Isabel Scarinci, Ph.D., associate professor in the Division of Preventive Medicine and associate scientist in the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, has received an "honorable distinction" award from the Municipal Health Secretariat in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil, for her work to help pass a smoking-free law at the town and state level there.
UAB over the past several years has worked with the Universidade Federal do Paraná, Pontifícia Universidade Católica of Paraná, the Brazilian National Cancer Institute, state health department and municipal health authorities to establish a network with representation from all segments of Brazilian society to help promote tobacco control efforts. The network, under Scarinci's leadership, lobbied for the anti-smoking law that passed in November 2009 and is one of strictest tobacco control laws in Brazil. Smoking is now prohibited in any closed spaces, including bars and night clubs, in Paraná.
For more on the project that led to the law and award, read Birmingham to Brazil: UAB Forges Healthy Bonds.