-- New health, science, and technology grants will allow 100+ researchers to 
explore smoking cessation and harm-reduction innovation

More than 30 years after World No Tobacco Day was launched to raise awareness 
of the devastating health effects of tobacco use, there are still more than a 
billion smokers in the world. Researchers are mobilizing globally to improve 
cessation and harm-reduction tools to help raise quitting success rates that 
are, at most, between 12% and 23% ( 
https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=2479824-1&h=3086483195&u=https%3A%2F%2Furldefense.proofpoint.com%2Fv2%2Furl%3Fu%3Dhttps-3A__nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com_-3Furl-3Dhttps-253A-252F-252Fwww.smokefreeworld.org-252Fsites-252Fdefault-252Ffiles-252Fey-2Dp-5Fsmoking-5Fcessation-5Flandscape-5Fanalysis-5Fkey-5Ffindings.pdf-26data-3D02-257C01-257CHughesK-2540ruderfinn.com-257C3ac6660890c24142677508d6d8923221-257C782c7f7b9da44a708f71e4350d47d565-257C0-257C0-257C636934519771604628-26sdata-3DAUwg-252F1RqoikviMnAIl0XzKSNP6J9-252BXGRLJEj-252FmkcDUc-253D-26reserved-3D0%26d%3DDwMGaQ%26c%3DeuGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM%26r%3DHbjiGQtfkAK4vyFMbz6mcxajBJQXGWel25IJpfJkcd38wGGOYfMC4ye2WbVshIs2%26m%3D_nTz7tQmh2rG2GuYHply-DDlnBtAID5c94R1LoWa_5c%26s%3DSyouwTw2r5EtRB_4-RN3NWWRLUw7WeqH_tNycI396-Q%26e%3D&a=between+12%25+and+23%25 
).

The World Health Organization (WHO) and their global partners mark every May 31 
as World No Tobacco Day. Smokers are urged to abstain from smoking for 24 
hours. The focus of this year's observance is lung health, because tobacco 
smoking remains the leading cause of deadly lung and respiratory diseases. 
According to a Global Burden of Disease study by the Institute for Health 
Metrics and Evaluation ( 
https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=2479824-1&h=2244099848&u=https%3A%2F%2Fvizhub.healthdata.org%2Fgbd-compare%2F&a=Global+Burden+of+Disease+study+by+the+Institute+for+Health+Metrics+and+Evaluation%2C 
), of the more than 8 million deaths attributed to tobacco use in 2017, 2.88 
million of those deaths were from chronic respiratory diseases; tracheal, 
bronchus, and lung cancer; and tuberculosis.

"As millions of people continue to die from tobacco-related diseases, it's 
clear that an annual World No Tobacco observance day is not enough," said Dr. 
Derek Yach, President of the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World. "We need to 
expand the body of scientific knowledge and technology around smoking cessation 
and harm reduction to drive toward new solutions that will help eliminate all 
tobacco product use and save lives."

The Foundation provides grants that will allow more than 100 researchers to 
advance knowledge expansion in multiple smoking cessation and harm-reduction 
areas, including biomarker discovery, outcomes of quitting/switching on the 
microbiome, and innovative clinical trial designs of cessation therapies. With 
this support, several leading health research organizations and universities 
will collaborate on tobacco control work with an emphasis on solutions 
applicable to low- and middle-income countries, where most of the world's 
smokers live.

Current research projects have the following objectives:

    - Detecting and quantifying smoking and vaping (Behavioral Diagnostics, The 
      University of Iowa and Des Moines University) 
    - Investigating cessation methods and harm reduction (Rose Research Center) 
    - Identifying biomarkers to distinguish use of nicotine products (ABF-Lab) 
    - Using next-generation sequencing to identify early biomarkers of 
      potential harm in smokers (Avestagenome)

The research projects are aligned with the Foundation's strategic plan ( 
https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=2479824-1&h=2362296918&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.smokefreeworld.org%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fuploads%2Fdocuments%2Fcontext_for_fsfw_strategic_plan_01519.pdf&a=strategic+plan 
) for its health, science, and technology initiatives, which complement ongoing 
tobacco control efforts by the WHO. The Foundation's grants are reviewed by an 
independent board and are solicited directly or via requests for proposals 
(RFPs). All research will be published regardless of results. To learn more 
about the Foundation's grants and initiatives, please take a look at the 2018 
Annual Report ( 
https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=2479824-1&h=304608417&u=https%3A%2F%2Fannualreport.smokefreeworld.org%2F&a=2018+Annual+Report 
).

About the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, Inc.
The Foundation for a Smoke-Free World is an independent, US nonprofit 501(c)(3) 
( 
https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=2479824-1&h=2719022757&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.smokefreeworld.org%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fuploads%2Firs_determination_letter_for_foundation_for_a_smoke-free_world_inc_1.pdf&a=501(c)(3) 
) organization with the purpose of improving global health by ending smoking in 
this generation. The Foundation supports its mission through three core 
pillars: Health, Science, and Technology; the Agricultural Transformation 
Initiative; and Industry Transformation. The Foundation's Health, Science, and 
Technology work complements ongoing tobacco control efforts and focuses on 
countries where most smokers live, with a smoker-oriented agenda to accelerate 
quitting and switching to reduced-harm products. The Agricultural 
Transformation Initiative aims to diversify tobacco-dependent economies; and 
the Foundation's Industry Transformation efforts focus on attaining change 
within the entire global tobacco industry and nicotine ecosystem.

The Foundation has received contributions from Philip Morris International 
(PMI) in 2018 and 2019 each in the amount of US$80 million. PMI has pledged to 
contribute $80 million annually for the next ten years. Under the Foundation's 
Bylaws ( 
https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=2479824-1&h=862694084&u=https%3A%2F%2Furldefense.proofpoint.com%2Fv2%2Furl%3Fu%3Dhttps-3A__www.smokefreeworld.org_sites_default_files_uploads_bylaws-5Fof-5Ffoundation-5Ffor-5Fa-5Fsmoke-2Dfree-5Fworld-5Finc.pdf%26d%3DDwMGaQ%26c%3DtlFs99Fl3Rlo51LXUBQcug%26r%3DYCJONUeqp_teRB1sx31Has08IAJoopl4-jQ4Yv54nDM%26m%3Dlj3_iJnkS3ZZuQu80omNo-OrGeVG29OUuqvtilh-31Q%26s%3Dccfyl3ManHcCD_-jM3YZEdZ6FRO-tf4WRunedL2F6LI%26e%3D&a=Bylaws 
) and Pledge Agreement ( 
https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=2479824-1&h=222700146&u=https%3A%2F%2Furldefense.proofpoint.com%2Fv2%2Furl%3Fu%3Dhttps-3A__www.smokefreeworld.org_sites_default_files_uploads_pledge-5Fagreement-5Fexecutive-5Fsummary-5F.pdf%26d%3DDwMGaQ%26c%3DtlFs99Fl3Rlo51LXUBQcug%26r%3DYCJONUeqp_teRB1sx31Has08IAJoopl4-jQ4Yv54nDM%26m%3Dlj3_iJnkS3ZZuQu80omNo-OrGeVG29OUuqvtilh-31Q%26s%3DZ1rTTvmbfZr0Ag5SYgnDbjrR83I6QDSJIRNOcKKM0U4%26e%3D&a=Pledge+Agreement 
), PMI and the tobacco industry, generally, are precluded from having any 
control or influence over how the Foundation spends its funds or focuses its 
activities. The Foundation's acceptance of the contributions does not 
constitute an endorsement by the Foundation of any of the pledger's products.

For more information about the Foundation, please visit www.smokefreeworld.org. 

Contact:

For Media: 
Nicole Bradley 
Vice President of Communications
Nicole.Bradley@smokefreeworld.org

SOURCE: Foundation for a Smoke-Free World