# Product Evaluation and Manipulation Core (PEMC)

> **NIH NIH U54** · OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $505,530

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY – PRODUCT EVALUATION AND MANIPULATION CORE
The goal of the Product Evaluation and Manipulation Core (PEMC) is to support and complement the human
research conducted in the Projects (P1-P4) and pilot studies needed to inform the evidence base surrounding
how the three nicotine dimensions (concentration, form, and isomer) affect tobacco product appeal,
addictiveness, and toxicity. Our Center focuses on novel tobacco products that have a credible potential for harm
reduction in established cigarette smokers or smokeless tobacco users. However, there are significant data gaps
regarding key product characteristics and appeal to nonusers; which is concerning given their high prevalence
of use and recent rapid increase in sales. The PEMC will generate product characterization data, which, in
concert with P1-P4 results, will accomplish our Center's objective: provide the evidence needed to clarify a
pathway for meaningful harm reduction in established tobacco product use, while limiting the appeal of novel
tobacco products for youth and adult never smokers. A firm understanding of tobacco product design
characteristics, including chemical, physical, and bacterial properties, is central to the Industry's Consumer
Response Model. Therefore the PEMC plays a critical role in our Center's integrative theme “Flipping the
Script”: Using the Industry's Nicotine Playbook to Maximize Public Health, as we endeavor to generate the
data needed to fuel regulatory policies that maximize public health and not industry sales. The PEMC specific
aims are to 1) Precisely manipulate the three nicotine dimensions in EC liquids to evaluate their effect on human
behaviors, mainstream emissions, and cellular toxicity; and 2) Employ an array of physicochemical analytical
methods to quantify nicotine dimensions, other ingredients, and contaminants, in tobacco products, and 3)
harmful and potentially harmful constituents and other toxicants in their emissions. The PEMC will be led by Prof.
Marielle Brinkman and Dr. Ahmad El Hellani, who have extensive experience manipulating and characterizing
tobacco products to inform tobacco regulation in both Tobacco Regulatory Science Center and standalone
grants. The OSU-TCORS PEMC proposes a highly integrated and diverse set of physicochemical analytical
capabilities, a successful track record in the manipulation of tobacco products to inform regulation, and a strong
emphasis on qualifying all measurements with a robust quality control program.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10929388
- **Project number:** 5U54CA287392-02
- **Recipient organization:** OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** AHMAD EL HELLANI
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $505,530
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-09-14 → 2028-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10929388

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10929388, Product Evaluation and Manipulation Core (PEMC) (5U54CA287392-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10929388. Licensed CC0.

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