Dr. Jidong Huang
In the decade that e-cigarettes have been on the market, they’ve gone from an obscure quit-smoking aid to a ubiquitous “lifestyle” product that’s particularly popular among young people, thanks in part to a slick, youth-oriented marketing campaign.
This has created a divide among public health experts about the best way to regulate what is now a $5 billion industry in the U.S. Because while vaping may be a safer, healthier alternative for smokers who want to quit, it’s also attracting teenagers and young adults who otherwise might never light up.
A new study co-authored by the Second Century Initiative’s Jidong Huang and his colleagues at the university’s School of Public Health casts doubt on vaping’s major purported health benefit — helping smokers ditch cigarettes. The researchers examined the responses of more than 850 smokers who participated in an initial survey in 2015 and a follow-up survey a year later and found that 90 percent of those who used both traditional cigarettes and e-cigarettes were still lighting up at the end of the year.
Dr. Huang, an associate professor of health management, was hired during the fifth round of 2CI, the predecessor to the Next Generation Program that seeks to increase research and discovery at Georgia State.
Read more about the findings by Dr. Huang, as well as his colleague Scott Weaver, a research assistant professor, in the Fall 2018 edition of the Georgia State University magazine. Click here to read more!
– Original magazine article by Jennifer Rainey Marquez, Office of the Vice President for Research & Economic Development; Synopsis by Jeremy Craig, Office of the Provost