Donna Shelley

Professor of Public Health Policy and Management

Co-Director of the Global Center for Implementation Science

Professional overview

Dr. Shelley is a tenured Professor in the Department of Public Health Policy and Management and the founding Co-Director of the Global Center for Implementation Science at the NYU School of Global Public Health. She conducts translational, population-based, and policy-relevant research that aims to accelerate dissemination and implementation of tobacco use treatment in safety net health care delivery systems and implementation of tobacco control policies. This research has been funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institute of Drug Abuse, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the New York State Department of Health.

Dr. Shelley’s implementation research focuses on building the evidence for effective theory-driven strategies that target barriers to implementation and sustainability of evidence-based tobacco use treatment in primary care settings in the U.S. and Viet Nam. Her research is also addressing the growing dual burden of noncommunicable and communicable diseases in LMICs and, specifically, the health impact on people living with HIV/AIDS.  Her policy research includes a completed NCI-funded study that evaluated the impact of the US federally mandated smoke-free public housing policy on exposure to secondhand smoke and explored the implementation process to identify strategies with the potential to improve the process and maximize public health impact.

Education

BS, University of Pennsylvania, PA

MD, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, NY

MPH, Health Policy and Management, Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, NY

Areas of research and study

Health Systems Strengthening

Implementation science

Tobacco Cessation

Tobacco Policy

Current Research

Policy

Purtle J, Moucheraud C, Yang LH, Shelley D. Four very basic ways to think about policy in implementation science. Implement Sci Commun. 2023 Sep 12;4(1):11

Shelley D. Kyriakas C, McNeill A, Murray R, Nilan K, Sherman SE, Raw M. Challenges to implementing the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control guidelines on tobacco cessation treatment: a qualitative analysis. Addiction. 2020;115:527-533

Thorpe L, Anastasiou E, Wyka K, Tovar A, Gill E, Rule A, Elbel B, Kaplan SA, Jiang N, Gordon T, Shelley D. Evaluation of Secondhand Smoke Exposure in New York City Public Housing After Implementation of the 2018 Federal Smoke-Free Housing Policy. JAMA Netw Open. 2020 Nov 2;3(11):e2024385

Tobacco cessation 

Hoang THL … Shelley D. Factors Influencing Tobacco Smoking and Cessation Among People Living  with HIV: A Systematic Review and Meta‑analysis. AIDS and Behavior. 2024 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-024-04279-1

Shelley et al. WHO Knowledge Summary: Tobacco and HIV https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/378509/9789240096868-eng.pdf

Ostroff JS, Shelley DR, Chichester LA, King JC, Li Y, Schofield E, Ciupek A, Criswell A, Acharya R, Banerjee SC, Elkin EB, Lynch K, Weiner BJ, Orlow I, Martin CM, Chan SV, Frederico V, Camille P, Holland S, Kenney J. Study protocol of a multiphase optimization strategy trial (MOST) for delivery of smoking cessation treatment in lung cancer screening settings. Trials. 2022 Aug 17;23(1):664.

Health systems improvement and Implementation Science

Nwaozuru U, Murphy P, Richard A, …Shelley D, Airhihenbuwa C, Ogedegbe G, Ezechi O, Iwelunmor J. The sustainability of health interventions implemented in Africa: an updated systematic review on evidence and future research perspectives. Implement Sci Commun. 2025 Apr 8;6(1):39. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11980204/ 

Gaeta Gazzola M, Torsiglieri A, Velez L, Blaufarb S, Hernandez P, O'Grady MA, Blackburn J, Florick J, Cleland CM, Shelley D, Doran KM A community-academic partnership to develop an implementation support package for overdose prevention in permanent supportive housing. J Subst Use Addict Treat. 2025 Jan;168:209533. doi: 10.1016/j.josat.2024.209533. Epub 2024 Oct 9.PMID: 39389548

Kilbourne AM, Geng E, Eshun-Wilson I, Sweeney S, Shelley D, Cohen DJ, Kirchner JE, Fernandez ME, Parchman ML. How does facilitation in healthcare work? Using mechanism mapping to illuminate the black box of a meta-implementation strategy. Implement Sci Commun. 2023 May 16;4(1):53. 

Parascandola M, Neta G, Salloum RG, Shelley D, Rositch AF.JCO Glob Oncol. Role of Local Evidence in Transferring Evidence-Based Interventions to Low- and Middle-Income Country Settings: Application to Global Cancer Prevention and Control.2022 Aug;8:e2200054.

Shelley D, Alvarez GG, Nguyen T, Nguyen N, Goldsamt L, Cleland C, Tozan Y, Shuter J, Armstrong-Hough M. Adapting a tobacco cessation treatment intervention and implementation strategies to enhance implementation effectiveness and clinical outcomes in the context of HIV care in Vietnam: a case study. Implement Sci Commun. 2022 Oct 17;3(1):112. 

Shelley D, Wang VH, Taylor K, Williams R, Toll B, Rojewski A, Foley KL, Rigotti N, Ostroff JS. Accelerating integration of tobacco use treatment in the context of lung cancer screening: Relevance and application of implementation science to achieving policy and practice. Transl Behav Med. 2022 Nov 21;12(11):1076-1083.

Shelley D, Cleland CM, Nguyen T, VanDevanter N, Siman N, Van Minh H, Nguyen N. Nicotine Tob Res. Effectiveness of a Multicomponent Strategy for Implementing Guidelines for Treating Tobacco Use in Vietnam Commune Health Centers 2022 Feb 1;24(2):196-203.

Hennein R, Ggita J, Ssuna B, Shelley D, Akiteng AR, Davis JL, Katamba A, Armstrong-Hough M. Implementation, interrupted: Identifying and leveraging factors that sustain after a programme interruption. Glob Public Health. 2022 Aug-Sep;17(9):1868-1882

Publications

Publications

The CATALYTIC tool to assess feasibility of implementing evidence-based interventions for cardiovascular diseases in 46 low- and middle-income countries: survey outcomes and tool reliability testing

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The sustainability of health interventions implemented in Africa : an updated systematic review on evidence and future research perspectives

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Tobacco spending and the perceived cost of tobacco among smokers living with HIV and receiving treatment at outpatient clinics in Viet Nam : A mixed methods study

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Tobacco spending and the perceived cost of tobacco among smokers living with HIV and receiving treatment at outpatient clinics in Viet Nam: A mixed methods study

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Understanding overdose risk and response in permanent supportive housing: results of focus groups with tenants, staff, and leaders

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A "what Matters Most" approach to investigating intersectional stigma toward HIV and cancer in Hanoi, Vietnam

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Depression and associated factors among HIV-positive smokers receiving care at HIV outpatient clinics in Vietnam : A cross-sectional analysis

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Factors associated with retention in Quitline counseling for smoking cessation among HIV-positive smokers receiving care at HIV outpatient clinics in Vietnam

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Factors Influencing Tobacco Smoking and Cessation Among People Living with HIV : A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

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Identifying important and feasible primary care structures and processes in the US healthcare system : a modified Delphi study

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Implementation Science: Applications in Public Health and Psychology

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State of the Science of Scale-Up of Cancer Prevention and Early Detection Interventions in Low- and Middle-Income Countries : A Scoping Review

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Temporal Trends in Tobacco Smoking Prevalence During the Period 2010–2020 in Vietnam : A Repeated Cross-Sectional Study

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Utilizing a patient advocacy-led clinical network to engage diverse, community-based sites in implementation-effectiveness research

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Variability in self-reported and biomarker-derived tobacco smoke exposure patterns among individuals who do not smoke by poverty income ratio in the USA

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“In the Village That She Comes from, Most of the People Don’t Know Anything about Cervical Cancer” : A Health Systems Appraisal of Cervical Cancer Prevention Services in Tanzania

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A Matched Analysis of the Association Between Federally Mandated Smoke-Free Housing Policies and Health Outcomes Among Medicaid-Enrolled Children in Subsidized Housing, New York City, 2015-2019

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Adapting a tobacco cessation treatment intervention and implementation strategies to enhance implementation effectiveness and clinical outcomes in the context of HIV care in Vietnam: a case study. Annual Symposium on Global Cancer Research, 

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An effectiveness-implementation hybrid trial of phone-based tobacco cessation interventions in the Lebanese primary healthcare system : protocol for project PHOENICS

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Attitudes, perceptions, and preferences towards SARS CoV-2 testing and vaccination among African American and Hispanic public housing residents, New York City : 2020–2021

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Data envelopment analysis to evaluate the efficiency of tobacco treatment programs in the NCI Moonshot Cancer Center Cessation Initiative

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Emergency Nurses’ Perceived Barriers and Solutions to Engaging Patients With Life-Limiting Illnesses in Serious Illness Conversations : A United States Multicenter Mixed-Method Analysis

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Facilitation of team-based care to improve HTN management and outcomes : a protocol for a randomized stepped wedge trial

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Four very basic ways to think about policy in implementation science

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How does facilitation in healthcare work? Using mechanism mapping to illuminate the black box of a meta-implementation strategy

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