Neal Benowitz

Neal Benowitz is a Professor of Medicine and Bioengineering & Therapeutic Sciences at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and Chief of the Division of Clinical Pharmacology at San Francisco General Hospital. With over 500 publications, he is a global expert on nicotine pharmacology, tobacco addiction, and biomarker assessment for tobacco toxicant exposure.

• Education: MD from University of Rochester School of Medicine; Fellowship in Clinical Pharmacology at UCSF.

Research Interests: His work focuses on nicotine metabolism, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics of tobacco products, cardiovascular effects of nicotine, harm reduction strategies, and policy implications of tobacco use. He has contributed to multiple U.S. Surgeon General's Reports and leads NIH-funded research on nicotine reduction and electronic cigarette clinical pharmacology.

Scientific Awards:

• Ove Ferno Award
• UCSF Annual Distinguished Clinical Research Lecturer (2002)
• Rawls Palmer Award for Progress in Medicine
• Alton Ochsner Award Relating Smoking and Health
• NIDA Merit Award

Grants & Research Funding: Multiple long-term NIH grants, including continuous funding for Clinical Pharmacology of Nicotine (R01DA002277, 1979-2014), Pharmacogenetics of Nicotine Addiction Treatment (U01DA020830, 2005-2016), and recent studies on electronic cigarette harm reduction (U01DA045519, 2018-2022) and smokeless nicotine products (Circulation, 2025).