(Press-News.org) A new commentary paper in Nicotine and Tobacco Research, published by Oxford University Press, argues that recent cuts to the National Institutes of Health, including about $2 billion in terminated research grants and a $783 million cut to research funding linked to diversity and inclusion initiatives, will have a dramatically negative effect on efforts to combat tobacco usage and health disparities in the United States.
The health and economic burdens of commercial nicotine and tobacco use are high, contributing to about 480,000 premature US deaths annually and over $600 billion in US healthcare expenses and lost productivity, according to a study cited by the paper’s authors. A 2024 US Surgeon General’s Report maintained that “disparities in [tobacco] use persist by race and ethnicity, level of income, level of education, sexual orientation, gender identity, type of occupation, geography, and behavioral health status.” Projects of the National Institutes of Health’s Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities accounted for the largest proportion of terminated grants between January to April 2025. Such cuts have disproportionately impacted tobacco and nicotine research addressing racial equity and the health of sexual and gender minority people.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Office of Smoking and Health was among the departments eliminated entirely due to recent cuts. This office led the well-known “Tips from Former Smokers” campaign. In its first six years, according to a study cited by the paper’s authors, the campaign prevented nearly 130,000 premature deaths, saved $7.3 billion in healthcare costs, and led to nearly 2.1 million additional calls to state tobacco quit lines.
The researchers here argue that the elimination of the Office of Smoking and Health will significantly hamper efforts at state and local levels to address tobacco use and disparities. The office funded the nationwide network of quit lines. This will likely result in significant cuts to staffing, state quit lines, and access to tobacco prevention and cessation resources. Seven states have now lost or reduced their quit line funding.
Recent layoffs of senior leadership, scientists, and employees at the US Food & Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products may also have serious consequences, according to the authors. They cite research that estimates that the office’s “The Real Cost” youth tobacco prevention campaign prevented nearly 450,000 children from starting to vape between 2023 and 2024.
“As members of the Health Equity Network of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, we felt it was our collective duty to co-author this commentary,” said the paper’s lead author, Jin Kim-Mozeleski. “Our goal was to emphasize the health equity aspect of tobacco control and to outline some actionable steps we can all take as public health stakeholders.”
The paper, “Act Now to Save Science: The Importance of Tobacco Health Equity Research,” is available (at midnight on September 30th) at https://academic.oup.com/nictob/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/nictob/ntaf186.
Direct correspondence to:
Jin E. Kim-Mozeleski
Prevention Research Center for Healthy Neighborhoods
Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Cleveland, OH
jin.kim-mozeleski@case.edu
To request a copy of the study, please contact:
Daniel Luzer
daniel.luzer@oup.com
END
Experts warn federal cuts may extinguish momentum in tobacco control
2025-09-30
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
The insomnia trade-off
2025-09-30
One-third of our lives is spent sleeping, yet 30 to 40 percent of adults are reported to experience some form of insomnia. Japan in particular has the lowest sleep duration among the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, falling at one hour below average.
Public health research has identified long commutes, noise, and light pollution from densely populated living environments as factors that impair sleep. While such metropolitan housing offers advantages in commuting time, its livability is far less than the suburbs. To find a balance between convenience and sleep, urban architecture research, which examines the relationship between housing location, ...
Natural antimicrobial drugs found in pollen could help us protect bee colonies from infection
2025-09-30
A honeybee hive, with its large stores of pollen, wax, and honey, is like a fortress guarding treasure: with strong defenses, but a bonanza for enemies that can overcome those. More than 30 parasites of honeybees are known, spanning protists, viruses, bacteria, fungi, and arthropods – and this number keeps growing. As a result, beekeepers are always on the lookout for new ways to protect their precious hives.
A team of researchers from the US suspected that a rich new source of ecofriendly treatments for bee diseases might be hiding ...
Why mamba snake bites worsen after antivenom
2025-09-30
A breakthrough study at The University of Queensland has discovered a hidden dangerous feature in the Black Mamba one of the most venomous snakes in the world.
Professor Bryan Fry from UQ’s School of the Environment said the study revealed the venoms of three species of mamba were far more neurologically complex than previously thought, explaining why antivenoms were sometimes ineffective.
“The Black Mamba, Western Green Mamba and Jamesons Mamba snakes aren’t just using one form of chemical weapon, they’re launching a coordinated attack at 2 different points in the nervous system,” Professor Fry said.
“If you’re bitten by 3 out of ...
Biogas slurry boosts biochar’s climate benefits by reshaping soil microbes
2025-09-30
Adding biochar to farmland soils is widely promoted as a climate-friendly practice, but its impact on greenhouse gas emissions can vary. A new study finds that pairing biochar with biogas slurry, a nutrient-rich liquid fertilizer from biogas production, can reshape soil microbial communities and significantly alter emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂), nitrous oxide (N₂O), and methane (CH₄).
Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences conducted controlled soil column experiments to test how different levels of biochar addition perform ...
New review warns of growing heavy metal threats in reservoirs, calls for smarter monitoring and greener cleanup solutions
2025-09-30
Reservoirs are lifelines for drinking water, food production, and economic growth. But a new study warns that these crucial ecosystems are increasingly under threat from toxic heavy metals—and that urgent, innovative action is needed to safeguard both human health and the environment.
Researchers from Northeast Agricultural University, together with international collaborators, have published the most comprehensive review to date of heavy metal pollution in reservoirs, outlining its sources, risks, and promising solutions. The findings, published in Agricultural Ecology and Environment, ...
Positive charges stabilize instantly in key solar fuel catalyst: New simulations track ultrafast polaron formation in NaTaO3.
2025-09-30
summary
To boost solar water splitting efficiency, researchers used quantum molecular dynamics to track how charge carriers (polarons) stabilize in the NaTaO3 photocatalyst, a process previously hidden from experiments.
They discovered that positive hole polarons stabilize strongly and rapidly (~70 meV in 50 fs) driven by the elongation of oxygen-tantalum (O-Ta) bonds, while electron stabilization is insignificant.
This time-resolved, atomistic understanding provides crucial guidelines for rationally engineering O-Ta bond dynamics to create high-performance solar fuel catalysts.
Researchers used quantum-chemical molecular dynamics simulations to visualize the ultrafast ...
Tiny but mighty: Groundbreaking study reveals mosses are secret carbon heroes in subtropical forests
2025-09-30
In a lush revelation from the forest floor, a new study published in Carbon Research (as an Open Access Rapid Communication) shows that mosses, those quiet, green carpet-weavers beneath our feet, are climate champions in their own right. Led by Dr. Zhe Wang from the China-Croatia “Belt and Road” Joint Laboratory on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, CAS Key Laboratory of Mountain Ecological Restoration and Bioresource Utilization, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Shanghai Normal University, alongside Dr. Weikai Bao, also ...
The relaxed birder
2025-09-30
Kyoto, Japan -- Citizen science has allowed regular citizens to participate in data collection as well as expanded biodiversity monitoring. Yet many datasets are still limited to the coverage of certain regions and habitats in particular seasons. In bird research, for example, traditional point‑count surveys often have strict rules regarding the location, timing, and spacing between observation points, making it challenging for citizen volunteers to participate casually.
This inspired Masumi Hisano, formerly of Kyoto University and now at Hiroshima University, to try a more flexible approach by conducting counts whenever and wherever possible, as part of his daily routines. As someone ...
Ten-year clinical trial report finds radiation comparable to surgery for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer
2025-09-30
SAN FRANCISCO, September 29, 2025 — A new clinical trial report finds that stereotactic radiation therapy offers long-term survival outcomes comparable to surgery for patients with small, early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Patients in the study who received radiation also reported fewer side effects after treatment.
The STARS trial (NCT02357992) is the first to report ten-year clinical outcomes from a prospective comparison of stereotactic radiation and surgical resection for operable NSCLC. Findings will be presented ...
Ketamine deaths increase twenty-fold since 2015 with mixing drugs on the rise
2025-09-29
Deaths due to illicit ketamine use have increased twenty-fold since 2015 – but these deaths are increasingly occurring in complex polydrug settings, raising doubts over whether single-substance drug policies can reduce harms.
Analysis by King’s College London, with the University of Hertfordshire and Manchester Metropolitan University, of coroner’s reports in England, Wales and Northern Ireland between 1999 and 2024 found there were 696 deaths with detections of illicit ketamine between 1999 and 2024. It represents the most detailed ...