Title: The epidemiology and treatment of smoking in people with mental illness.

Synopsis: This talk will focus on the epidemiology and treatment of smoking in people with mental illness. Dr. Taylor will present her work demonstrating the mental health benefits of smoking cessation, as well as findings from the ESCAPE trial, where she integrated smoking cessation treatment into routine psychological care for depression and anxiety.

Study 1: Dr. Taylor will present data from her Cochrane Review, which included 102 studies involving over 169,500 participants, including those with mental health conditions and chronic illnesses. Results showed that people who stopped smoking experienced greater reductions in anxiety, depression, and mixed anxiety and depression, along with improvements in stress, positive feelings, and overall mental well-being.

Study 2: Dr. Taylor will also present data from the ESCAPE pilot trial, which assessed the acceptability and feasibility of integrating a smoking cessation intervention within cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for adults with depression or anxiety in NHS Talking Therapies services. The multi-site trial included 68 participants in the treatment group and 67 in the control group, all of whom were daily smokers beginning CBT. Both groups received CBT, while the treatment group also received 12 sessions of smoking cessation support. At 3 and 6 months, the intervention did not negatively affect the primary Talking Therapies treatment goals or mental health and was associated with increased smoking cessation rates. The intervention was well-received, with high levels of acceptability and satisfaction among both participants and stakeholders. The pilot trial demonstrated that integrating smoking cessation into CBT for mental health is feasible and can improve smoking cessation outcomes without interfering with usual care.

Biography: Dr. Taylor is a psychologist and completed her PhD in Epidemiology at the University of Birmingham in 2014 and subsequently worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Bristol’s Integrative Epidemiology Unit. She was awarded a prestigious Cancer Research UK fellowship in Population Health Sciences and moved to the University of Bath as a Lecturer in 2018. From 2022 to 2024, Dr. Taylor served as Director of Data Science and Analytics at a leading health economics consultancy, providing statistical and research services and advice to pharmaceutical companies. She returned to academia in 2025 and now works as a Senior Lecturer in Public Health at the University of Bristol in the Centre for Public Health Research. She is also a linked faculty member of the Integrative Epidemiology Unit.

Dr. Taylor has a special interest in causal inference methods and randomised controlled trials, with a focus on translating epidemiological findings into effective interventions to improve population health. Her clinical research focuses on three key areas: investigating the causal relationships between nicotine and tobacco use and the development of multimorbidity—particularly in relation to mental health—and identifying the mechanisms that underlie these associations; identifying effective targets for interventions aimed at preventing or managing multimorbidity; and co-producing interventions that are tailored for integration into healthcare services.

Her internationally recognised work has received awards from the BMJ, the International Society for Behavioural Medicine, the UK Society for Behavioural Medicine, Addiction, and the Society for the Study of Addiction. Dr. Taylor has secured £1.5 million as Principal Investigator and £35 million as Co-Investigator, and has published in leading journals such as BMJ, Lancet Psychiatry, International Journal of Epidemiology, World Psychiatry, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.