Wasim Maziak

Focus

Tobacco Control and Chronic Disease

Biography

Wasim Maziak is a Distinguished University Professor at the Department of Epidemiology at Florida International University. He is the founder and director of the Syrian Center for Tobacco Studies, a pioneer research and capacity building institution in the Middle East. Dr. Maziak has extensive experience in tobacco control research and has published over 200 peer-reviewed scientific reports, including contributions in Science, Nature, Lancet, and British Medical Journal. His focus has been on emerging tobacco products such as e-cigarettes and hookah (Waterpipe), especially risk communication strategies targeting young users. He has been continuously funded by NIH since 2001 for tobacco control research.  

Lab

Dr. Maziak’s Clinical Research Laboratory is located at the Academic Health Center 5. This state-of-the-art facility has been designed to serve as Florida International University’s dedicated smoking clinical research laboratory. Fully equipped with independent smoking and reception areas that are isolated from each other, the lab also features five computer stations, blood drawing and specimen processing areas, fully furnished physical examination station, physical signs monitoring equipment, subjective measures assessment capability, and the latest in smoking topography technology. For more information please see visit the Clinical Research Lab for Tobacco Smoking.

Education

• National Heart & Lung Institute, Postdoctoral training
• Emory University, HH Humphrey Fellow
• Institute Epidemiology-Social Medicine, Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship
• Kiev Medical Institute, Kiev, Ukraine, Ph.D.
• Aleppo School of Medicine, MD

Recent Publications

1. Osibogun O, Bursac Z, Maziak W. E-Cigarette Use and Regular Cigarette Smoking Among Youth: Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study (2013-2016). Am J Prev Med. 2020 Mar 5.
2. Fawaz M, Scharifker BR, Moraes R M, Ibrahim ME, Moradi S, Medina E, Maziak W, Sham MH, Hidalgo C, Martínez Alier J. Dispatches from a world in turmoil. Nature 2019 Dec;576(7787):382-384.
3. Chand HS, Muthumalage T, Maziak W, Rahman I. Pulmonary Toxicity and the Pathophysiology of Electronic Cigarette, or Vaping Product, Use Associated Lung Injury. Front Pharmacol. 2020 Jan 14;10:1619.
4. Eissenberg T, Maziak W. Are Electronic Cigarette Users at Risk for Lipid-Mediated Lung Injury? Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2020 Jan 9.
5. Maziak W. E-cigarettes; harm reduction or rehabilitation of the tobacco industry. Expert Rev Respir Med. 2019.
6. Maziak W, Osibogun O, Asfar T. Waterpipe smoking: the pressing need for risk communication. Expert Rev Respir Med. 2019 Sep 20:1-11.
7. Maziak W, Ben Taleb Z, Ebrahimi Kalan M, Ward-Peterson M, Bursac Z, Osibogun O, Eissenberg T. Effect of flavor manipulation on low and high-frequency waterpipe users’ puff topography, toxicant exposures and subjective experiences. Tob Control. 2019 Jul 20.
8. Bhatnagar A, Maziak W, Eissenberg T, et al. Water Pipe (Hookah) Smoking and Cardiovascular Disease Risk: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2019 May 7;139(19):e917-e936.
9. Maziak W, Ben Taleb Z, Ebrahimi Kalan M, Eissenberg T, Thrasher J, Shihadeh A, Asfar T. Pictorial health warning labels on the waterpipe device are effective in reducing smoking satisfaction, puffing behavior and exposure to CO: first evidence from a crossover clinical laboratory study. Tob Control. 2019 Jan 11. pii: tabacco control-2018-054682.
10. Asfar T, Schmidt M, Ebrahimi Kalan M, Wu W, Ward KD, Nakkash RT, Thrasher J, Eissenberg T, Ben Romdhane H, Maziak W. Delphi study among international expert panel to develop waterpipe-specific health warning labels. Tob Control. 2019 Jan 29.
11. Mirbolouk M, Charkhchi P, Orimoloye OA, Uddin SMI, Kianoush S, Jaber R, Bhatnagar A, Benjamin EJ, Hall ME, DeFilippis AP, Maziak W, Nasir K, Blaha MJ. E-Cigarette Use Without a History of Combustible Cigarette Smoking Among U.S. Adults: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2016. Ann Intern Med. 2018 Oct 9.

Research Support

(Ongoing or Completed During the Last 5 Years)

Grants (ongoing)

Florida Department of Health
Maziak CO-PI
2020-2025 

Title: Developing and testing waterpipe-specific health warning labels targeting young people in Florida. (amount of $1,253,415.00; 5 years).

R01TW010654 (Fogarty)
Maziak PI
08/01/2017-08/01/2022

Title: Translating evidence and building capacity to support waterpipe control in the EMR

This project builds on our ongoing collaboration with Lebanon (American University of Beirut) and Tunisia (University of Tunis), in order to develop and implement effective HWLs for the WP and help these countries build their national capacity in tobacco control policy research ($1,856,584).

R01 DA042477 (NIDA/FDA)
Maziak-PI
07/01/2016-06/30/2020

Title: Understanding tobacco flavor effects on waterpipe smokers’ experiences and exposures

This project addresses the need for evidence about the effect of flavoring manipulation on waterpipe smokers’ satisfaction, dependence, harm perception, and toxicants exposure in order to inform flavor-based product regulation by the FDA ($1,282,904).

T32DA0434499 (NIDA)
(Maziak-Co-I)
2019-2024

Training Program in Adolescent Substance Use Disorders and Co-Occurring Mental and Behavioral Disorders. The proposed T32 training program includes all the essential ingredients for successful training across the spectrum of research activities associated with adolescent SUD and co-occurring disorders, and the program will serve as a national example of a training ground for young investigators in this field ($1.5 Million).