Lipkus Submits NIH R01 Application

Kudos to Isaac Lipkus and his entire team for the submission of their NIH R01 application entitled "Effects of Risk Communication on Preventing Waterpipe Tobacco Uptake Among Susceptible Young Adults." This proposal requests funding for a three- year period with a start date of July 1, 2019. 

In the United States about 25% of young adults are willing to try waterpipe tobacco (i.e., hookah), that is, are susceptible; of these, many become users. This trend is a public health concern because waterpipe tobacco smoking (WTS) is associated with many negative health events and is addictive. Despite these findings, susceptible young adults downplay the health risks and addictiveness of WTS; these views serve to encourage WTS. Currently, we lack interventions targeting susceptible young adults that both effectively overcome these maladaptive beliefs and reduce the initiation of WTS.

This study is significant and innovative. We lack effective strategies to prevent WTS targeting susceptible young adults. If the proposed intervention prevents WTS, it can be used in the future for this purpose. Further, there is a paucity of data identifying constructs that discriminate prospectively which susceptible young adults initiate WTS; this study will address this. Constructs predictive of WTS initiation can be used to refine the proposed or other interventions. Overall this study will provide much needed data on one intervention strategy to curb WTS among susceptible young adults and factors that predict its initiation.