Benjamin Chaffee

Benjamin Chaffee is a faculty member at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) School of Dentistry. His research focuses on epidemiological analyses of health behaviors, biological factors, and social circumstances influencing population health disparities, particularly in oral health and tobacco use contexts. Current projects include longitudinal studies on adolescent nicotine consumption trends, environmental exposures to tobacco products, and policy evaluations related to flavor bans and tobacco control.

Major research grants include:

• Economic Stressors and Opportunities as Influences of Emerging Adult Oral Health (NIH, U01DE033953, 2024-2028)
• Teens, Nicotine, and Tobacco Project (California Dept. Public Health, 2021-2024 and 2024-2027)
• Integrated Health, Behavioral and Economic Research on Current and Emerging Tobacco Products (NIH/NHLBI, U54 HL147127, 2018-2023)

His scientific contributions include policy-focused research on dental professionals' roles in tobacco cessation, early-life determinants of oral health, and patient-centered disease prevention strategies. Recent publications examine misinformation dynamics on social media platforms, intersectional identities in vaping behaviors, and longitudinal associations between social connectedness and gingivitis incidence.

Awards and honors include:

• American Association for Dental Research Hatton Award Finalist (2014)
• UCSF John C. Greene Society Mentor of the Year (2014)
• Omicron Kappa Upsilon Charles Craig Teaching Award (2018)