Dr. Mills uses a social-ecological framework to examine the roles that the neighborhood in which one lives and public policy play in racial, ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in tobacco use. She conducted one of the first national studies documenting disproportionate advertising for menthol cigarettes in Black communities in the United States. Her research is currently supported by a Mentored Research Scientist Career Development Award in Tobacco Regulatory Research (K01), funded by the National Cancer Institute and the Food and Drug Administration. The objective of her K01 project is to use microsimulation modeling to estimate the impact of a national menthol cigarette ban on tobacco use, cardiovascular disease and cancer, with a focus on health disparities between demographic groups.
