Dr. Nathalia Machado is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine and a faculty member of the TSET Health Promotion Research Center at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. She is a behavioral scientist and public health researcher focused on advancing equitable, data-driven approaches to tobacco and nicotine cessation.
Her research integrates digital health tools and large-scale health system data (e.g., Medicaid claims) to evaluate treatment delivery and develop scalable interventions. Her work focuses on dual and poly-tobacco use, including cigarette smoking and e-cigarettes, with an emphasis on improving treatment engagement and reducing tobacco-related health disparities among underserved populations.
Dr. Machado’s research spans both clinical and population-level approaches. She is the Principal Investigator of an American Cancer Society-funded project to develop quality metrics to improve tobacco treatment delivery within Medicaid. She also collaborates on multiple NIH-funded studies examining smartphone-based cessation interventions and innovative approaches to support tobacco cessation, including strategies for dual cessation of cigarettes and e-cigarettes. Her overarching goal is to reduce the burden of tobacco-related disease and advance cancer prevention.
Dr. Machado received her PhD in Psychology from the Federal University of Juiz de Fora in Brazil. She completed postdoctoral training at the University of Kansas Medical Center and the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, supported by competitive fellowships from the American Association of University Women and the American Cancer Society.
Her work has been published in leading journals such as Nicotine & Tobacco Research, JAMA Network Open, and JMIR Formative Research. She currently serves as Co-Chair of the Public Health Track for the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) Program Committee.
Education:
Degree-Granting Institutions
PhD, Psychology (Psychosocial Processes and Health)
2020
Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, Brazil
MSc, Psychology (Psychosocial Processes and Health)
2017
Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, Brazil
BS, Psychology
2014
Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, Brazil
Postgraduate Training
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
2025-2026
TSET Health Promotion Research Center, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK
Postdoctoral Fellow
2022-2024
Department of Population Health, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS
Research Associate
2020–2022
Department of Population Health, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS
Funding:
CURRENT
American Cancer Society (PF-24-1198256-01-HOPS)
Machado, N. M. (Principal Investigator)
Transforming Quality Metrics to Improve Tobacco Treatment in Medicaid
2025–2027
NIH R13 (FD008743)
Fowler, C. (MPI), Machado, N. M. (MPI), Lee, J. (MPI), Bar-Zeev, Y. (MPI), Weinberger, A. (MPI), Blank, M. (MPI)
Society for Research on Nicotine & Tobacco 2026 Annual Meeting
2026–2027
COMPLETED FUNDING
American Association of University Women (AAUW) International Fellowship
Machado, N. M. (Principal Investigator)
International differences by gender in the new tobacco epidemic: vaping and quitting among e-cigarette users in the U.S. and U.K.
2022–2023
Select Publications:
- Machado, N. M., Katz, A. J., Richter, K. P., & Ellerbeck, E. F. (2025). Utilization of varenicline among Kansas Medicaid enrollees. PLoS One, 20(9):e0333723. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0333723. PMID: 41056304; PMCID: PMC12503333.
- Clark, L., Shergina, E., Machado, N. M., Scheuermann, T. S., Sultana, N., Polineni, D., Shih, G. H., Simari, R. D., Wick, J. A., & Richter, K. P. (2024). Race and ethnicity, gender, and promotion of physicians in academic medicine. JAMA Network Open, 7(11):e2446018. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.46018. PMID: 39602123.Scheuermann, T. S.,
- Clark, L., Sultana, N., Machado, N. M., Shergina, E., Polineni, D., Shih, G. H., Simari, R. D., Wick, J. A., & Richter, K. P. (2024). Race, gender, and faculty retention in academic medicine. JAMA Network Open, 7(11):e2445143. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.45143. PMID: 39541115; PMCID: PMC11565262.
- Machado, N. M., Cagan, R., Faseru, B., Choi, W., Brown, A., Chadwick, G., Jackson, J., Everett, K., Bond, T., & Richter, K. (2023). Leveraging national data and regional innovations to right-size tobacco treatment policy for behavioral health in a Midwestern state. Substance Abuse, 44(3):235–240. doi:10.1177/08897077231188239. PMID: 37675896.
- Machado, N. M., Gomide, H. P., Bernardino, H. S., & Ronzani, T. M. (2022). Internet-based intervention compared to brief intervention for smoking cessation in Brazil: A pilot study. JMIR Formative Research, 6(11):e30327. doi:10.2196/30327. PMID: 36326817.
- Machado, N. M., Feldman, K., Amaral, L. M., Ronzani, T. M., & Richter, K. (2022). Vaping, perceptions of vaping, and plans to quit among e-cigarette users in the United States and the United Kingdom. Nicotine & Tobacco Research. doi:10.1093/ntr/ntac092. PMID: 35380698.
- Cruvinel, E., Richter, K., Scheuermann, T. S., Machado, N. M., Mayo, M. S., Brown, A., & Nollen, N. (2022). The impact of COVID-19 on income and employment and willingness to become vaccinated among African Americans enrolled in a smoking cessation randomized trial. Vaccine, 40(12):1712–1716. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2022.01.064. PMID: 35168840; PMCID: PMC8818374.
- Machado, N. M., Gomide, H. P., Bernardino, H. S., & Ronzani, T. M. (2019). Facebook recruitment of smokers: Comparing gain- and loss-framed ads for an internet-based smoking cessation intervention. Cadernos de Saúde Pública, 35(10):e00151318. doi:10.1590/0102-311X00151318. PMID: 31596400.
- Machado, N. M., Richter, K., Formagini, T. D. B., & Ronzani, T. M. (2018). A qualitative review of tobacco research related to public and structural stigma. Stigma and Health, 3(4):395.