Health and Medicine, Science and Technology

UNC-Chapel Hill experts available to discuss vaping and new tobacco products

View of the Davie Poplar on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on July 12, 2018. (Johnny Andrews/UNC-Chapel Hill)

Updated Nov. 5, 2019

A host of new tobacco products, including e-cigarettes like JUULs, have entered the market in recent years, bringing new public health concerns with them. Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are studying the health and societal impacts of emerging tobacco products. UNC-Chapel Hill experts are available to discuss topics including e-cigarettes’ health impacts, their failure as smoking cessation tools, the differences in how smoking and vaping affect the body, and e-cigarette explosions and the resulting chemical burn injuries.

If you’d like to speak with an expert, call 919-445-8555 or email mediarelations@unc.edu.

 

Dr. M. Bradley Drummond is an associate professor of medicine at UNC School of Medicine and the director of the Obstructive Lung Diseases Clinical and Translational Research Center. He can discuss the health consequences of these new tobacco products and how they vary from traditional cigarettes. He can also discuss how these products exacerbate other conditions like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma and other chronic lung diseases.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Adam Goldstein is a professor in the UNC department of family medicine, the director of tobacco intervention programs at UNC School of Medicine, and a member of UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. He can discuss the potential drawbacks versus any potential benefit of using these products as smoking cessation tools and can share evidence-based strategies to stop smoking. He can also speak to trends in teen tobacco use.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Ilona Jaspers is a professor of pediatrics and microbiology & immunology, director of the Curriculum in Toxicology, and deputy director of the Center for Environmental Medicine, Asthma and Lung Biology all at the UNC School of Medicine, and professor of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. She can discuss the current scientific understanding of the health effects of vaping or juuling, a subject on which she has published widely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kurt Ribisl is a professor and chair of the department of health behavior at UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and the program leader for Cancer Prevention and Control at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Ribisl specializes in tobacco policy and regulation and can speak to taxation, advertising and marketing of new tobacco products and recommendations for preventing youth access.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Tarran is a professor of cell biology and physiology at UNC School of Medicine and a member of UNC Marsico Lung Institute. He can discuss the science of vaping, including how e-cigarettes impact a person’s lungs, including their genes and what happens to the lung’s immune system. He can also speak to the varying toxic effects of different e-cigarette flavors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rebecca Williams is a research associate at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. She is a leading expert on internet tobacco sales, age verification, technology and emerging tobacco products, including the wide variety of vaping devices available today. Her research has shown that online e-cigarette vendors routinely sold to minors, a finding that underscores the need for regulations requiring and enforcing age verification for the online sale of e-cigarettes. She can discuss the sales and marketing practices of websites that sell emerging tobacco products, and underage access to these online products. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seth Noar is a professor in the Hussman School of Journalism and Media and a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. He is available to discuss the impact of warning labels and communication campaigns on tobacco use, tobacco users’ perceptions on the harms of vaping, and health communications broadly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

P: 919-445-8555  |  E: mediarelations@unc.edu