Skip to main content
Explore URMC
menu

Deborah J. Ossip, Ph.D.

Contact Information

Phone Numbers

Office: (585) 275-0528

Fax: (585) 424-1469

Faculty Appointments

Biography

Research

Research: Translational behavioral medicine, health impact of lifestyle change with particular focus on tobacco use, second- and thirdhand exposure to cigarette smoke and e-cigarette aerosol, community-partnered interventions, population health, underrepresented populations, and global health.

Dr. Ossip Co-Directs the Nicotine and Tobacco Research Core, which focuses on community-based interventions and underserved populations. Her tobacco control research has spanned basic, clinical, and policy domains, with concurrent foci on translating science to practice and policy, health disparities, and global health. Her basic research includes early studies demonstrating no reduced exposure for "low tar low nicotine" cigarettes through current collaboration with investigators in biology and cancer control (Rahman, Sundar, O'Connor) examining use patterns, sensory perceptions, and toxicology of emerging products. Her clinical and policy research includes a systematic series of NIH-funded quitline studies, from one of the original two trials demonstrating quitline effectiveness, through co-founding of the North American Quitline Consortium, and recent work introducing a "reach ratio" metric for responsiveness to underserved populations (Campbell). Globally, she was PI of two recent NIH community-partnered trials for tobacco cessation and secondhand smoke exposure reduction in economically disadvantaged Dominican Republic communities (Diaz, Quiñones) and MPI (Dye) of an NIH training grant, MundoComm, partnering with Latin American and Caribbean teams to address maternal health issues using information communication technologies. She currently Co-Directs a NYS-funded tobacco policy change initiative in health systems serving low income and psychiatric populations (McIntosh) and is a Site Director and Career Enhancement Core Co-Director for the Center for Research on Flavored Tobacco (CRoFT), an NIH-funded Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science (TCORS) as a partnership between Roswell Park Cancer Center (O'Connor, Goniewicz) and the University of Rochester Medical Center. She is Co-Investigator on trials of vaping prevention in youth (Wyman) and pediatrician interventions for tobacco cessation in parents (Winickoff). More broadly, Dr. Ossip is MPI of the NIH NCATS funded Center for Leading Innovation and Collaboration (CLIC; Zand) to coordinate over 60 Clinical and Translational Science Award centers nationally.

Credentials

Education

1975
BA | University of Miami
Psychology & Sociology

1978
MS | Univ of Pittsburgh
Clinical Psychology

1981
PhD | Univ of Pittsburgh
Clinical Psychology

Awards

2018
Emeritus Award for Excellence in Research (to Ian Kleckner, PhD, MPH)
Sponsor: Department of Public Health Sciences
Location: Awarded to my student/advisee for mentored MPH thesis research

2017 - Present
SRNT Fellow
Sponsor: Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco

2017
Crystal Gavel Award for Leadership as President
Sponsor: Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco

2017
Berg Award for Student Distinction in Population Health Improvement (Marielena Velez de Brown, MD, MPH)
Sponsor: Department of Public Health Sciences
Location: Awarded to my student for mentored research/implementation

2016
Emeritus Award for Excellence in Research (to Sean Frey, MD)
Sponsor: Department of Public Health Sciences
Location: Awarded to my student for mentored MPH thesis research

2015
First Annual Rochester Global Health Symposium Poster Presentation Award (to Philip Meacham)
Sponsor: University of Rochester Global Health Network
Location: Awarded to my graduate student for mentored research

2013
Marvin J. Hoffman International Medicine Research Award (to Michael Prucha)
Sponsor: Awarded to my medical student protege for mentored research

2012 - 2013
Faculty Research Incentive Award
Sponsor: University of Rochester Medical Center

2012
Recognition of Distinguished Service as a Founding Member 2001-2012
Sponsor: American Academy of Pediatrics Tobacco Consortium

2010
Distinguished Service Award
Sponsor: Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco

2007
Plaque of Appreciation for Contributions to Preferred Care Efforts in Smoking Cessation

2005
Certificate of Honor for Distinguished Leadership in Tobacco Cessation
Sponsor: North American Quitline Consortium

2002
Certificate of Appreciation Demonstrating Intern'l Leadership as Co-Chair of the North American Conf Smoking Cessation Quitlines
Sponsor: National Cancer Institute

2001
Faculty in Residence Program awarded to Celia Watt, PhD, SUNY Brockport, for mentored summer work with D. Ossip-Klein
Sponsor: (resulted in NCI R03 grant, Watt, PI)

1998
Certificate of Appreciation for Contributions to Research and Development Work Group
Location: Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center at Canandaigua

1993
Certificate for Outstanding Performance
Sponsor: Department of Veterans Affairs
Location: Medical Center at Canandaigua

1993
Award for Paper Presentation
Sponsor: Society of Behavioral Medicine Annual Scientific Sessions

1989
Smoking Cessation Achievement Award
Sponsor: Lakeside Pharmaceuticals

1988
Key Smoking Cessation Staff Award
Sponsor: American Lung Association, Finger Lakes Region, Inc.

1988
Award for FREEDOM LINE Smoker's Quitline project
Sponsor: US Department of Health and Human Services

1987
Governor's Award for the FREEDOM LINE smokers' hotline project

1984
Award for paper presentation, 18th Annual Convention of the Assoc for Advancement of Behavior Therapy

1983
Certificate of Appreciation for Service Toward Improving Community Health
Sponsor: American Lung Association - Finger Lakes Region, Inc.

1981 - 1983
Lilly Postdoctoral Teaching Fellowship
Sponsor: University of Rochester
Location: Rochester, NY

1980
Dolson Award for most outstanding student in Clinical Psychology
Location: University of Pittsburgh

VIEW ALL expand_more

Publications

Journal Articles

7/2023
Augustine EF, Steele SJ, McIntosh S, Sugarwala L, White RJ, Yousefi-Nooraie R, Zand MS, Ossip DJ. "Utilizing the Un-Meeting Model to Advance Innovative Translational and Team Science". Journal of Clinical Translational Science. 2023; .

5/27/2023
Roman G, Samar V, Ossip D, McKee M, Barnett S, Yousefi-Nooraie R. "Experiences of Sign Language Interpreters and Perspectives of Interpreting Administrators During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Description." Public health reports.. 2023 May 27; :333549231173941. Epub 2023 May 27.

3/3/2023
Shaikh SB, Newton C, Tung WC, Sun Y, Li D, Ossip D, Rahman I. "Classification, Perception, and Toxicity of Emerging Flavored Oral Nicotine Pouches." International journal of environmental research and public health.. 2023 Mar 3; 20(5)Epub 2023 Mar 03.

Books & Chapters

1997
Chapter Title: Screening for Depression
Book Title: Assessing the health status of older adults
Author List: Ossip-Klein DJ., Rothenberg B, Andersen E
Edited By: E. Andersen; B. Rothenberg; & J.G. Zimmer
Published By: Springer Publishing Company, Inc. 1997 in New York

1996
Chapter Title: Cognitive and behavioral therapy in the nursing home
Book Title: Psychiatric care in the nursing home
Author List: Ossip-Klein DJ, Karuza J
Edited By: W.E. Reichman & P.R. Katz
Published By: Oxford University Press 1996 in New York

1993
Chapter Title: Behavioral contracts between alcoholics and family members to improve aftercare participation and maintain sobriety after inpatient alcoholism treatment
Book Title: Treating alcohol problems: Marital and family interventions
Author List: Ossip-Klein DJ, Rychtarik RG
Edited By: T.J. O'Farrell
Published By: Guilford Publications, Inc 1993 in New York

VIEW ALL PUBLICATIONS