# Effects of Electronic Cigarette Use on Smokers with Mild to Moderate Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

> **NIH NIH K23** · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · 2021 · $200,879

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Nearly half of all smokers in the United States have already used electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), which are
novel devices that deliver nicotine through an inhaled aerosol. Common reasons for use are to reduce or quit
cigarettes or to decrease harms from cigarette smoking. The long-term health effects of e-cigarettes are
unknown, but because they are widely-available consumer products, understanding their effects on cigarette
consumption and short-term health is critical for making decisions about how to counsel smokers about their
use. This is particularly important for individuals with chronic lung disease such as chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease (COPD), in whom the prevalence of cigarette smoking is more than twice that of the
general population. This career development award has two research aims to begin addressing these evidence
gaps: (1) To assess patterns and trajectories of cigarette and e-cigarette use in a nationally-representative
longitudinal cohort of smokers with COPD, and (2) To test, in a pilot randomized trial, whether providing e-
cigarettes for 12 weeks to cigarette smokers with mild to moderate COPD who do not plan to quit cigarettes in
the next month reduces their daily cigarette consumption. Secondary outcomes include changes in tobacco
biomarkers, FEV1, dyspnea, and quality of life over 12 weeks. This research plan is complemented by a
training program and highly expert team of mentors, collaborators, and advisors that will provide further training
in large dataset and longitudinal data analysis, clinical trial design and conduct, and pulmonary medicine. The
career development award will equip me with the skills to become an independent investigator conducting
population studies and clinical interventions of nicotine and tobacco use. It will prepare me to submit an R01
proposal to conduct a fully-powered randomized controlled trial of the effect of e-cigarettes on cigarette
smoking and respiratory symptoms and function in smokers with COPD.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10079503
- **Project number:** 5K23HL136854-04
- **Recipient organization:** MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Sara M Kalkhoran
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $200,879
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-01-01 → 2022-02-01

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10079503

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10079503, Effects of Electronic Cigarette Use on Smokers with Mild to Moderate Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (5K23HL136854-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10079503. Licensed CC0.

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