Student Spotlight: Garrett Stang

It’s interesting that you grew up in tobacco country—it sounds like it really influenced your focus.

Stang: Absolutely. Growing up, I was constantly surrounded by tobacco. I remember walking into gas stations where you could buy a pack of cigarettes for four dollars. Family members smoked. We’d sit in smoking sections in restaurants back when that was still allowed. I witnessed firsthand how tobacco use impacted my community, both personally and more broadly across the South.

Can you talk more about how it affected your community?

You see high rates of nicotine dependence, lung cancer, and other tobacco-related diseases. Tobacco remains the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the U.S. And when working with people with HIV, I noticed that factors like minority stress and stigma made the impact even worse. This population often faces additional challenges, and traditional tobacco cessation methods don’t always work for them—especially for those from marginalized communities.

Can you share some key findings from your recent work on tobacco and cannabis co-use in people with HIV?

Yes, that was a project for which I received a travel award to attend the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT), specifically through the Research Society on Marijuana's post-conference workshop. It was actually my very first podium presentation, which I was incredibly grateful for.

For the project, I conducted a secondary analysis of Professor Cioe’s nicotine preloading trial among people with HIV. What we found was that some participants who were co-using cannabis and tobacco—and who reduced or stopped their cannabis use—appeared to have an easier time quitting cigarettes during the trial. However, this wasn’t a universal finding; results were mixed, which aligns with existing literature.

Interestingly, we also observed that some participants were able to successfully quit smoking cigarettes while continuing to use cannabis daily or frequently. Overall, these findings suggest that cannabis and tobacco cessation are independent health behaviors among people with HIV.

How can public health efforts help sexual and gender minorities quit smoking, given the additional challenges they face?

A key starting point is recognizing that sexual and gender minorities have higher rates of tobacco use, often driven by experiences of social stigma, minority stress and daily microaggressions. Additionally, these communities have historically been targeted by tobacco industry marketing, which has contributed to the normalization of tobacco use within them.

As public health professionals, we have a responsibility to advocate for stigma reduction and to meet people where they are. That means working in partnership with communities to develop tailored, culturally competent interventions that address the unique stressors faced by sexual and gender minorities. By acknowledging and addressing minority stress as a driver of tobacco use, we can better support meaningful cessation efforts and work toward reducing these disparities.

How have your mentors, Professors Cioe and Kahler, influenced your research?

They’ve both been phenomenal mentors! Professor Cioe is my primary mentor. I actually chose Brown specifically to work with her. She’s an HIV care provider by training and has extensive experience working with this population. It was Professor Cioe who encouraged me to expand my research to include sexual and gender minorities—something I’m incredibly grateful for.

One highlight has been working with Open Door Health, where she connected me with Dr. Philip Chan, associate professor of medicine and behavioral and social sciences at Brown. Through that connection, I received the New England Public Health Training Center Health Equity Student Stipend. That opportunity allowed me to conduct a tobacco needs assessment at their LGBTQ+ community clinic—another project that Dr. Cioe actively encouraged and supported.

She has also helped me to pursue professional development opportunities, including getting more involved with the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT). Through that involvement, I became the first-ever trainee appointed to SRNT’s Advisory Council, which has been an amazing experience—collaborating with professionals across the field and helping bring a trainee perspective to the table.

With the SRNT Trainee Network, we’ve been developing a project to host a virtual “data blitz” session—an opportunity for trainees who couldn’t attend the conference to still share their research. I’ve been incredibly thankful for all of these experiences and the mentorship that helped make them possible.

You’re in the second year of your Ph.D. What are some of your longer-term plans?

Yes. I'm entering the dissertation phase, where I’ll continue my work in the tobacco space, focusing on people with HIV and sexual and gender minorities. After graduation, my plan is to pursue a postdoctoral position with faculty working in the substance use field—ideally with a focus on tobacco, cannabis, alcohol, and polysubstance use. I hope to do this at an institution with a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated cancer center and an Academic Health Science Center. Ultimately, my goal is to become an independent researcher in academia.