Image: Dr. Jiaying Liu has been awarded a Federal R21 grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to support a neuroimaging project investigating tobacco use among young adults. The project seeks to identify neurobehavioral markers associated with tobacco use among young adult African American vapers, who are frequently targeted by advertisement from vaping companies. This targeting, as well as unique vaping-related features like adding characterizing flavors, contribute to the disproportionate vaping use among young adults, minority groups, and those with low socioeconomic status, which is then responsible for higher tobacco-related morbidity and mortality rates among these groups. Findings from this project are expected to provide a greater understanding of the mechanisms that make these young adults more susceptible to tobacco use. This research will be used to inform the development of anti-vaping campaign messages and regulations (e.g., the FDA's recently proposed rules to ban menthol from tobacco products) with the goal to reduce racial disparities in tobacco harm. This grant includes a budget to support two dedicated Graduate Research Assistants who will work directly with Dr. Liu and Co-PI Dr. Lawrence Sweet in the UGA Department of Psychology. The research assistants will be trained in fMRI neuroimaging practices, and will work together with Dr. Liu and Dr. Sweet throughout the project, assisting with participant recruitment and screening, experiment and message design, data collection and analysis and manuscript writing. Interested potential applicants should contact Dr. Liu to learn more about this opportunity.
