# Prenatal Tobacco and Cannabis Exposure:  A Translational Study

> **NIH NIH R33** · STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO · 2022 · $333,893

## Abstract

The broad goal of this application is to address the large public health problem of comorbid use of tobacco and
cannabis during pregnancy and increase understanding of mechanisms of effect by using translational science
with synergistic human and animal designs. This application consists of an R21 mechanism applied to an
existing human sample recruited in the first trimester of pregnancy and assessed repeatedly from pregnancy to
early school age, with new data to be collected in middle childhood; and an R33 mechanism applied to a new
study using an animal model. The results of the human study have and will continue to inform the design of the
animal model, and together, they will both inform the next steps in this program of research. The human study
will have four groups of children, demographically matched controls, tobacco exposed, and light and heavy
tobacco and cannabis exposed children, while the animal study will include light and heavy exposure groups
for tobacco and cannabis and the combination of the two. The animal study will focus on the specific prenatal
effects of nicotine (N) and Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), as well as the combination N+THC during early
adolescence and young adulthood. There are three specific aims: 1) to examine differences in body weight and
behaviors that impact body weight across groups, with the goal of examining associations between prenatal
exposure and obesity risk; 2) to examine differences in two critical aspects of cognitive function: attention and
working memory; and 3) to examine mechanisms explaining risk including poor fetal growth (human), stress
reactivity (human and animal), and inflammation (human and animal). These synergistic aims will then inform
the larger program of research with the long term goal of understanding prenatal exposure effects on obesity
and metabolic disorders, substance use and risk behaviors, and early aging among these high risk children.
This translational study is of high impact in that it will help clinicians to make personalized treatment plans
during pregnancy with important implications on childhood through adult health.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10476606
- **Project number:** 5R33DA045640-04
- **Recipient organization:** STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO
- **Principal Investigator:** Rina D Eiden
- **Activity code:** R33 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $333,893
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-30 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10476606

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10476606, Prenatal Tobacco and Cannabis Exposure:  A Translational Study (5R33DA045640-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-14 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10476606. Licensed CC0.

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