海角社区

Dr. Alexandra No毛l is on a mission to conduct fundamental research to help improve public health in Louisiana and beyond, uncovering how vaping during pregnancy affects the respiratory health of both mothers and their offspring. Her groundbreaking research is paving the way for better understanding, prevention and treatment of potential lung diseases following gestational exposures to vaping products.

In March 2025, she was awarded a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study how prenatal exposures to electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) aerosols containing metals can impact the neonatal pulmonary immune system to make the lungs vulnerable to allergic asthma.  

According to the National Institutes of Health, vaping involves a battery powered device called an e-cigarette that heats a liquid into a vapor that can be inhaled. The vapor may contain nicotine (the addictive drug in tobacco), flavoring, and other chemicals. E-cigarettes can also be used with marijuana, hash oil, or other substances. NIH warns that vaping may pose serious and avoidable health risks. Exposure to nicotine during youth can lead to addiction and cause long-term harm to brain development. The vapor can also contain toxins (including ones that cause cancer) and tiny particles that are harmful when breathed in.

鈥淲hen people vape, they are inhaling an aerosol (vapor) containing nicotine, chemicals and metals, including copper. We think it plays a role in immune responses and the development of asthma and are looking at how vaping impacts the respiratory health of offspring when exposed during gestation,鈥� said Dr. No毛l, associate professor of comparative biomedical sciences at 海角社区 School of Veterinary Medicine and director of its Inhalation Research Facility. 

Milestone research

Dr. No毛l鈥檚 research is a pivotal first step for early management of asthma development for prenatally ENDS-exposed infants. The renewable NIH grant provides $450,000 per year for five years. It is Dr. No毛l鈥檚 first NIH RO1 grant, a major milestone for any biomedical researcher, especially a young or early-career investigator.

鈥淭his research project is a long time in the making. I鈥檝e studied the effects of vaping for many years. Now, I am focusing on the mechanisms by which the damage occurs,鈥� said Dr. No毛l, who has chosen to conduct her work at 海角社区 Vet Med, a research powerhouse ranked #6 in National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding per faculty member and #9 in total NIH research funding overall among vet schools in the U.S. Dr. No毛l鈥檚 lab has been continuously funded by the NIH since 2018. She has led several extramurally funded research projects totaling more than $4 million dollars.  

 The number of pregnant women using ENDS during pregnancy in the U.S. is on the rise, up to a half million annually, despite growing evidence of adverse effects in newborns. This research is a pivotal first step for early management of asthma development in infants prenatally exposed.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention鈥檚 Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, approximately 7% of pregnant women in the United States use electronic-cigarette (e-cig) devices during pregnancy. There is, however, no scientific evidence to support e-cig use as being 'safe' during pregnancy. Little is known about the effects of fetal exposures to e-cig aerosols on lungs. 

Health risks

Fetal development is a sensitive time, a window of vulnerability to toxic exposures, which can lead to lifelong respiratory health consequences. Epidemiological studies suggest that maternal vaping, estimated at 7% of pregnant women in the U.S., is associated with infants born small-for-gestational-age, a clinical indicator for increased risk of complications in lung diseases. 

The long-term respiratory health effects in these offspring, however, are unclear. Dr. No毛l鈥檚 research aims to change that by pinpointing the ways in which prenatal exposure to electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) aerosol modulates the neonatal pulmonary immune system to prime the lungs for allergic asthma. Although the metals used in ENDS coils and atomizers vary across types of devices, copper is in the top two most frequently detected metals in ENDS aerosols, and in a woman, transplacental transfer of copper from secondhand ENDS exposures was documented. Copper has allergic sensitizing properties and its accumulation in tissue decreases DNA methylation, which can affect how that molecule functions in the body, potentially turning genes on or off, influencing hormone production, or affecting cellular signaling. 

Overall, this research will help determine blood-based biomarkers of prenatal ENDS exposures, a pivotal first step for early management of lung diseases for the half million prenatally ENDS-exposed infants born each year in the U.S.

Significance of fundamental research

NIH fundamental research has led to 153 Nobel Prizes and 198 Lasker Prizes (often dubbed 鈥淎merica's Nobel,鈥� it honors groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of human disease).

鈥淭his work is based on the research I鈥檝e conducted here since 2017. My published data reinforced my focus on Interleukin-10 (IL-10),鈥� she said. IL-10 is a cytokine with a crucial role in regulating the immune system, particularly in modulating inflammation. 

海角社区-OLOL research

Dr. No毛l also is part of a research program between 海角社区 and Our Lady of the Lake Health on a related topic. The Collaboration in Action Program (CAP) awarded $1.2 million to five winning teams in an inaugural round of research funding, which includes Dr. No毛l's respiratory health research. She leads an interdisciplinary team that uses experimental models to study the social and behavioral factors associated with maternal vaping, as well as vaping鈥檚 impacts on birth outcomes and the development of asthma in offspring. 

鈥淚n Louisiana, the use of vaping products or electronic cigarettes has a high prevalence among women of reproductive age,鈥� No毛l said. 鈥淲e already know maternal smoking negatively impacts neonatal respiratory health, but we don鈥檛 know if this also holds true for maternal vaping. I鈥檓 looking at the adverse effects of vaping during pregnancy.鈥�

One of her team鈥檚 hypotheses is that intended pregnancies, women who plan to get pregnant, lead to a higher rate of vaping cessation and more favorable birth outcomes.

鈥淯nderstanding the effects of maternal vaping is of critical relevance for the health of Louisiana citizens, as behaviors like vaping during pregnancy ultimately impact neonatal respiratory health, including chronic lung diseases like asthma,鈥� No毛l said.

No毛l鈥檚 interdisciplinary team includes Dr. Heather Rackin, associate professor of sociology at 海角社区 and social demographer whose research focuses on fertility intentions, socioeconomic inequality in family context, and population health and well-being. Their study is providing a framework to identify high-risk populations of pregnant women and their children in Louisiana and develop targeted preventive and interventional strategies.  

Because e-cigarettes, or vaping, first appeared on the market in 2007, much remains unknown about its impact, including the chemicals that make up the vapor inhaled and how they affect respiratory health over the long term. 

海角社区 and Our Lady of the Lake Health, 海角社区鈥檚 CAP, work together to fight heart disease, cancer, accidents and chronic respiratory diseases, all leading causes of death in Louisiana that impact its citizens disproportionately.

鈥淭his first investment demonstrates how top-notch university research combined with strong and strategic hospital partnerships bring better health to the people of Louisiana and beyond,鈥� said Robert Twilley, vice president of research and economic development at 海角社区. 鈥淥ur shared commitment to building and supporting winning research teams will translate to many new discoveries and solutions in years to come.鈥�

Dr. No毛l has been a member of the 海角社区 Vet Med faculty since March 2017. She earned her Ph.D. from the Universit茅 de Montr茅al, Facult茅 de M茅decine in 2013. Her research focuses on the production and characterization of aerosols, including e-cigarette aerosols, second-hand smoke, engineered nanoparticles, ultrafine or fine particles, as well as inhalation and developmental toxicology. She delves into the fundamental mechanisms at the epigenetic, molecular, and cellular levels that underlie the developmental origins of health and disease in relation to respiratory effects caused by distinct emerging inhaled environmental pollutants.

Life鈥檚 work

Dr. No毛l remembers her parents asking, 鈥淲hy study cigarette smoking? We know it鈥檚 bad for you.鈥� She nevertheless pursued her interest in lung disease and came from Montreal to 海角社区 Vet Med as a post-doctoral researcher studying nanotechnology and nanoparticles in pulmonary health more than a decade ago.

As Dr. No毛l honed her expertise in cigarette tobacco exposure, vaping was gathering momentum. Suddenly, she was able to apply her scientific knowledge to addressing and treating a new and pressing problem.

鈥淚t鈥檚 timely work. I didn鈥檛 expect to contribute on this magnitude. It鈥檚 a case of being at the right place at the right time,鈥� she said.

She credits working with mentor Arthur Penn, Ph.D., retired professor of toxicology in the Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences and former director of the Inhalation Research Facility at 海角社区 Vet Med, and the school鈥檚 facilities as positive factors supporting her research efforts. Dr. No毛l succeeded Dr. Penn as director of the Inhalation Research Facility. 

鈥淧eople initially thought vaping was safer than cigarette smoking. I decided to test it. Claims are made that vaping is a reduced risk compared to cigarettes, but when compared with breathing air鈥攏o, it鈥檚 not safe. We could see in the lab that it wasn鈥檛. Inhaling vapor is harmful,鈥� she said.

鈥淵ou can鈥檛 really predict the subject of a lifelong work. There are always emerging areas,鈥� said Dr. No毛l.

As for vaping, she said the general public believes it isn鈥檛 as bad as it is.

鈥淎 claim cannot be made that it鈥檚 harmless. Research will provide the proof,鈥� said No毛l, whose continued research uncovers answers for the betterment of public health.

Dr. No毛l鈥檚 Faculty Page