Jamie Hartmann-Boyce and Nicola Lindson discuss emerging evidence in e-cigarette research and interview Stefanie Gratale, Rutgers School of Public Health, USA.
Associate Professor Jamie Hartmann-Boyce and Associate Professor Nicola Lindson discuss the new evidence in e-cigarette research and interview Dr Stefanie Gratale, Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Behavior, Society and Policy at the Rutgers School of Public Health and core member of the Rutgers Institute for Nicotine & Tobacco Studies (USA).
In this episode, Dr Stefanie Gratale talks to Jamie Hartmann-Boyce from the Summer 2026 NIH Tobacco Regulatory Science (TRS) Meeting in Bethesda, Maryland, where she presented findings from her team's research on the evolution of ‘natural’ tobacco marketing and how it shapes young people's perceptions of tobacco and nicotine products. Drawing on focus groups with adolescents and young adults, Stefanie discusses comparative risk perceptions and interest in products marketed as ‘cleaner’, including combustible tobacco, e-cigarettes, and nicotine pouches. Her talk at the meeting was entitled: ‘It’s not as good for you vs. stuff that’s coming out the ground’. In the interview Stefanie highlights how tobacco companies use terms such as ‘tobacco’ and ‘water’ to imply that their products are more natural. The focus group findings revealed a concerning misperception: many young people viewed cigarettes as healthier and less harmful than e-cigarettes because tobacco is a plant, whereas e-cigarettes were perceived to contain artificial ingredients. Marketing and broader communication may be contributing to these inaccurate beliefs about the relative harms of tobacco and nicotine products. Stefanie stressed the importance of accurate messaging and communication and plans to look at corrective messaging in future research work.
This podcast is a companion to the electronic cigarettes Cochrane living systematic review and Interventions for quitting vaping review and shares the evidence from the monthly searches.
Our searches for the EC for smoking cessation review carried out on 1st July 2026 found: 1 new ongoing studies (NCT05206435) and 2 linked reports (10.1016/j.conctc.2026.101652; 10.1016/j.addbeh.2026.108772).
Our search for our interventions for quitting vaping review carried out on 1st July 2026 found: 1 new study (NCT05423340) and 2 new ongoing studies (NCT07038317; NCT07624292).
For further details see our webpage under 'Monthly search findings': https://www.cebm.ox.ac.uk/research/electronic-cigarettes-for-smoking-cessation-cochrane-living-systematic-review-1
For more information on the full Cochrane review of E-cigarettes for smoking cessation updated in November 2025 see: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD010216.pub10/full
For more information on the full Cochrane review of Interventions for quitting vaping published in November 2025 see: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD016058.pub3/full
