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

Attributes of High-Performing Small Practices in a Guideline Implementation : A Multiple-Case Study

Failed retrieving data.

Barriers and Facilitators in the Recruitment and Retention of More Than 250 Small Independent Primary Care Practices for EvidenceNOW

Failed retrieving data.

Cardiovascular Disease Guideline Adherence : An RCT Using Practice Facilitation

Failed retrieving data.

Challenges to implementing the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control guidelines on tobacco cessation treatment : a qualitative analysis

Failed retrieving data.

Chinese immigrant smokers’ access barriers to tobacco cessation services and experience using social media and text messaging

Failed retrieving data.

Correction to : Unrecognized implementation science engagement among health researchers in the USA: a national survey (Implementation Science Communications, (2020), 1, 1, (39), 10.1186/s43058-020-00027-3)

Failed retrieving data.

Electronic Cigarette Aerosol Modulates the Oral Microbiome and Increases Risk of Infection

Failed retrieving data.

Evaluation of Secondhand Smoke Exposure in New York City Public Housing After Implementation of the 2018 Federal Smoke-Free Housing Policy

Failed retrieving data.

Homeless Shelter Entry in the Year After an Emergency Department Visit : Results From a Linked Data Analysis

Failed retrieving data.

Hookah use patterns, social influence and associated other substance use among a sample of New York City public university students

Failed retrieving data.

How Practice Facilitation Strategies Differ by Practice Context

Failed retrieving data.

Impact of a tobacco cessation intervention on adherence to tobacco use treatment guidelines among village health workers in Vietnam

Failed retrieving data.

Measuring Implementation Strategy Fidelity in HealthyHearts NYC : A Complex Intervention Using Practice Facilitation in Primary Care

Failed retrieving data.

Perceptions of barriers and facilitators to engaging in implementation science : a qualitative study

Failed retrieving data.

Secondhand smoke exposure in public and private high-rise multiunit housing serving low-income residents in New York City prior to federal smoking ban in public housing, 2018

Failed retrieving data.

Self-reported Secondhand Marijuana Smoke (SHMS) Exposure in Two New York City (NYC) Subsidized Housing Settings, 2018 : NYC Housing Authority and Lower-Income Private Sector Buildings

Failed retrieving data.

The role of dissemination and implementation research in global tobacco control : A report from the american society of preventive oncology

Failed retrieving data.

Unrecognized implementation science engagement among health researchers in the USA : a national survey

Failed retrieving data.

Using a Customer Relationship Management System to Manage a Quality Improvement Intervention

Failed retrieving data.

A protocol for measuring the impact of a smoke-free housing policy on indoor tobacco smoke exposure

Failed retrieving data.

Clinician perspectives on the benefits of practice facilitation for small primary care practices

Failed retrieving data.

eBook: Methods and applications in implementation science

Failed retrieving data.

Editorial : Methods and Applications in Implementation Science

Failed retrieving data.

Effectiveness of Village Health Worker-Delivered Smoking Cessation Counseling in Vietnam

Failed retrieving data.

Interrupting providers with clinical decision support to improve care for heart failure

Failed retrieving data.