VCU news

Caroline Cobb, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Psychology, College of Humanities and Sciences

Cobb received a two-year $419,354 grant from the National Cancer Institute to study tobacco use behavior and toxicant exposure among users of cigarettes and e-cigarettes.

The grant's primary objective is to measure tobacco use behavior and exposure to toxicants – such as carbon monoxide and tobacco-related carcinogens – during five-day periods of dual use of cigarettes and e-cigarettes, single product use (cigarettes or e-cigarettes alone) and no tobacco or nicotine uses.

"Results will address whether dual use of cigarettes and e-cigarettes decreases, has little effect on, or increases measures of harm potential relative to single product use and no tobacco/nicotine use," Cobb said.

Cobb will begin recruiting study participants from the Richmond area in the months ahead.

The study, she said, seeks to break new ground in our understanding of real-world usage of e-cigarettes and cigarettes.

"Previous work in this area has often involved either cigarette smokers naive to e-cigarettes or exclusive e-cigarette users," Cobb said. "In the current study we will enroll current dual users to provide a more naturalistic assessment of this behavior pattern."

 

Jean Giddens, Ph.D., professor and dean of the VCU School of Nursing

Giddens was among the third class of nursing deans who recently completed the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Wharton Executive Leadership Program.

Launched in 2012 in collaboration with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, the leadership program is designed for top academic leaders in schools of nursing. The program, which now includes 87 graduates from schools nationwide, is sponsored in part by the Jonas Center for Nursing and Veterans Healthcare.

The curriculum for the AACN-Wharton program is designed to provide the concepts and tools needed to enhance leadership capacity and hone the skills that are essential to thrive and move forward strategically. Using a competitive process, only 30 academic nursing leaders are selected to participate each year. Those selected represent a wide diversity of nursing programs, including large academic health centers, small liberal arts schools, public and private universities, rural and urban-based programs and faith-based institutions.

Giddens, a nationally recognized expert in nursing education, curricula and evaluation, is a Robert Woods Johnson Foundation Nurse Executive Fellow. The author of numerous journal articles, nursing textbooks and electronic media in nursing education, she is widely recognized for creating innovative teaching and learning models in nursing sciences, including The Neighborhood, a Web-based virtual community used to enhance integrative approaches in nursing education.