Jennifer is the Executive Director of the EndTobacco™ Program at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Employing 26 years of experience in public health and tobacco control, she collaborates with internal and external partners to promote evidence-based cancer prevention and tobacco control initiatives across the domains of policy, prevention, cessation and research. Jennifer holds a bachelor’s in Health Administration & Education and a Master of Public Health, both from the University of Southern Mississippi; and a doctorate in Public Health from UTHealth Houston School of Public Health. She is a certified health education specialist.

Related website: EndTobacco™ Program  

Ernest Hawk, M.D., M.P.H., is vice president and head of the division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and holds the T. Boone Pickens Distinguished Chair for Early Prevention of Cancer. Additional responsibilities include leadership of the Duncan Family Institute for Cancer Prevention and Risk Assessment and co-leadership of UT MD Anderson’s Cancer Prevention and Control Platform which advances community health promotion and cancer control through evidence-based public policy, public and professional education and community-based service implementation and dissemination. 

A native of Detroit, Michigan, Dr. Hawk earned his medical degree from Wayne State University and his Master of Public Health degree at Johns Hopkins University. He completed an internal medicine internship and residency at Emory University, a medical oncology clinical fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco and a cancer prevention fellowship at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Prior to his appointment at UT MD Anderson in December 2007, Dr. Hawk held several positions at the NCI in Bethesda, Maryland. He most recently served as director of the Office of Centers, Training and Resources, responsible for the NCI’s cancer centers program, a major translational science program (i.e., the SPORE program), the NCI’s extramural training enterprise and its extramural disparities portfolio. His prior NCI posts included chief and medical officer of the Gastrointestinal and Other Cancers Research Group, medical officer in the Chemoprevention Branch and chair of the Translational Research Working Group. Interests include the improvement of minority and medically underserved populations’ participation in clinical research, future applications of multi-cancer early detection tests and the integration of risk assessment, behavioral science and preventive strategies developed through sequential clinical trials for application in clinical or public health settings. He has published more than 180 scientific articles and book chapters, edited three books, serves as an editor of Holland & Frei’s Cancer Medicine (10th edition) and serves as the senior deputy editor for Cancer Prevention Research and on the editorial board of Cancer Medicine. 

Related website: UT MD Anderson Profile

David Lakey, M.D., is the Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and Chief Medical Officer at The University of Texas System, and Professor of Medicine at The University of Texas at Tyler Health Science Center.  He serves as the executive sponsor for the Texas Collaborative for Healthy Mothers and Babies, the executive sponsor for the Texas Health Improvement Network and as the presiding officer of the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium. 

At the national level, Dr. Lakey served as president of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) from 2011 to 2012, the ASTHO Alumni President from 2019 to 2021 and served on the March of Dimes national board from 2015-2023.  Additionally, Dr. Lakey served on the national boards of Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and on the Board of Scientific Advisors for the Center for Preparedness and Response at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Lakey is a proud member of the Texas Medical Association (TMA) and America Medical Association (AMA). He has received numerous awards, including the 2015 TMA President’s Award and the 2021 AMA’s Foundation Award for Health Education.  

Prior to joining UT System, Dr. Lakey was the Commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, leading one of the largest state agencies with over 12,000 employees. He oversaw the state’s disease prevention and emergency preparedness programs, family and community health services, environmental and consumer safety, regulatory programs and mental health and substance abuse prevention and treatment services. During his tenure he led his agency’s response through numerous high-profile events including the H1N1 pandemic, multiple hurricanes and the Dallas response to Ebola. From 1998 to 2006, Dr. Lakey served as an associate professor of medicine, chief of the Division of Clinical Infectious Disease and medical director of the Center for Pulmonary and Infectious Disease Control at the UT Tyler Health Science Center. Dr. Lakey graduated from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Indiana University School of Medicine and completed his internal medicine, pediatrics and infectious disease training at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. 

Related website: UT System Profile

Diane Litterer is the CEO and Executive Director of the New Jersey Prevention Network (NJPN) and has been a strong presence in the field of public health for over 30 years. Diane has developed state-of-the-art prevention programs and has managed several statewide initiatives focused on addressing issues related to substance use disorder and other chronic diseases. Diane works to foster collaboration across the entire continuum of care to maximize existing resources and create healthier communities across New Jersey for all.

Diane has extensive experience in tobacco control and prevention and has led state initiatives in New Jersey which have contributed to New Jersey's reputation as a tobacco leader. NJ was an early adopter of ‘Tobacco 21’ laws, smoke-free outdoor recreation areas, the elimination of flavored vape products and more. Diane leads Tobacco-Free for a Healthy NJ, which is a multi-strategy, comprehensive tobacco prevention program that follows best practices in supporting smoke-free housing, tobacco-free college campuses, smoke-free worksites and statewide youth and young adult engagement initiatives, Incorruptible.Us and Incorruptible.U, respectively. These programs encourage cessation and drive policy aimed towards reducing youth access and use and reduce harms associated with tobacco use and secondhand smoke.

Dr. Little is an Associate Professor of Public Health Sciences at the University of Virginia and a member of the UVA Cancer Center where she directs a Center for Nicotine and Tobacco Research. Her research focuses on developing, evaluating and translating evidence-based cancer prevention and control interventions into community-based settings, such as schools, pharmacies, federally qualified health centers and military systems. She has spent her career developing her skills as a community-engaged researcher and leader, focused on reducing cancer health disparities.

She has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health as a co-investigator since 2014 and as a principal investigator since 2016. She has received funding as both a co-investigator and principal investigator from the Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program, Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs and the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth (VFHY). Her current research focuses on reducing cancer health disparities among rural, low income, minority and military communities through interventions to reduce modifiable health risk behaviors, namely through research on tobacco prevention (R01DA043468, PI Little), tobacco cessation (R01CA267963, PI Little) and promoting vaccines and cancer screenings (P01CA229143, MPI Paskett/Anderson/Dignan/Kennedy). Her research employs mixed methods within a dissemination and implementation science lens. This approach allows her to gain a deeper understanding of the unique needs and perspectives of her community partners to effectively reduce cancer and other health-related disparities. 

Related website: UVA Profile

Brian King, Ph.D., M.P.H., was the Director of the Center for Tobacco Products at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Prior to joining FDA, he served as the Deputy Director for Research Translation in the Office on Smoking and Health (OSH) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Dr. King joined the CDC in 2010 as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer, before which he worked as a Research Affiliate in the Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, New York.

Dr. King has worked for over 20 years to provide sound scientific evidence to inform tobacco control policy and to effectively communicate this information to key stakeholders, including decision makers, the media and the general public. He has authored or co-authored over 225 peer-reviewed scientific articles pertaining to tobacco prevention and control, was the lead author of CDC’s 2014 update to the evidence-based state guide, “Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs,” and was the Senior Associate Editor of numerous U.S. Surgeon General's Reports on tobacco. Dr. King holds a Ph.D. and M.P.H. in Epidemiology from the State University of New York at Buffalo. 

Kristy Marynak, Ph.D. M.P.P. is the Senior Director for Tobacco Control Initiatives at the CDC Foundation. A 14-year veteran of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), she was a senior science advisor in the CDC Office on Smoking and Health until the office was discontinued in April 2025. Since 2022, Kristy has served as principal investigator for the Monitoring Tobacco Use project, a major collaborative research project to monitor e-cigarette sales and use among youth and young adults led by the CDC Foundation. Kristy has authored more than 50 scientific publications and was a contributing author to the 2016 and 2020 Surgeon General reports on tobacco. She was also the senior associate editor of the 2024 Surgeon General's Report on tobacco-related health disparities, released by Dr. Vivek Murthy. 

Kristy’s unusual career arc from policy analyst to scientist was supported by CDC’s competitive Long Term Education program, which enabled her to earn a PhD in social and behavioral sciences from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health at age 40. She also holds a Master of Public Policy from Duke University and a bachelor of arts in political science from Davidson College. Kristy is the biological and custodial parent of three children ages 7, 10 and 11. In her free time, she studies flamenco dance and cultivates community in Atlanta, GA.  

Dr. Kim Pulvers is a Professor and an active tobacco scholar with over 20 years of experience in tobacco research. Dr. Pulvers’ research focuses on reducing the burden of tobacco-related death and disease through testing smoking cessation treatments, harm reduction approaches, and regulatory strategies as well as understanding the role of cannabis co-use and has been funded by the American Cancer Society, California Tobacco Related Disease Research Program, National Institutes of Health, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She has published 80 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Pulvers is a dedicated mentor with a track record of engaging students in research and promoting their career success. 

Darrien Skinner is a Program Manager with the EndTobacco™ Program at UT MD Anderson, where he supports implementation of the Eliminate Tobacco Use initiative—an innovative, systems-level effort to reduce tobacco use across colleges and universities nationwide. With more than eight years of experience in public health, his work spans tobacco prevention and control, community-based behavioral health, and opioid overdose response. He specializes in health communication strategy and partnership development, translating complex public health priorities into clear, actionable initiatives that drive culture change and improve community health.

Arti is a current M.B.A. student with a background in political science at Stockton University. She previously served as a Tobacco-Free Ambassador, where she helped promote community health awareness and advocacy initiatives. She is passionate about community engagement and committed to supporting individuals through reliable and compassionate services. 

Zoë Koppersmith is a third-year Doctor of Pharmacy candidate at the Ben and Maytee Fisch College of Pharmacy at the University of Texas at Tyler. She currently serves as Chapter President of APhA-ASP and is actively involved in community outreach initiatives that expand access to health education and preventive care in underserved communities. Zoë is passionate about public health, patient education and the role pharmacists play in improving community health outcomes. 

Arturo Mancias is a third-year Doctor of Pharmacy candidate at the Ben and Maytee Fisch College of Pharmacy at the University of Texas at Tyler. He is a first generation college student who was born and raised in Brownsville, TX. Arturo is passionate about giving back to Texas by using his knowledge as a pharmacist.