AI-powered messages to help teens quit vaping on social media
Official title: Artificial Intelligence for effective communication to promote vaping cessation on social media
Funded at University of Rochester · NIH-11399825 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A teen-focused project using artificial intelligence to craft social media messages that discourage vaping among 13-year-olds and older youth.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Rochester NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Rochester, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2024 |
| Project end | August 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $587,006 |
| NIH project number | 5R01CA285482-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11399825 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are adolescents and young adults who use or are at risk of using e-cigarettes and whose online interactions could be influenced by tailored messages.
✕Less likely to help
Teens with no exposure to social media content or those not targeted by vaping-related messaging may see little to no benefit.
What this research studies
This project will develop AI language models to create engaging, age-appropriate messages about the risks of vaping. Researchers will test different messages on social media platforms popular with adolescents to see which ones resonate and reduce interest in vaping. The work will involve analyzing how teens respond to different tones and content while ensuring safety and privacy in the experiments. The goal is to provide public health teams with effective, ready-to-use communication strategies to curb youth vaping.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the project could provide powerful, youth-tailored digital messages that help reduce vaping among teens.
How similar studies have gone: Previous work shows that platform-specific messaging can influence teen attitudes toward vaping, though this exact AI-driven approach is new.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Rochester
Rochester, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Li, Dongmei — University of Rochester
- Study coordinator: Li, Dongmei
Related research
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Motivation-based teen vaping profile to guide quitting help
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.