research

Overview

Dr. Faseru’s research is focused on cancer prevention and control with special emphasis on tobacco dependence and smoking cessation among underserved populations. He has been a Principal investigator and Co-investigator on multiple National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants, private foundation grants and state contracts aimed at reducing tobacco-related health disparities affecting underserved populations. These include NIH clinical trials among African Americans, American Indians and hospitalized patients; National Cancer Institute P30 supplement for population health assessment in the University of Kansas cancer center catchment area; Kansas Health Foundation (KHF) grants to increase capacity for tobacco dependence treatment in behavioral health settings in Kansas and multiple contracts from Kansas Department of Health Environment and Kansas Department of Education.

• Greteman, B.., B. , Cole, A., Charlton, M.., E. , Shannon, J., Kepka, D., Paskett, E. ., D. , Borrayo, E.., A., Studts, J.., L. , Thompson, H.., S. , Scarinci, I., Chollet Hinton, L. , Chrischilles, E.., A. , Garcia-Auguste, C.., J. , Christini, K., Aker, H., Plascak, J. ., J., Harper, F.., W.K. , Baskin, M.., L., Bae, S., Pandya, V. , Kim, Y. , Faseru, B. , Befort, C., Kuo, H., Dignan, M., Canedo, J., Champion, V. , Drake, B.., F. , Davis, K.., L., Friedman, D.., L. , Elsaid, M. ., I., Mama, S. ., K. , Cohn, W.., F. . 2025. Cancer-Related Health Behaviors during the COVID 19 Pandemic in Geographically Diverse Samples Across the US. BMC Cancer, 25 (50). https://bmccancer.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12885-024-13373-5
• Gajewski, B.., J., Faseru, B., Richter, K.., P.. 2024. Desire to Quit Smoking, Opt-Out Tobacco Treatment, and Cessation: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open , 7 (9), e2433802. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39287950/ |
• Rose, S., W, Tan, A ., S L, Bandi, P , Maddox, R , Berman, M , Czaplick, L, Faseru, B, Frazer, K, Choi, K. 2024. Commercial Tobacco and Nicotine Industry-Funded Research Has No Place in SRNT and Nicotine & Tobacco Research. Nicotine Tob Res, 26 (8), 963-965. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38703079/
• Ilesanmi, O., S, Faseru, B, Afolabi, A, Odukoya, O, Ayo-Yusuf, O, Akinsolu, F, Olupelumi , A., O, Evans, W. 2024. Physician-brief advice for promoting smoking cessation among cancer patients on treatment in low and middle-income countries: A scoping review. BMC Cancer. https://bmccancer.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12885-024-11872-z
• Shergina, E., Richter, K.., P., Daley, C.., M., Faseru, B., Choi, W.., S., Gajewski, B.., J.. 2023. Using Bayesian hierarchical models for semi-prespecified subgroup analysis of clinical trials: application to smoking cessation treatment in American Indians and Alaska Natives. Journal of Biopharmaceutical Statistics, 1-13. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37417836/
• Richter, K., P, Catley, D, Gajewski, B., J, Faseru, B, Shireman, T., I, Zhang, C, Scheuermann, T., S, Mussulman, L., M, Nazir, N, Hutcheson, T, Shergina, E, Ellerbeck, E., F. 2023. The Effects of Opt Out versus Opt In Tobacco Treatment on Engagement, Cessation, and Costs: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Internal Medicine. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36848129/
• Leavens, E., L.S, Roberts, J, Faseru, B, Thompson, M, Denes-Collar, K, Shah, H. 2023. Development and Implementation of the ECHO Model in a School Setting to Address Youth Electronic Cigarette use in Kansas: A Protocol. Front Public Health. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9879567/
• Faseru, B, Fagan, P, Okuyemi, K. 2022. Additional Benefits of Maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle After Quitting Smoking. JAMA Network Open. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2796620
• Sanderson Cox, L, Nollen, N., L, Mayor, M., S, Faseru, B, Greiner, A, Ellerbeck, E., F, Krebill, R, Tyndale, R., F, Benowitz, N., L, Ahluwalia, J., S. 2022. Effect of Varenicline Added to Counseling on Smoking Cessation Among African American Daily Smokers: The Kick It at Swope IV Randomized Clinical Trial . JAMA. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35699705/
• Faseru., B., Mussulman., L.M., Nazir., N., Ellerbeck., E.F., Shergina., E., Scheuermann., T.S., Gajewski., B.J., Catley., D., Richter., K.P.. 2022. Use of Pre-Enrollment Randomization and Delayed Consent to Maximize Participation in a Clinical Trial of Opt-In versus Opt-Out Tobacco Treatment. Substance Abuse Journal. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35435813/