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Lisa Sanderson Cox, Ph.D.

Lisa Sanderson Cox portrait
Professor, Population Health
lcox@kumc.edu

Professional Background

Dr. Lisa Sanderson Cox is a Professor of Population Health at the University of Kansas School of Medicine, Associate Director of the Frontiers Clinical and Translational Science Institute at the University of Kansas, a Member of Cancer Prevention and Control within the University of Kansas Comprehensive Cancer Center, and an Adjunct Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Kansas. She leads the NIH-funded Kick It at Swope (KIS) tobacco treatment clinical trials for African American adults in collaboration with Swope Health Central, a Federally Qualified Health Center, and was the founding Research Director within the Juntos Center for Advancing Latino Health.

Dr. Cox received her undergraduate degree at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, achieved her masters and doctorate degrees in clinical psychology at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana and completed her clinical residency at the University of Virginia Health Sciences Center in Charlottesville, Virginia. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Behavioral Medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Following her appointment as Assistant Professor within Cancer Control and Prevention in the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, Dr. Cox joined the University of Kansas Medical Center faculty in 2004.

Working within community-academic partnerships and interdisciplinary investigative teams, Dr. Cox is dedicated to improving tobacco use treatment for African American and Latino adults, cancer patients, and other underserved populations. Dr. Cox has led clinical trials funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to improve tobacco use treatment for African American and Latino smokers, and has contributed to the development of treatment programs for American Indians, rural smokers, and patients with cancer. With over 100 scientific publications, this work contributes to advancing health equity.

Dr. Cox enjoys collaborations with international colleagues through the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT), served as co-chair of the Health Disparities Network, and was a leader in the development of SRNT-University. Her efforts include coordination of international experts and volunteers from 20 countries to curate and create a free-online learning program for students and professionals interested in developing skills to conduct tobacco treatment research.

Education and Training
  • BS, Communication Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
  • MS, Clinical Psychology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
  • PhD, Clinical Psychology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
  • Residency, Clinical Psychology, University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, Charlottesville, VA
  • Post Doctoral Fellowship, Medical Psychology, Mayo Medical School, Mayo Clinic, Rochester , MN
Professional Affiliations
  • Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, Member, 1998 - Present
  • American Psychological Association, Member, 1995 - Present

Research

Overview

Dr. Lisa Sanderson Cox leads the NIH-funded Kick It at Swope (KIS) tobacco treatment clinical trials with support from the NCI and NIDA, in collaboration with Swope Health Central, a Federally Qualified Health Center and was the founding Research Director within the Juntos Center for Advancing Latino Health, and was an investigator within the Cancer Center Cessation Initiative, part of the NCI Cancer Moonshot program. Dr. Cox is a Fellow within the Society of Research on Nicotine and Tobacco and serves on the board of SRNT-University.

Dr. Cox is passionate about advancing health equity and has dedicated her research to reducing tobacco-related morbidity by advancing tobacco use treatment, focusing on improving smoking cessation in African American and Latino smokers and other underserved populations. This work centers on academic-community partnerships, including work with Swope Health Central in the Kick It at Swope projects (R01s CA091912 Enhancing tobacco use treatment of African American light smokers; DA035796 Advancing tobacco use treatment for African American smokers; CA259256 Improving smoking abstinence outcomes in African American community through extended treatment) and the Juntos Center for Advancing Latino Health (CA212189 e-Decidete: Mobile cessation support for Latino smokers). Dr. Cox is active with colleagues at KUMC as well as national and international scientific leaders in transdisciplinary research involving biobehavioral treatment, combining pharmacotherapy and innovative behavioral interventions, and examining biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors that contribute to treatment outcomes.

Current Research and Grants
  • Improving smoking abstinence outcomes in the African American community through extended treatment, National Cancer Institute (NCI), PI
  • 4th generation e-cigs in African American smokers: Reducing harm and quitting combustible cigarettes in dual users, NIH
  • The impact of menthol flavoring on switching in adult menthol smokers, National Institutes of Health (NIH)