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A graduate student at the University of California, Riverside has been awarded $90,000 from the National Institutes of Health. Her fellowship will support her work towards determining the cytotoxic effects of electronic cigarette vapor. Her work will determine exactly how much cell death occurs from the use of electronic cigarettes and their secondhand effects.

Rachel Behar won the National Institutes of Health Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award. The award goes to individuals working on research or health-profession doctorates. Behar’s award will support her effort to determine the cellular effect of electronic cigarette vapor.

Behar will not be the first person to perform a study such as this. A study published in June found no evidence that electronic cigarettes caused cellular damage or death. But as with many studies, opponents were quick to claim the study didn’t prove anything. So more research will only help.

In addition to studying the cytotoxicity (cellular toxicity) of e-cig vapor on adult lung cells, Behar also plans to study the effects of e-cig vapor constituents on embryonic cells. This is perhaps the most exciting aspect of her impending research as pregnant women who smoke are looking for safer alternatives that still deliver nicotine. If e-cigs prove much, much safer, their use will at least be a better option than continuing to smoke as some pregnant women do.

Behar is a member of the UCR Chancellor’s Smoke/Tobacco-Free Policy Implementation Student Subcommittee and was a member of UC Irvine’s Student Task-force Advocating Reducing Tobacco as an undergraduate student. Often individuals involved in groups like this have a hard time separating the promise of e-cigs from their distaste for smoking.

This is the fourth award Behar has received for research into electronic cigarettes. You can read the full story here.

We looking forward to seeing Behar develop into someone who is likely to profoundly influence the future of the electronic cigarette industry. We hope it will be for the best.