Hilary A. Tindle

Hilary A. Tindle is an Associate Professor of Medicine with tenure at Vanderbilt University and Founding Director of the Vanderbilt Center for Tobacco, Addiction and Lifestyle (ViTAL). She holds the William Anderson Spickard Jr., M.D., Chair in Medicine. Her research focuses on developing interventions for nicotine dependence, with significant contributions to understanding the epidemiology of smoking exposure and its health impacts, including cardiovascular disease and lung cancer. Dr. Tindle has authored/co-authored 195 publications in high-impact journals like JAMA and Nicotine and Tobacco Research.

Her educational background includes an M.D. and M.P.H., and she leads translational research programs funded by multiple NIH grants (5 R01s, 1 U01). She directs the Vanderbilt Tobacco Treatment Service, overseeing 13,000 patient consults since 2015 and recruiting over 1,400 patients into cancer prevention trials. Dr. Tindle serves as a Senior Editor for the Surgeon General’s Report on tobacco use among individuals with mental health conditions and substance use disorders.

Awarded membership in the American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI), she also reviews grants for NIH, CIHR, and the Wellcome Trust. Her mentorship has supported 30 trainees, many pursuing research careers, and she leads a newly funded NIDA-K12 training program for addiction researchers.

Active clinical trials include MIST RCT, INFANTS RCT, Helping HAND 4 RCT, and St PETER HIV RCT. Her work has directly influenced national guidelines through her contributions to the NCI’s Tobacco Control Monograph #23 and the Cancer Moonshot Initiative.