Strategic Priority 5
Promote and facilitate tobacco regulatory science and tobacco prevention research.
Objectives
The primary focus of the objectives supporting the Advance Tobacco Regulatory and Prevention Science strategic priority (PDF) is the development, coordination, and implementation of NIH-wide tobacco regulatory science initiatives in partnership with the FDA. In addition, the Tobacco Regulatory Science Program (TRSP) convenes and/or participates in NIH-wide tobacco prevention research efforts.
- Tobacco Regulatory Science 5.1: Lead the NIH-wide program in tobacco regulatory science, partnering with FDA scientific leadership to help identify, develop, characterize, and address FDA's tobacco regulatory research priorities.
- Tobacco Regulatory Science 5.2: Oversee and lead NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices and grant recipients in complying with policies and procedures unique to the NIH-FDA partnership in tobacco regulatory science.
- Tobacco Regulatory Science 5.3: Educate FDA and NIH program, review, and grants management staff on TRSP scientific goals, policies, and procedures.
- Tobacco Regulatory Science 5.4: Create opportunities for extramural investigators and federal scientific staff to collaborate, network, and discuss FDA’s priority topics and share research results in prevention and tobacco regulatory science.
- Tobacco Regulatory Science 5.5: Facilitate development of resources and research opportunities to address gaps in tobacco prevention intervention, research, measurement, and methodology.
Spotlight on Progress
New Article on an Artificial Sweetener in E-Cigarettes
A study conducted by the Yale Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science, and funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the FDA Center for Tobacco Products, found that the most popular disposable e-cigarettes tested by Duke researchers contain a potent, unregulated artificial sweetener that may enhance the appeal to young and first-time users. Read the article, “Prevalence of Artificial Sweetener in US-Marketed Disposable E-Cigarettes” in the journal JAMA.
New Funding Opportunity: Tobacco Regulatory Science Small Grant Program for New Investigators
NIH and FDA have published a new R03 funding opportunity, RFA-OD-25-008, which aims to support new biomedical, behavioral, and social science investigators who are in the early stages of establishing independent careers in tobacco regulatory research. Applicants are encouraged to conduct projects that ultimately have the potential to inform regulations on tobacco product manufacturing, distribution, and marketing. Research projects must address one or more High-Priority Research Topic(s) related to the regulatory authority of the FDA Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) as mandated by the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. The opportunity expires on July 15, 2026.
Supporting Research on Communication Messaging About the Continuum of Risk for Tobacco Products
The NIH–FDA partnership is supporting a new grant to better understand the impact that messaging about the continuum of risk for tobacco products may have on tobacco use behavior and other relevant outcomes among audiences for whom messaging could be potentially useful (i.e., adults who use combustible products) and those for whom the messaging could have negative consequences (e.g., youth).