VCU has been a leader at looking at the causes and impact of tobacco use among children and adults through research at the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics and the Institute for Drug and Alcohol Studies.

VCU is the coordinator of the Virginia Youth Tobacco Project, a coalition of Virginia universities originated by the Virginia Tobacco Settlement Foundation to study why young people begin to smoke and why some become addicted to nicotine in tobacco products. The team, which also includes researchers from the University of Virginia, James Madison University, Virginia Tech, the College of William and Mary and George Mason University, also is evaluating which anti-tobacco programs work most effectively. The project is funded by the Virginia Tobacco Settlement Foundation, which was created by the General Assembly in 1999 to distribute part of the money Virginia will receive over 25 years from tobacco product manufacturers under a national Master Settlement Agreement with 47 states.

This study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Virginia Tobacco Settlement Foundation and the Massey Cancer Center.