U.S. Federal Government Funds $24.8 Million in E-Cigarette Research

The study, titled "The American Lung Association Lung Health Cohort," is funded by a $24.8 million grant from the U.S. NHLBI. This will be the first federally funded research on e-cigarettes in the United States, aimed at studying the long-term effects of e-cigarette use (among other things), with the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) serving as the primary site for the study.

Initially, researchers will measure the lung health of 4,000 healthy individuals aged 25 to 35 to determine ideal respiratory conditions. Participants will have various lifestyle and smoking behavior factors. Additionally, researchers will track their health over six years to determine how their environment, lifestyle, and physical activity habits affect their respiratory health.
 
The monitored factors for participants will relate to their exposure to smoking, alcohol consumption, nutrition, and physical activity, and they will be asked to report their fatigue and sleep status to researchers. Furthermore, researchers will inquire about key moments in participants' lives when they first encountered tobacco products (e.g., at birth, starting kindergarten, and high school) and will use satellite models to measure particulate matter in the air to determine pollution differences throughout their life course.

The goal of the study is to identify which populations are more susceptible to chronic lung diseases such as COPD, emphysema, and pulmonary fibrosis. "The long-term effects of e-cigarette vapor are unclear, and these habits may be as harmful as tobacco products," explained Mark Dransfield, who holds the William C. Bailey Chair in Pulmonary Disease. "Understanding their health impacts is crucial, as millions of young people are now using vaping products."

Previously, the U.S. FDA also allocated $3.4 million to support the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in creating advanced human lung simulators to identify the toxicity and carcinogenic potential of new tobacco products.

To study the effects of new tobacco on human smokers, Dr. Kahez H. Benam, an assistant professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, will lead a research team to create the first physical multicellular three-dimensional (3D) living structure.

This micro-engineered human lung can better understand the harms of e-cigarettes and water pipes by assessing their impact on genes, proteins, pathways, and cell/organ functions.

These grants from both departments demonstrate the U.S. government's rigorous attitude towards e-cigarettes.