About

Jennifer Tidey is an Associate Dean for Research and a Professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences at the Brown University School of Public Health. She is affiliated with the Center for Alcohol & Addiction Studies (CAAS) and holds a secondary appointment as a Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the Warren Alpert School of Medicine of Brown University. Her research focuses on identifying mechanisms underlying the high rates of tobacco dependence in vulnerable populations and developing effective interventions to reduce tobacco use and its health harms. Most of her current work is in tobacco regulatory science, aiming to provide the FDA with evidence-based information to inform regulatory decisions about tobacco products to improve public health. Dr. Tidey has published extensively in the area of addiction, with over 180 peer-reviewed research articles, and has secured significant funding as a principal investigator, co-investigator, or core lead on numerous NIH grants. She also mentors early-career investigators and serves on editorial boards for scientific journals.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Environmental health
• Internal medicine
• Psychiatry
• Toxicology
• Chemistry
• Biology
• Pathology
• Family medicine
• Demography
• Organic chemistry
• Food science

Selected publications

• Sustained effects of reduced nicotine cigarettes and co-use of non-combusted alternative nicotine delivery systems: A one-month follow-up to a randomized clinical trial

  Drug and Alcohol Dependence · 2026-01-17

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Regulatory science methods can test the addictive properties of foods: A proof-of-concept pilot study.

  Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology · 2026-04-30

  articleSenior author

  < .0001), suggesting they valued full-dose chips more as reinforcers versus negative control. A similar pattern was observed for the modified-dose chips versus negative control, with smaller differences. Findings overall indicated dose-response effects across the stimuli, supporting the premise that abuse liability assessment methodology can be applied to test the addictive properties of hyper-palatable foods. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

  PublisherDOI

• Titration of nicotine intake in smokers switching to reduced nicotine content cigarettes with access to alternative nicotine systems: Secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial

  Addiction · 2026-03-19

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Mandated reduction of the nicotine content of cigarettes to reduce addictiveness to minimal levels has the potential to substantially reduce combusted cigarette use and promote public health. This paper examined the hypothesis that when people who smoke cigarettes are switched to very low nicotine content (VLNC) cigarettes and provided with access to non-combusted alternative nicotine delivery systems (ANDS), they will titrate nicotine to maintain baseline levels of nicotine intake with the use of ANDS. DESIGN: This is a secondary analysis of a recently published randomized clinical trial. Clinical trial number NCT03272685. SETTING: Multicenter clinical trial conducted in the United States. PARTICIPANTS: 438 individuals who smoked 5 to 40 cigarettes per day, mean age 44 (range 20-73). INTERVENTION: Smokers were randomized 1:1 for 12 weeks of smoking Spectrum brand research cigarettes containing VLNC (0.4 mg nicotine/g tobacco) or normal nicotine content (15.8 mg nicotine/g, NNC). Participants purchased tobacco products from an experimental marketplace containing non-combusted ANDS, including electronic cigarettes, nicotine replacement medications and oral nicotine products. MEASUREMENTS: Measures taken at baseline, 4, 8 and 12 weeks included cigarettes smoked per day (CPD) and measures of ANDS use, assessed using past 3-day daily diary data, which would roughly account for nicotine intake as measured by urine total nicotine equivalents (TNE). Based on self-report and biomarker data at weeks 4, 8 and 12, we characterized three product-using groups of participants as cigarette-only users, ANDS-only users and dual users. Nicotine titration was assessed as the ratio of urine TNE at various research cigarette study weeks compared with baseline (smoking their own cigarettes). Combusted product abstinence was examined using expired carbon monoxide (CO) and adherence to smoking VLNC by urine anatabine. FINDINGS: Median titration at 12 weeks in cigarette-only participants was 0.84 (interquartile range 0.68-1.18) in the NNC group and 0.05 (0.01-0.12) in the VLNC group. Median titration at 12 weeks in ANDS-only participants was 0.81 (0.69-1.16) in the NNC group and 0.89 (0.49-1.58) in the VLNC group. Median titration at 12 weeks in dual use participants was 1.0 (0.78-1.29) in the NNC group and 0.91 (0.61-1.25) in the VLNC group. CONCLUSIONS: Most adults who smoke, when switched to very low nicotine content cigarettes, will use available alternative nicotine delivery systems (ANDS) to supplement their intake of nicotine. Provision of ANDS appears to be associated with a high degree of nicotine titration. Making less harmful ANDS widely available may make a mandated nicotine reduction intervention more acceptable to people who smoke. Clinical Trial Registration Details: NCT03272685.

  PublisherDOI

• The impact of very low nicotine cigarettes on cannabis and alcohol use during a 12-week clinical trial

  Nicotine & Tobacco Research · 2026-03-27

  article

  Abstract Introduction In January 2025, the US Food and Drug Administration announced a proposed rule for a reduced nicotine standard (RNS) in cigarettes. Evidence suggests that the use of very low nicotine content (VLNC) cigarettes decreases cigarette use and tobacco toxicant exposure; however, unintended consequences, such as a resulting increase in use of other reinforcing substances (eg, cannabis, alcohol), are a concern. This secondary analysis aims to provide an ecologically valid assessment of the impact of RNS on alcohol and cannabis use. Methods During 2018–2022, participants were randomized to VLNC or normal nicotine content cigarettes for 12 weeks. All participants had access to non-combusted nicotine products through an experimental tobacco marketplace. We examined the association between cigarette condition and alcohol or cannabis use, among participants reporting (1) use of each substance at baseline, to examine whether condition impacted frequency of use and (2) non-use at baseline, to examine differences in uptake during the study. Results Study condition did not affect frequency of alcohol or cannabis use among those reporting baseline use (mean differencealcohol = 0.90, 95% CI, −5.33 to 7.03; mean differencecannabis = 0.87, 95% CI, −8.00 to 9.24), nor did it affect the frequency among those reporting baseline non-use (mean differencealcohol = 0.83, 95% CI, −0.14 to 1.80; mean differencecannabis = −1.92, 95% CI, −5.02 to 1.19) or likelihood of uptake (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]alcohol = 1.09, 95% CI, 0.85 to 1.38; AORcannabis = 1.20, 95% CI, 0.97 to 1.45). Conclusions This study adds to the evidence that that unintended consequences of an RNS as it relates to significant increases in alcohol or cannabis use among people who smoke are unlikely. Implications This secondary analysis provides an ecologically valid assessment of the impact of a reduced nicotine standard on alcohol and cannabis use. Results add to the evidence suggesting that increases in alcohol or cannabis use as a consequence of a reduced nicotine standard are unlikely, providing further evidence that implementing a reduced nicotine standard would have public health benefit.

  PublisherDOI

• E-cigarette use frequency mediates effects in three randomized controlled trials of reduced nicotine cigarettes with tobacco vs preferred flavor e-cigarettes in high-risk populations in the U.S.

  Preventive Medicine · 2025-07-06 · 4 citations

  articleOpen access

  OBJECTIVES: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is authorized to implement a nicotine-reducing standard to decrease smoking. Three recent trials found switching to very low nicotine content (VLNC) cigarettes produced the greatest reduction in cigarettes/day and 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL, a tobacco-specific carcinogen) among adults from high-risk populations when participants also received preferred- vs tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes. This pooled secondary analysis investigates e-cigarette use frequency as a mechanism driving these effects. METHODS: Participants (U.S. adults with affective disorders, adults with opioid use disorder, and reproductive-age females with ≤high-school education) were randomized to 16 weeks of VLNC cigarettes with preferred-flavored e-cigarettes selected from eight options (VLNC+PF; n = 84) or VLNC cigarettes with tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes (VLNC+TF; n = 74) from October 2020-November 2023. General linear models explored whether e-cigarette use frequency (days/week) between Weeks 1-15 mediated effects on Week-16 cigarettes/day and NNAL. RESULTS: Participants were 40.4 (mean) years old (SD = 11.5), 69.0 % female, 81.0 % white, and smoked 17.3 (mean) cigarettes/day (SD = 9.0) at baseline. The VLNC+PF condition reported more e-cigarette use days/week (LSmean[SEM]): 4.3[±0.4]) than the VLNC+TF condition (LSMean[SEM]: 3.4[±0.5]; F[1151] = 3.9, p < .05) across weeks 1-15. More e-cigarette use days/week predicted greater reductions in mean cigarettes/day (β[SE]: -0.32[±0.05)]; F[1106] = 50.5, p < .01) and NNAL (β[SE]: -0.14[±0.04]; F[1,92] = 12.2, p < .01) at Week-16. E-cigarette use frequency fully mediated the effects of condition on cigarettes/day and partially mediated effects on NNAL. CONCLUSIONS: Greater frequency of e-cigarette use was a mechanism by which preferred-flavor e-cigarettes led to reductions in smoking and tobacco-toxicant exposure, demonstrating the potential for appealing e-cigarettes to reduce harm among high-risk populations who smoke.

  PublisherDOI

• Cardiopulmonary effects of very low nicotine content cigarettes with and without access to e-cigarettes in vulnerable populations

  Preventive Medicine · 2025-09-22 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The Relationship between Cannabis Use and Demand for Cigarettes in Adolescents who Smoke Cigarettes

  Drug and Alcohol Dependence · 2025-11-08

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Effects of very low nicotine content cigarettes and concurrent provision of e-cigarettes on symptoms of depression and anxiety.

  Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology · 2025-09-18

  articleOpen access

  = .004, with scores decreasing over the experimental period across experimental conditions. In conclusion, providing VLNC cigarettes in combination with e-cigarettes appeared to ameliorate modest increases in affective symptoms observed when VLNC cigarettes were provided alone. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

  PublisherDOI

• Tobacco Withdrawal and Cigarette Reinforcement as Mechanisms Underlying the Effects of Reduced Nicotine Content Cigarettes on Adolescent Smoking Behavior

  Drug and Alcohol Dependence · 2025-02-01

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Drug use and disability: A call to action

  Drug and Alcohol Dependence · 2025-03-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Substance Abuse Intervention Outcome Research Training

  NIH · $5.7M · 2003–2028

• NIH Grant U01DA045514

  NIH · $1.1M · 2024

• NIH Grant R01DA014002

  NIH · $2.0M · 2011

• NIH Grant R21DA026829

  NIH · $445k · 2012

• NIH Grant R01DA017566

  NIH · $1.3M · 2009

Frequent coauthors

• Suzanne M. Colby

  Providence College

  191 shared

• Damaris J. Rohsenow

  Brown University

  163 shared

• Rachel N. Cassidy

  154 shared

• Robert M. Swift

  Providence VA Medical Center

  111 shared

• Peter M. Monti

  110 shared

• Eric C. Donny

  Wake Forest University

  84 shared

• Dorothy K. Hatsukami

  82 shared

• Diann E. Gaalema

  81 shared

Education

• PhD, Psychology

  Tufts University

  1995