Tingting Yao

Dr. Tingting Yao is an Associate Professor at the Institute for Health and Aging at the University of California, San Francisco. Her work integrates public health and economics to study the economic impact of tobacco and cannabis use, with a focus on vulnerable populations such as adolescents, racial/ethnic minorities, and low-income groups.

Research Focus:

• Economic modeling of tobacco/cannabis use
• Health disparities in respiratory disease and mental health
• Policy analysis (e.g., California's Proposition 56)
• Secondary data analysis using longitudinal datasets

Scientific Awards:

• National Cancer Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship (2010)
• Dorothy Rice Postdoctoral Fellowship (2012)
• Cornelius Hopper Diversity Award Supplement (2013)
• Nominated for John Ziegler Mentor Award (2019, 2020)

Research Trends: Recent publications highlight her focus on e-cigarette/cannabis interactions with respiratory health, psychological distress, healthcare costs, and policy impacts. She employs econometric models to quantify price responsiveness and disparities in tobacco/cannabis adoption.

Grants: Dr. Yao leads and collaborates on federally funded projects studying cannabis vaping, tobacco pricing, and healthcare utilization disparities through grants from the NIH, FDA, and California Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program.