Our director, Frank J. Chaloupka, was ranked among “some of the world’s most influential scientific minds” included on the 2015 Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researchers list.

Health economist Frank Chaloupka is among 3,000 researchers worldwide “ranking among the top 1 percent most cited for their subject field and year of publication, earning them the mark of exceptional impact,” said Thomson Reuters.

The list is based on an analysis of published journal articles and citations considered an objective measure of a researcher’s influence over the past 12 years.

Chaloupka studies the effects of local, state and national policies on smoking, substance abuse and other unhealthy behaviors.

His work challenges the idea that many smokers are so dependent on nicotine, they will continue to smoke no matter how much it costs. Instead, he found, increases in cigarette prices — including tax hikes — lead to significant reductions in consumption and smoking.

Chaloupka directs the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on the Economics of Tobacco Control. He is the principal investigator of the UIC research team Tobacconomics.

He served on an Institute of Medicine committee to review Leading Health Indicators for Healthy People 2020 and the ad hoc National Research Council Committee on the Illicit Tobacco Market.

Chaloupka is distinguished professor of economics in the UIC College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and director of the Health Policy Center in the Institute for Health Research and Policy.

This story first appeared on UIC News.