Emerging research shows how the chemicals in e-cigarettes can change immune responses
Ilona Jaspers, PhD, right, working with a graduate student in her lab.
Smoking cigarettes dramatically increases a person’s risk for a host of diseases, and there’s an assumption that electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, are not harmful because users do not inhale smoke full of known carcinogens. Findings from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine suggest the story is not that simple.
Ilona Jaspers, PhD, professor of pediatrics and director of the curriculum in toxicology, recently completed research showing how the chemicals in e-cigarettes can change immune responses in our airways. She is presented her findings earlier this year at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting in Washington, D.C. on February 11, 2016.
