New York University, New York, NY

Early life exposure to inhaled vaping aerosols poses a risk for later life health consequences: Translation from a mouse model

Dr. Zelikoff has over 25 years of experience using animal models for assessing the toxicology of inhaled single contaminants and complex mixtures including metals, nanoparticles, gaseous and particulate (PM) air pollutants and smokeless and combustible products from cigarettes, nicotine, biomass burning, and diesel exhaust. Her early work in inhalation toxicology focused on the effects of inhaled air pollutants on the pulmonary immune response of rabbits and mice, particularly innate immunity in the deep lung. For more than a decade, studies in her laboratory have focused on the effects of early life exposure (prenatal, neonatal and adolescent exposures) to tobacco/nicotine products including e-cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and conventional cigarettes and particulate air pollution on fetal growth and development, neurobiology, and later life offspring health outcomes. Including effects on cognitive behavior and neuro-inflammation, pulmonary and cardiovascular disease, obesity, immune dysfunction and reproductive success in male and female juvenile and adult offspring. Dr Zelikoff’s laboratory was one of the first to identify neurological changes in offspring following early life exposure demonstrating the risks associated with maternal “vaping”.