Faculty

Since their introduction a decade ago, e-cigarettes (e-cigs), which use a heated coil to aerosolize nicotine-containing e-liquids, have been aggressively promoted by tobacco companies as safe alternatives to cigarettes. The use of these devices has increased at an alarming rate across all segments of society and especially among adolescents, with 13% of US high school students reporting recent use in 2014. Short-term effects of e-cig use include coughing and increased airway resistance, while longer-term health effects remain unknown. There is an urgent need to develop model exposure systems to test how these aerosols affect lung biology. Similarly, there is a compelling public health interest in translating scientific insights about toxicity into regulatory standards.