Department of Health Behavior
Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences
Roswell Park Cancer Institute

Dr. Richard J. O'Connor joined the staff of Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) in 2004 as a Postdoctoral Fellow, and was appointed Assistant Member of the Department of Health Behavior, Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences in 2007. He is also Adjunct Assistant Professor of Health Behavior at the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Public Health and Health Professions.

He earned a bachelor's degree in Psychology (1999) from the George Washington University (Washington, D.C.) and a doctorate (2004) in Biobehavioral Health at the Pennsylvania State University (University Park, PA).

Dr. O'Connor has authored over 50 scientific papers on topics related to tobacco control. He is the Director of Tobacco Research Laboratory and co-investigator on the Roswell Park NCI-supported Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center (TTURC), which is investigating the impact of national level tobacco control policies across different countries. The Laboratory serves to characterize popular products sold on the international market in terms of physical and design features, so as to provide greater insight into user-product interactions that may affect addiction and/or health outcomes. He is also Principal Investigator on an NCI grant examining the 'fire-safer' cigarette issue, in particular whether laws regulating ignition propensity affect fire incidence, impact smoking behaviors or exposures, or alter product design.

Dr. O'Connor also coordinates the International Tobacco Product Repository, which is creating cohort surveillance of popular tobacco products in a number of countries, as well as archiving novel Potentially Reduced Exposure Products (PREPs) marketed around the world. His research spans mechanisms of tobacco addiction including patterns of tobacco use, development of unobtrusive and minimally invasive measures of tobacco exposure in humans, and ways to communicate effectively with consumers about tobacco products. His work has been published in Addiction, American Journal of Epidemiology, British Medical Journal, Tobacco Control, Nicotine and Tobacco Research, and Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, and Prevention.

Key Publications

O’Connor RJ, Kozlowski LT, Hammond D, Vance TT, Stitt JP, & Cummings KM (2007). Digital image analysis of cigarette filter staining for estimating smoke exposure. Nicotine and Tobacco Research, 9, 865-71.

O’Connor RJ, McNeill A, Borland R, Hammond D, King B, Boudreau C, & Cummings KM (2007). Smokers’ beliefs about relative safety of other tobacco products: Findings from the ITC Collaboration. Nicotine and Tobacco Research, 9, 1033-42. .

O’Connor RJ, Bauer JE, Giovino GA, Hammond D, Hyland A, Fong GT, & Cummings KM (2007). Prevalence of behaviours related to cigarette fires: A random-digit-dialed telephone survey of Ontario smokers. Injury Prevention, 13, 237-42.

O’Connor RJ, Ashare RL, Fix B, Hawk LW, Cummings KM, & Schmidt WC (2007). College students’ smoking expectancies about Light cigarettes and Potential Reduced Exposure Products (PREPs). American Journal of Health Behavior, 31, 402-410.

O’Connor RJ, Giovino G, Kozlowski LT, Hyland A, Shiffman S, Bernert JT, Caraballo R, & Cummings KM (2006). Changes in nicotine intake and cigarette use over time in two nationally representative cross-sectional samples of smokers. American Journal of Epidemiology, 164, 750-759.

O’Connor RJ, Cummings KM, Giovino G, McNeill A, & Kozlowski LT (2006). How did UK cigarette manufacturers reduce ‘Tar’ to 10mg or less? [Letter] BMJ, 332(7536), 302.

O’Connor RJ, Giovino G, Fix B, Hyland A, Hammond D, Fong GT, Bauer U & Cummings KM (2006). Smokers’ reactions to reduced ignition propensity cigarettes. Tobacco Control, 15(1), 45-49.

O’Connor RJ, Hyland A, Giovino GA, Fong GT, & Cummings KM (2005). Smoker awareness of and beliefs about supposedly less harmful tobacco products. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 29(2), 85-90.

O’Connor RJ, Kozlowski LT, Vandenbergh DJ, Strasser AA, Grant MD, &
Vogler GP (2005). An examination of early smoking experiences and smoking status in a national cross-sectional sample. Addiction, 100, 1352-57.

O’Connor RJ, Stitt JP, & Kozlowski LT (2005). A digital image analysis system for identifying filter vent blocking on Ultra-Light cigarettes. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, and Prevention, 14(2), 533-37.

Kozlowski LT & O’Connor RJ. (2002). Filter ventilation is a defective design because of lighter taste, bigger puffs, and blocked vents. Tobacco Control, 11(Suppl 1), i40-i50.

Kozlowski LT & O’Connor RJ. (2000). Official cigarette tar tests are misleading: use a two-stage, compensating test. The Lancet, 355, 2169-71.