Jack E. Burkhalter PhD, MD

Dr. Burkhalter is Assistant Attending Psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), and is Assistant Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry, Weill Medical College of Cornell University. He serves as Assistant Director of the Tobacco Cessation Program at MSKCC, where he provides evidence-based treatment of tobacco dependence.

He received his Ph.D. from the University of Miami in 1997, completed a postdoctoral fellowship at MSKCC, and joined the faculty in 2000. He is a clinical health psychologist who specializes in cancer prevention, with a focus on motivational and behavioral smoking cessation interventions in vulnerable populations burdened by tobacco-related disparities. These populations include persons living with HIV/AIDS, sexual minority persons, i.e., lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) smokers, and those diagnosed with cancer. His research focus includes National Cancer Institute-funded projects addressing the cancer concerns of persons living with HIV/AIDS; developing and testing innovative treatments for tobacco dependence that are guided by health behavior change theory, and; conducting research that evaluates adjustment and quality of life in cancer survivors.

He serves as the chair of the Behavioral Research Working Group of the AIDS Malignancy Consortium, which conducts cancer prevention and treatment trials in HIV/AIDS. He has served as chair of the NY State Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Advisory Board, co-chair of the Tobacco-Related Health Disparities Network of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco and currently serves as co-chair of the P20 TREND Research, Education, Curriculum and Training Core