Let's talk e-cigarettes

Jamie Hartmann-Boyce and Nicola Lindson discuss emerging evidence in e-cigarette research and interview Stefanie Gratale, Rutgers School of Public Health, USA. Associate Professor Jamie Hartmann-Boyce and Associate Professor Nicola Lindson discuss the new evidence in e-cigarette research and interview Dr Stefanie Gratale, Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Behavior, Society and Policy at the Rutgers School of Public Health and core member of the Rutgers Institute for Nicotine & Tobacco Studies (USA).

In this episode, Dr Stefanie Gratale talks to Jamie Hartmann-Boyce from the Summer 2026 NIH Tobacco Regulatory Science (TRS) Meeting in Bethesda, Maryland, where she presented findings from her team's research on the evolution of ‘natural’ tobacco marketing and how it shapes young people's perceptions of tobacco and nicotine products. Drawing on focus groups with adolescents and young adults, Stefanie discusses comparative risk perceptions and interest in products marketed as ‘cleaner’, including combustible tobacco, e-cigarettes, and nicotine pouches. Her talk at the meeting was entitled: ‘It’s not as good for you vs. stuff that’s coming out the ground’. In the interview Stefanie highlights how tobacco companies use terms such as ‘tobacco’ and ‘water’ to imply that their products are more natural. The focus group findings revealed a concerning misperception: many young people viewed cigarettes as healthier and less harmful than e-cigarettes because tobacco is a plant, whereas e-cigarettes were perceived to contain artificial ingredients. Marketing and broader communication may be contributing to these inaccurate beliefs about the relative harms of tobacco and nicotine products. Stefanie stressed the importance of accurate messaging and communication and plans to look at corrective messaging in future research work.

This podcast is a companion to the electronic cigarettes Cochrane living systematic review and Interventions for quitting vaping review and shares the evidence from the monthly searches.

Our searches for the EC for smoking cessation review carried out on 1st July 2026 found: 1 new ongoing studies (NCT05206435) and 2 linked reports (10.1016/j.conctc.2026.101652; 10.1016/j.addbeh.2026.108772).

Our search for our interventions for quitting vaping review carried out on 1st July 2026 found: 1 new study (NCT05423340) and 2 new ongoing studies (NCT07038317; NCT07624292).

For further details see our webpage under 'Monthly search findings': https://www.cebm.ox.ac.uk/research/electronic-cigarettes-for-smoking-cessation-cochrane-living-systematic-review-1

For more information on the full Cochrane review of E-cigarettes for smoking cessation updated in November 2025 see: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD010216.pub10/full

For more information on the full Cochrane review of Interventions for quitting vaping published in November 2025 see: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD016058.pub3/full

Jamie Hartmann-Boyce and Nicola Lindson discuss emerging evidence in e-cigarette research and interview Jessica Yingst, Penn State Center for Research on Tobacco and Health, USA. Associate Professor Jamie Hartmann-Boyce and Associate Professor Nicola Lindson discuss the new evidence in e-cigarette research and interview Dr Jessica Yingst. Dr Jessica Yingst is a member of the Penn State Center for Research on Tobacco and Health and is the co-director of the Career Enhancement Core with the Penn State Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science otherwise known as a TCORS. Jessica Yingst is a public health researcher focused on understanding methods to reduce harms associated with tobacco use.

In the June podcast Jessica Yingst shares the findings of their randomised clinical trial comparing standardized research e-cigarette (SREC) with 5% nicotine or 0%. Their study explored toxicant exposures after switching from cigarettes to a pod-based electronic cigarette. They wanted to determine the short-term effects of switching from cigarettes to a pod-based 5% nicotine e-cigarette, compared with a 0% nicotine e-cigarette. Their study found that participants who switched from cigarettes to a 5% nicotine SREC experienced reduced exposure to several tobacco-related toxicants and higher rates of cigarette abstinence than those who switched to a 0% nicotine SREC. Their findings suggest that e-cigarettes delivering nicotine at levels comparable to conventional cigarettes may play an important role in reducing exposure to harmful smoking-related toxicants while supporting complete smoking cessation.

This podcast is a companion to the electronic cigarettes Cochrane living systematic review and Interventions for quitting vaping review and shares the evidence from the monthly searches.

Our searches for the EC for smoking cessation review carried out on 1st June 2026 found: 3 new ongoing studies (NCT07039292, NCT07598136, NCT07199517) and 3 linked reports (10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.13292 (discussed in this podcast), 10.18332/tid/218987, 10.1111/add.70421).

Our search for our interventions for quitting vaping review carried out on 1st June 2026 found: 5 new ongoing studies (ACTRN12626000548336, NCT05037656, NCT07593742, 10.1186/s12889-026-27567-y, 10.1038/s41598-026-45720-w).

For further details see our webpage under 'Monthly search findings':

https://www.cebm.ox.ac.uk/research/electronic-cigarettes-for-smoking-cessation-cochrane-living-systematic-review-1

For more information on the full Cochrane review of E-cigarettes for smoking cessation updated in November 2025 see: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD010216.pub10/full

For more information on the full Cochrane review of Interventions for quitting vaping published in November 2025 see: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD016058.pub3/full

Jamie Hartmann-Boyce and Nicola Lindson discuss emerging evidence in e-cigarette research and interview Jonathan Livingstone-Banks, University of Oxford, UK. Associate Professor Jamie Hartmann-Boyce and Associate Professor Nicola Lindson discuss the new evidence in e-cigarette research and interview Dr Jonathan Livingstone-Banks lecturer & senior researcher in evidence-based healthcare in the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford. Dr Livingstone-Banks is part of the Tobacco Addiction Group within the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine. He carries out research in the field of tobacco control and evidence synthesis and is involved in many Cochrane Reviews on tobacco control topics. Dr Livingstone-Banks is also a philosopher interested in the philosophy of evidence-based healthcare.

In the May podcast Jonathan Livingstone-Banks discusses the findings of his overview of systematic reviews on the impacts of e-cigarette flavours. This is set against the backdrop of the first market authorisation of non-menthol, non-tobacco flavoured e-cigarettes in the US. The overview of reviews includes 32 reviews, 11 of which are higher quality and 21 of lower quality, and covers 1967 primary studies. Jonathan Livingstone-Banks outlines how e-cigarette flavours have the potential to impact a range of outcomes including e-cigarette and combustible cigarette use, safety profile, appeal, and perceptions of harm and how these may differ across different population groups. Overall, he considers that the data on flavours is limited and the impacts of e-cigarette flavours on e-cigarette and cigarette use are inconclusive. Further studies are needed to shed more light on this topic.

Reference for the overview of systematic reviews discussed in this podcast: Livingstone-Banks J, Travis N, Conde M, Chen Y(C), Zi P, Jarman H, et al. The impacts of e-cigarette flavours: An overview of systematic reviews. Addiction. 2025;120(7):1327-1344. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70017

This podcast is a companion to the electronic cigarettes Cochrane living systematic review and Interventions for quitting vaping review and shares the evidence from the monthly searches.

Our searches for the EC for smoking cessation review carried out on 1st May 2026 found: 1 linked report (10.1186/s13063-026-09622-6).

Our search for our interventions for quitting vaping review carried out on 1st May 2026 found: 1 new study (10.1016/j.acap.2026.103328) and 1 ongoing study (ACTRN12626000336381).

For further details see our webpage under 'Monthly search findings':

https://www.cebm.ox.ac.uk/research/electronic-cigarettes-for-smoking-cessation-cochrane-living-systematic-review-1

For more information on the full Cochrane review of E-cigarettes for smoking cessation updated in November 2025 see: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD010216.pub10/full

For more information on the full Cochrane review of Interventions for quitting vaping published in November 2025 see: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD016058.pub3/full

Jamie Hartmann-Boyce and Nicola Lindson discuss emerging evidence in e-cigarette research and interview Dr Xinxin Yang, University of Oxford, UK. Associate Professor Jamie Hartmann-Boyce and Associate Professor Nicola Lindson discuss the new evidence in e-cigarette research and interview Dr Xinxin Yang. Dr Xinxin Yang is a qualitative researcher in the Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford. She is part of the Tobacco Addiction Group within the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine. Dr Xinxin Yang is a Conversation Analyst on the TRIDENT (Tobacco RIsk reDuction with E-cigarette Nicotine Replacement Therapy) project, which aims to develop and deliver tailored smoking harm reduction interventions for people with serious mental illness in routine mental healthcare. In the April 2026 podcast Xinxin talks to Nicola Lindson about conversation analysis work on the MaSC study (Management of Smoking in Primary Care). In the MaSC study usual care was compared to brief advice and an offer to try an e-cigarette. The numbers of participants who reduced and quit smoking were measured at follow-up. She describes how the findings from MaSC will be used to design a communication guide that will be used to train the clinical professionals to deliver the offer of an e-cigarette for the TRIDENT trial. In TRIDENT consultations between the clinicians delivering the offer of e-cigarettes to patients will then be recorded and analysed with conversation analysis. Xinxin explains how this will provide some of the first real-world evidence on how to deliver smoking reduction intervention effectively for people with serious mental illness. This could prove to be valuable for clinicians and also for the service users. The findings may feed into a larger scale trial to be conducted across the UK.

This podcast is a companion to the electronic cigarettes Cochrane living systematic review and Interventions for quitting vaping review and shares the evidence from the monthly searches.

Our searches for the EC for smoking cessation review carried out on 1st April 2026 found: 3 linked reports (10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-25-0244, 10.1016/j.addbeh.2026.108672, 10.64898/2026.03.18.26348637).

Our search for our interventions for quitting vaping review carried out on 1st April 2026 found: 1 linked report (10.2196/79667).

For further details see our webpage under 'Monthly search findings':

https://www.cebm.ox.ac.uk/research/electronic-cigarettes-for-smoking-cessation-cochrane-living-systematic-review-1

For more information on the full Cochrane review of E-cigarettes for smoking cessation updated in November 2025 see: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD010216.pub10/full

For more information on the full Cochrane review of Interventions for quitting vaping published in November 2025 see: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD016058.pub3/full

Jamie Hartmann-Boyce and Nicola Lindson discuss emerging evidence in e-cigarette research and interview Dr Pamela Ling, University of California San Francisco. Associate Professor Jamie Hartmann-Boyce and Associate Professor Nicola Lindson discuss the new evidence in e-cigarette research and interview Dr Pamela Ling, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California San Francisco.

In the March 2026 podcast Pamela Ling talks to Nicola Lindson about her newly published study that recruited approximately 500 13 to 21 year olds to test whether Instagram support groups can help people to quit vaping compared to referral to a quitline. This randomized clinical study was funded by the UCSF Helen Diller Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Tobacco-Related Diseases Research Program and is published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The intervention, Instagram direct message support groups, was delivered over 5 weeks and involved motivational interviewing, social support, skill building, and group quit attempts. The control group was referral to Quitline in California, the resources for this included telephone, online, texting or mobile app. Pam Ling’s study found that social media support groups were acceptable to adolescents and young adults and improved abstinence rates on average over 6 months compared to quitline referral. Pam Ling discusses the finding that social media platforms may be a useful way to deliver social supports for nicotine vaping cessation that is accessible and utilised by young people.

This podcast is a companion to the electronic cigarettes Cochrane living systematic review and Interventions for quitting vaping review and shares the evidence from the monthly searches.

Our searches for the EC for smoking cessation review carried out on 1st March 2026 found: 1 new (Papadosifaki et al, Archives Hellenic Medicine 2026;43(2):205-211) and 3 linked reports (10.1093/ntr/ntag038; 10.1093/sleep/zsag028; 10.1017/S1463423626100942).

Our search for our interventions for quitting vaping review carried out on 1st March 2026 found: 1 new (discussed in this podcast 10.1016/j.amepre.2026.108314), 5 linked reports (10.1016/j.acap.2025.103181, 10.1038/s41386-024-02012-z, 10.1186/s40814-026-01782-1, 10.1016/S2468-2667(26)00021-6, 10.1016/S2468-2667(26)00020-4) and 2 new ongoing (ACTRN12626000031369 2026, NCT07392125 2026).

For further details see our webpage under 'Monthly search findings':

https://www.cebm.ox.ac.uk/research/electronic-cigarettes-for-smoking-cessation-cochrane-living-systematic-review-1

For more information on the full Cochrane review of E-cigarettes for smoking cessation updated in November 2025 see: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD010216.pub10/full

For more information on the full Cochrane review of Interventions for quitting vaping published in November 2025 see: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD016058.pub3/full

This podcast is supported by Cancer Research UK.