UB alumnus Brian King, director of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products, will discuss “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Tobacco Product Regulation: Promise and Peril in an Increasingly Complex Landscape” during the 16th Annual Saxon Graham Lecture.

His talk takes place from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. March 31 in 403 Hayes Hall, South Campus.

Those interested in attending the lecture should register online. 

King received both his Master of Public Health degree (2006) and doctorate in epidemiology (2010) from UB. As director of the FDA Center for Tobacco Products (CTP), he is responsible for assuring that CTP accomplishes its public health goals and for operationalizing the CTP’s vision and mission as it implements the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. For nearly two decades, King has worked to provide sound scientific evidence to inform tobacco control policy and to effectively communicate this information to key stakeholders including decision-makers, media and the general public.

Before joining the FDA, King served as deputy director for research translation in the Center for Disease Control’s Office on Smoking and Health. Most recently, King was executive director of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report series. He has authored more than 200 scientific journal articles related to tobacco prevention and control, and served as senior associate editor for multiple U.S. Surgeon General’s Reports on tobacco. King was also lead author of the CDC’s 2014 evidence-based guide Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs.

The Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Health Professions, organizes the annual Saxon Graham Lecture. This lectureship honors Graham, considered among the most important cancer epidemiologists for his groundbreaking studies, beginning in the 1950s, examining the link between diet and cancer. He was chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, founding director and honorary fellow of the American College of Epidemiology, and former president of the Society for Epidemiologic Research.