Elisa Tong has been named assistant director for population sciences for UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center. The UC Davis Health internist and renowned cancer center tobacco researcher will focus on health equity to improve cancer prevention, screening, treatment and survivorship.
Tong will join Shehnaz Hussain, the associate director for population sciences. She also will work with the cancer center director, its senior leaders and program leaders to facilitate and disseminate impactful research on cancer determinants and outcomes.
Tong is the director and principal investigator of the Tobacco Cessation Policy Research Center, a community academic research and training partnership. She supports the California Tobacco Control Program, and has collaborated with the California Cancer Registry. Tong’s work with the registry confirms that nearly half of the deaths from 12 cancers are due to tobacco use, and that nearly 70,000 Californians recently diagnosed with cancer continue to have high tobacco use rates.
She has been medical director of the cancer center’s SToP: Stop Tobacco Program and serves as a co-chair for the UC Lung Cancer Consortium population health and policy subcommittee. Previously, Tong led UC Quits for the five UC health systems, which prompted more than 20,000 tobacco referrals to the free state quitline. She also founded and leads CA Quits, which advances tobacco treatment in California to address health inequities.
