Apple iPhone users can listen to music, send text messages and now – thanks to a couple of GW faculty members – quit smoking.

My Quitline is a free iPhone application that allows users to instant message and speak over the phone with trained quit-smoking counselors from the National Cancer Institute Quitline. The application was developed at the School of Public Health and Health Services and the National Tobacco Cessation Collaborative.

Dr. Lorien Abroms, GW’s assistant research professor in the Department of Prevention and Community Health, designed the application after NTCC reported the lack of iPhone apps aimed to help users quit smoking with proven results.

The 2008 Public Health Service Guideline “Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence” recommended the QuitLine as an effective tool to quit smoking.

Using Quitline counseling can double a person’s chance of quitting smoking, Abroms said.