Grant for risk-perception study

Officials at Georgia State University (GSU), USA, say an assistant professor has been awarded a grant to study how young adults perceive the risk of smoking flavored cigarillos and cigars, according to an Associated Press Newswires story.

Dr. Kymberle Sterling, a public health professor, has been given a two-year, $275,000 grant from the National Cancer Institute “to study perceived risks associated with the products which aren’t regulated by the Food and Drug Administration.”

Sterling is due to work with researchers at the University of Hawaii-Manoa and the University of Maryland College Park to develop a tool that identifies risk perception and predicts susceptibility to smoke from flavored cigars.

GSU officials say the use of flavored cigarillos is growing among young adults, especially those from minority ethnic groups.