Declining smoking rates in the United States tell a story of public health progress—but not for everyone.

“So many times, tobacco treatment doesn’t get addressed and those with mental health conditions and substance use disorders continue to smoke at much higher rates,” explains UConn School of Social Work doctoral candidate Elizabeth “Liz” Jurczak Goldsborough. “Treating tobacco use alongside other substance use is a more holistic approach to care and can improve both quality of life and longevity of the groups that social workers serve.”

Goldsborough, who is also a predoctoral fellow in the NIH/NIDA-funded Behavioral Sciences Training in Drug Abuse Research (BST) program at New York University, focuses her research on the intersection of tobacco use and substance use treatment—an area she says is often overlooked.

Understanding the Bigger Picture

In a recent study, “Examining the bidirectional relationship between food insecurity and cigarette smoking: Evidence from a cross-lagged panel analysis,” published in the American Journal of Health Promotion, 2026, Goldsborough and her colleagues examined the relationship between food insecurity and cigarette smoking among mothers participating in the collaborative Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study.

Their goal was to better understand a long-observed connection: does spending money on cigarettes contribute to food insecurity, or does the stress of food insecurity lead to increased smoking?

“What we found was that it’s not smoking causing food insecurity—or food insecurity causing smoking,” Goldsborough explains. “This widely observed link may instead be explained by underlying poverty, financial stress, and mental health challenges, since both depression and economic hardship affect food access and smoking behavior.”

The findings highlight a more complex reality—one in which structural factors, rather than individual choices alone, shape health outcomes.

Improving Treatment in Practice

That systems-level perspective carries into Goldsborough’s dissertation, tentatively titled “Tobacco Treatment Practices in Substance Use Care Settings: Provider and Organizational Factors.” Her research examines how treatment programs address tobacco use—an often-overlooked component of substance use care.

Despite strong evidence supporting integrated treatment, she found that tobacco care is not consistently implemented by behavioral health providers in Connecticut.

In a survey of 374 providers, more than 87% reported offering tobacco treatment at least some of the time. However, many also reported gaps in knowledge, attitudes, and confidence—factors that influence how often they provide care.

“These are things we can change,” Goldsborough says. “If we improve training, build provider confidence, and create supportive organizational policies, we can strengthen how tobacco treatment is delivered.”

She emphasizes that social work education should include competency-based tobacco treatment training, while agencies should adopt clear policies that support evidence-based care.

From Practice to Research

Goldsborough’s commitment to improving systems is rooted in her own experience.

A first-generation college student, she grew up in Poland and New York City. After earning her MSW from Rutgers University, she worked as a medical social worker and later as a clinical research counselor—experiences that shaped her interest in research.

“In my medical social work roles, I worked with clients one-to-one, but research allows me to make change at a different scale,” she says. “It’s a way to have an impact beyond the individuals I see directly and to bring a social work perspective to research that affects the populations we serve.”

Mentorship and Momentum

At UConn, Goldsborough has been supported by a strong network of mentors who have helped shape both her research and professional development. She credits her major advisor, Professor Emeritus Michael Fendrich, who is closely involved in her work even after retiring, as well as Assistant Professor Jon Phillips, her associate advisor and longtime graduate assistant (GRA) supervisor.

“Elizabeth is one of the top students that I have ever advised in my long career,” Fendrich says. “She is an outstanding collaborator and team player who values social justice and understands the importance of team science in addressing critical health disparities. I will miss working with her when she graduates; we have a unique bond that has been fostered by a singular but often self-defeating love of the New York Mets.”

Phillips first met Goldsborough when guest lecturing in one of her courses and was immediately struck by her focus.

“It’s rare to see a doctoral student develop such a clear research agenda early on—and even rarer to see them sustain that focus throughout their training,” he says.

As her graduate assistant supervisor, he quickly recognized her strengths.

“She has a remarkable aptitude for research, particularly in quantitative methods,” Phillips says. “She is one of the most highly regarded doctoral students in our school and a collaborative, thoughtful colleague.”

PostDoc Plans

After earning her Ph.D. this August, Goldsborough will continue her training as a postdoctoral fellow at the Yale School of Medicine Division of Prevention and Community Research in the Department of Psychiatry. The two-year, NIDA-funded fellowship will allow her to deepen her work in substance use and prevention while expanding her interdisciplinary research.

“My research, teaching interests, social work practice, and education are all driven by a goal of improving health outcomes,” she says.