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Team IMPACT's Ongoing Studies

We have a variety of ongoing studies that explore many aspects of tobacco use, vaping and smoking cessation. Participating in a study will help contribute to a better understanding of smoking habits and improved treatment options in the future. You don't have to want to quit or even be a smoker to participate in some of our studies. Learn more about our studies below and check out our past studies and results.

Alternative Tobacco Products

A hand rejects another hand holding an open pack of cigarettes

ESCAPE

PI: Dr. Tracy Smith

ESCAPE (Evaluating the Success of flavored e-Cigarettes for Achieving Prolonged smoking abstinencE) is co-led by Dr. Smith and Dr. Theodore Wagener at Ohio State University. ESCAPE is a NIDA and FDA-funded nationwide clinical trial which will investigate the impact of e-cigarette flavoring on switching from cigarettes to e-cigarettes among current cigarette smokers.

People who currently smoke cigarettes (N=1500) will be recruited nationally and will receive 12 weeks of e-cigarettes or nicotine replacement therapy. Participants will try to switch completely to their assigned product and will complete regular remote data assessments.

ESCAPE Study Eligibility Screening

Switch or Quit

PI: Dr. Tracy Smith

logo that says switch or quit with the Q forming a no smoking sign

Switch or Quit investigates the potential for e-cigarettes to reduce the harms from tobacco among people who have tried to quit with FDA-approved pharmacotherapy and were unable to do so. People who currently smoke cigarettes (N=225) will be recruited statewide and receive either 9 weeks of e-cigarette product or 9 weeks of FDA approved medication.

People who receive medication will choose between nicotine replacement therapy and varenicline. Participants will set a date on which they plan to stop smoking completely and use their assigned products instead. Participants will complete regular phone calls and daily diaries throughout the study.

Switch or Quit Study Eligibility Screening

DUET

PI: Dr. Matthew Carpenter

DUET (Dual Use Evaluation and Tracking) is a newly NIH/NIDA-funded trial to examine the trends of exclusively combustible cigarette use, exclusively electronic cigarette use, and dual use. Dual use is known as the co-use of both electronic cigarettes and combustible cigarettes together.

Participants in all three cohorts will be asked to complete several diaries and surveys over the course of a year regarding their smoking habits, so researchers can further understand the natural patterns of use across all groups. Recruitment for this study is not yet active but is expected to open in late 2024.

Cigarette Regulation

a no smoking sign sits on a table with coffee cups in the background

MINT

PI: Dr. Tracy Smith

logo that says MINT menthol's impact on nicotine & tobacco use with 2 leaves sprouting out of the top of the I

MINT (Menthol’s Impact on Nicotine and Tobacco use) is a NIDA and FDA-funded R01 to examine the impact of menthol regulation in cigarettes and e-cigarettes among people who currently smoke menthol cigarettes. People who currently smoke menthol cigarettes in Charleston, Florence, and Lancaster, SC will receive either menthol or non-menthol cigarettes and menthol or tobacco flavored e-cigarettes for six weeks.

During the trial, participants will be asked to only use cigarettes and e-cigarettes provided to them by the study, although there is no requirement to use either product. Participants will try to stop using cigarettes during the seventh week.

MINT Study Eligibility Screening

Smoking Cessation

packs and pieces of nicotine gum with three cigarettes

STARS

PI: Dr. Matthew Carpenter

STARS (Smoking Treatment and Remote Sampling) is an NCI-funded R01 that examines the impact of varenicline vs. NRT vs. no medication sampling. Study participants (N=640) are adult smokers across South Carolina who do and do not want to quit. Participants are given a month supply of medication (or not) and are prospectively followed for six months to evaluate outcomes.

STARS Study Eligibility Screening

ADAPT

PIs: Drs. Tracy Smith and Matthew Carpenter

logo that says ADAPT adaptive diretions after pharmacotherapy treatment with arrows pointing in multiple directions

ADAPT (Adaptive Directions after Pharmacotherapy Treatment) is a newly funded trial from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). It will examine different options for treatment. All smokers will be given an FDA-approved medication to help them quit.

Depending on early response to treatment, they will either get more of this same medication, another medication, or a harm-reduction product (e-cigarette). The study will recruit 544 adult smokers across South Carolina and Alabama.

ADAPT Study Eligibility Screening

Past Studies

TIP TOP (Tobacco Intervention in Primary Care Treatment Opportunities for Providers)

Tip Top study logo showing outline of South CarolinaTeam IMPACT’s previous work has shown that nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) when sent to smokers not interested in quitting smoking, increases motivation and confidence to quit, and quit attempts among adults who smoke. Given that many health care providers need simple, pragmatic tools to help their patients quit, NRT sampling might be a brief, concrete strategy to apply within primary care settings.

Done in collaboration with 22 primary care clinics across the state of South Carolina, TIP TOP compared the effects of standard care provided by primary care providers with and without NRT sampling in smokers both motivated and unmotivated to quit smoking. The study found that when primary care visits were paired with a free 2-week starter kit of NRT quit attempts, use of smoking cessation medication, and smoking abstinence all increased compared to primary care visits alone.

To learn more about the results of the TIP TOP study, please explore the published work below:

1. Dahne J, Wahlquist AE, Boatright AS, Garrett-Mayer E, Fleming DO, Davis R, Egan B, Carpenter MJ. Nicotine replacement therapy sampling via primary care: Methods from a pragmatic cluster randomized clinical trial. Contemporary Clinical Trials. 2018;72:1-7. doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2018.07.008; PMCID: 6133738.

2. Carpenter MJ, Wahlquist AE, Dahne J, Gray KM, Garrett-Mayer E, Cummings KM, Davis R, Egan BM. Nicotine replacement therapy sampling for smoking cessation within primary care: Results from a pragmatic cluster randomized clinical trial. Addiction. 2020;115:1358-67. doi: 10.1111/add.14953; PMCID: 7292788.

3. Silvestri NJ, Dahne J, Wahlquist AE, Toll B, Carpenter MJ. Does medication sampling improve compliance with brief advice? Results from a pragmatic randomized clinical trial. Journal of Smoking Cessation. 2021;2021:1-4. doi: 10.1155/2021/6638872; PMCID: 8023690.

4. Chen B, Silvestri GA, Dahne J, Lee K, Carpenter MJ. The cost effectiveness of nicotine replacement therapy sampling in primary care: A markov cohort simulation model. Journal of General Internal Medicine. 2022;37:3684-91. doi: 10.1007/s11606-021-07335-x; PMCID: 9585132.

CONNECT (Clinical Outcomes of a Nationwide, Naturalistic E-Cigarette Trial)

Connect study logo showing map of the U.S. with lines flowing out from CharlestonThe CONNECT study was developed due to the lack of data showing the natural processes by which smokers adopt e-cigarettes and how e-cigarettes change the smoking behavior. Smokers who did or did not want to quit smoking were recruited across the entire country and randomly assigned to either receive a 4-week supply of e-cigarette material, or not. At the time of study publication (2023), it was the largest clinical trial of e-cigarettes ever conducted in the U.S.

Roughly 70% of those in the e-cigarette group used the product given to them, and 44% were still using an e-cigarette at six month follow-up. Participants in e-cigarette group were more likely to report cigarette abstinence after the 4-week trial and at all follow-up assessments through six months. As a naturalistic clinical trial in which participants could use e-cigarettes however they wished, our results demonstrate that many of the cessation-related outcomes seen from other studies also apply to real-world use.

To learn more about the results of the CONNECT study, please explore the published work below, with others upcoming:

1. Fahey MC, Dahne J, Chen B, Smith TT, Wahlquist AE, Carpenter MJ. “And then I found $5”: Optimizing recruitment efficiency in remote clinical trials. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science. 2023;7:e102. doi: 10.1017/cts.2023.533; PMCID: 10225265.

2. Carpenter MJ, Wahlquist AE, Dahne J, Gray KM, Cummings KM, Warren G, Wagener TL, Goniewicz ML, Smith T. Effect of unguided e-cigarette provision on uptake, use, and smoking cessation among adults who smoke in the USA: A naturalistic, randomised, controlled clinical trial. Lancet eClinical Medicine. 2023;63:102142. doi: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2023.102142; PMCID: 10518503.

3. O’Neal RA, Carpenter MJ, Wahlquist AE, Leavens ELS, Smith TT, Fahey MC. The prospective relationship between a-priori intentions for and patterns of e-cigarette use among adults who smoke cigarettes. Addictive Behaviors. 2024;156:108067. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2024.108067.