| Dr. Richard Hurt |
| Richard D. Hurt, M.D. Professor of Medicine, College of Medicine Director, Nicotine Dependence Center Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota |
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A native of Murray, Kentucky and a 1966 graduate of Murray State University
(Distinguished Alumnus Award 1993), Dr. Hurt received his M.D. from the University of
Louisville (Alumnus Alpha Omega Alpha Award 2008), interned at Baptist Memorial
Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, and did his internal medicine fellowship at Mayo Clinic.
Father of 3 and grandfather of 6, he joined the staff of Mayo Clinic in the Division of
Community Internal Medicine in 1976. He held various leadership positions in the
division and served as Division Chair from 1987-1997. Through his many academic
activities, he rose to achieve the rank of Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic
College of Medicine in 1995.
Dr. Hurt’s interest in addictive disorders began in the early 70’s and since the mid-1980’s,
has focused on tobacco dependence. He is founder and Director of the Mayo Clinic
Nicotine Dependence Center. This center embodies the integration of the three parts of
the Mayo signature of practice, education, and research and has mature treatment,
education, and research programs. Each program is under the direction of an associate
director and program coordinator. The goal of the Nicotine Dependence Center is to
enhance the quality of life for patients with tobacco dependence by providing the best
treatment possible through a program that fully integrates practice, education, and
research. Since its inception in April 1988, the Nicotine Dependence Center Treatment
Program staff has treated over 40,000 patients with services including individual
counseling, group programs, telephone counseling, and an intensive residential
treatment program. Through its Education Program, education services are provided for
medical students, residents, trainees, and fellows, in addition to a twice yearly
conference for healthcare providers who want to provide treatment services to patients
with nicotine dependence. Most recently we have added a training and certification
course for Tobacco Treatment Specialists and have trained and certified over 600
healthcare professionals from the USA and many other countries. The Research Program
staff has conducted scores of randomized clinical trials with pharmacologic agents, in
addition to outcomes research, behavioral interventions, epidemiologic studies, and
basic science research. Dr. Hurt and the NDC Treatment Program staff have collaborated
closely with the American Legacy Foundation to develop and launch the state of the art
web-based education and intervention program www.becomeanex.org which is being
promoted across the USA beginning in 2008.
Dr. Hurt is an internationally recognized expert on tobacco, providing perspectives to
audiences ranging from scientific organizations, to Dateline, Good Morning America, the
Today Show and CNN’s House Call with Dr. Sanjay Gupta, to legislative bodies like the
United States Senate and the Minnesota Legislature. He has served on numerous study
sections and boards and has served as a consultant to the Ministry of Health of
Singapore, the Bekterev Psychiatric Institute in St. Petersburg, Russia, the United States
Food and Drug Administration and the Hong Kong Minister of Health among many others.
Dr. Hurt was the first witness for the state in the historic Minnesota Tobacco Trial which
resulted in a settlement with the cigarette manufacturers, including the release of over
70 million pages of previously secret internal tobacco company documents. From 1998-
2003, Dr. Hurt served as the Chair of the Board of the Minnesota Partnership for Action
Against Tobacco (now called Clearway Minnesota), a new nonprofit organization that was
created by the settlement reached in the Minnesota Tobacco Trial in May 1998. In 2003
he received a William Cahan Distinguished Professor Award from the Flight Attendant
Medical Research Institute and the Research Career Achievement Award from the Mayo
Clinic Department of Medicine. Dr. Hurt is author or coauthor of over 170 scientific
publications.
(Distinguished Alumnus Award 1993), Dr. Hurt received his M.D. from the University of
Louisville (Alumnus Alpha Omega Alpha Award 2008), interned at Baptist Memorial
Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, and did his internal medicine fellowship at Mayo Clinic.
Father of 3 and grandfather of 6, he joined the staff of Mayo Clinic in the Division of
Community Internal Medicine in 1976. He held various leadership positions in the
division and served as Division Chair from 1987-1997. Through his many academic
activities, he rose to achieve the rank of Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic
College of Medicine in 1995.
Dr. Hurt’s interest in addictive disorders began in the early 70’s and since the mid-1980’s,
has focused on tobacco dependence. He is founder and Director of the Mayo Clinic
Nicotine Dependence Center. This center embodies the integration of the three parts of
the Mayo signature of practice, education, and research and has mature treatment,
education, and research programs. Each program is under the direction of an associate
director and program coordinator. The goal of the Nicotine Dependence Center is to
enhance the quality of life for patients with tobacco dependence by providing the best
treatment possible through a program that fully integrates practice, education, and
research. Since its inception in April 1988, the Nicotine Dependence Center Treatment
Program staff has treated over 40,000 patients with services including individual
counseling, group programs, telephone counseling, and an intensive residential
treatment program. Through its Education Program, education services are provided for
medical students, residents, trainees, and fellows, in addition to a twice yearly
conference for healthcare providers who want to provide treatment services to patients
with nicotine dependence. Most recently we have added a training and certification
course for Tobacco Treatment Specialists and have trained and certified over 600
healthcare professionals from the USA and many other countries. The Research Program
staff has conducted scores of randomized clinical trials with pharmacologic agents, in
addition to outcomes research, behavioral interventions, epidemiologic studies, and
basic science research. Dr. Hurt and the NDC Treatment Program staff have collaborated
closely with the American Legacy Foundation to develop and launch the state of the art
web-based education and intervention program www.becomeanex.org which is being
promoted across the USA beginning in 2008.
Dr. Hurt is an internationally recognized expert on tobacco, providing perspectives to
audiences ranging from scientific organizations, to Dateline, Good Morning America, the
Today Show and CNN’s House Call with Dr. Sanjay Gupta, to legislative bodies like the
United States Senate and the Minnesota Legislature. He has served on numerous study
sections and boards and has served as a consultant to the Ministry of Health of
Singapore, the Bekterev Psychiatric Institute in St. Petersburg, Russia, the United States
Food and Drug Administration and the Hong Kong Minister of Health among many others.
Dr. Hurt was the first witness for the state in the historic Minnesota Tobacco Trial which
resulted in a settlement with the cigarette manufacturers, including the release of over
70 million pages of previously secret internal tobacco company documents. From 1998-
2003, Dr. Hurt served as the Chair of the Board of the Minnesota Partnership for Action
Against Tobacco (now called Clearway Minnesota), a new nonprofit organization that was
created by the settlement reached in the Minnesota Tobacco Trial in May 1998. In 2003
he received a William Cahan Distinguished Professor Award from the Flight Attendant
Medical Research Institute and the Research Career Achievement Award from the Mayo
Clinic Department of Medicine. Dr. Hurt is author or coauthor of over 170 scientific
publications.