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“With this design, we’re able to evaluate five different treatments at once to determine the best treatment or combination of treatments,” Little said. 

The goal is to find the mix that gets the most people to quit smoking. She has over 500 people signed up so far, with a goal of adding an additional 200 or more.

“I love conducting research with community partners that can have a direct and hopefully lasting impact on reducing cancer disparities,” Little said. “I truly enjoy learning more about a population and working with them to understand how we can apply innovative methods to get evidence-based interventions to reach those that need them most.”

Little’s focus on community service is one of several UVA projects that recently earned the University a “Carnegie Community Engagement Classification” from the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The designation “highlights an institution’s commitment to community,” the organizations said in the award announcement.

UVA professor and researcher Melissa Little is experimenting with different combinations of medication, messages and counseling to see what is most effective at helping people in Appalachia quit smoking. Central Appalachia has the highest smoking rate in the U.S. (Photo by Lathan Goumas, University Communications)

UVA is one of 239 campuses that received the honor in January. 

“The institutions receiving the 2026 Community Engagement Classification exemplify American higher education’s commitment to the greater good,” Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, said. 

Louis Nelson, �鶹�ƽ�� vice provost for academic outreach, who helps spearhead community engagement, said the honor recognizes the University’s commitment to public service.

“Earning the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification affirms that the University of Virginia is living up to its good-neighbor promise and to our aspiration to be excellent for a purpose,” Nelson said. “This designation attests to the fact that the University’s public mission is who we are, and what it means to be a Wahoo.”

Nelson said the project in Appalachia and the several other community initiatives that earned the Carnegie Classification play to �鶹�ƽ�� strengths: research prowess and a dedication to public service.

In many areas of the country, there are plenty of doctors counseling patients to nix the nicotine, but in rural Appalachia, “there is a critical shortage of primary care providers,” Little said. “We were looking at who else in the community could be a source of public health information.”

Fourth-year student Soren Gandhi, who conducts follow-up interviews with participants, says the experience has helped him understand the value of public health programs in places where resources are scarce. “I feel like I am making a difference,” he said. (Photo by Lathan Goumas, University Communications)

One of her collaborators, Roger Anderson, had the idea to join forces with independent, trusted pharmacies in rural Appalachia, an idea Little called “genius.”

With grants and funding from the National Cancer Institute and UVA, they  They signed up 17 community pharmacies in Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina and Tennessee. Those local pharmacists have close, personal relationships with their customers, Little said, “and can ask patrons if they’re smoking, urge them to quit, and connect them to our smoking cessation program if they’re interested.” 

Little and her team then track what combination of medications, social supports and program length has the highest success rate. When the researchers determine what works best, that approach can be replicated elsewhere.

Fourth-year human biology major Soren Gandhi makes follow-up phone calls to see if participants have stuck to their goals. Sometimes, if the person has relapsed, the response is frosty. But other times, he gets to hear how this UVA work is changing lives, like one participant who made a promise to his dying wife.

“He told me his wife had just passed away a couple of weeks ago, and one of the last things he had promised her was that he would quit smoking,” Gandhi said. “The amount of dedication I got from him, and the way he was answering questions, it was so clear that this is going to make a life difference for him.

“Those kinds of stories, that’s what keeps me going,” he added. “I feel like I am making a difference.” 

Gandhi, who will enter Harvard University’s dental school after Final Exercises, said working with the QuitAid project has helped him better understand the kind of health problems that can affect an entire region.

“I’ve gained a deeper understanding of a society that isn’t close to mine, culturally, and the importance of being able to relate to the trials they face in life,” he said.