Adam Leventhal

Adam Leventhal, PhD, professor of preventive medicine and psychology and director of the USC Institute for Addiction Science and Health, Emotion & Addiction Laboratory (HEAL), has been appointed to the FDA’s Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee.

Leventhal’s term began May 15 and continues through Jan. 31, 2024. According to the FDA, the committee advises the commissioner on tobacco-regulation issues, including:

• The impact of the use of menthol in cigarettes on the public health, including such use among children, African Americans, Hispanics and other racial and ethnic minorities
• The nature and impact of the use of dissolvable tobacco products on the public health, including such use on children
• The effects of the alteration of nicotine yields from tobacco products and whether there is a threshold level below which nicotine yields do not produce dependence on the tobacco product involved
• Any application submitted by a manufacturer for a modified risk tobacco product 

Leventhal’s work includes research on the harms associated with electronic cigarettes and vaping, as well as the marketing of these products to young people. He published a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association in November found that mint is the preferred flavor of JUUL-brand e-cigarettes, followed by mango. The paper was credited with playing a role in JUUL voluntarily pulling those flavors and others to avoid FDA action.