How a mother's e-cigarette use might change her baby's brain development
Official title: Genomic and Epigenomic Mechanisms of Maternal E-Cigarette induced Abnormal Brain Development
Funded at Loma Linda University · NIH-11258038 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This work looks at whether a mother's e-cigarette use during pregnancy can change gene activity in the developing brain and lead to problems like ADHD, anxiety, or learning and behavior issues.
Quick facts
| Grant type | U01 cooperative agreement |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Loma Linda University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Loma Linda, UNITED STATES) |
| Project start | April 15, 2023 |
| Project end | January 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $1,077,546 |
| NIH project number | 5U01DA058278-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11258038 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
This work may be most relevant to pregnant people who used e-cigarettes, parents of children with ADHD or developmental delays, and clinicians caring for them.
✕Less likely to help
People without any prenatal nicotine or e-cigarette exposure and those whose conditions are unrelated to prenatal exposures are unlikely to directly benefit from this specific project.
What this research studies
Researchers use a pregnant rat model to mimic e-cigarette exposure during pregnancy and examine the offspring's brains. They will use single-nucleus sequencing and epigenetic tests (including methods like ATAC-seq) to see which genes are turned on or off in different brain cells. The team will look for changes in the balance between excitatory and inhibitory neurons and link those molecular changes to behaviors tied to ADHD, anxiety, and learning problems. Results are meant to point toward biological markers or targets that could help prevent or treat developmental harm from prenatal e-cigarette exposure.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could reveal biological changes caused by maternal e-cigarette use that help prevent or treat neurodevelopmental problems in children.
How similar studies have gone: Prior animal and human studies have linked prenatal smoking or nicotine exposure to developmental and behavioral problems, but the detailed genomic and epigenomic mechanisms remain largely unproven.
Where this research is happening
-
Loma Linda University
Loma Linda, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Wang, Charles — Loma Linda University
- Study coordinator: Wang, Charles
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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.