麻豆传媒

Pushan Jani, MD, associate professor of pulmonary and sleep medicine at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth in Houston, has been keeping up with the rise of tobacco substitutes such as e-cigarettes and is available to comment on this development. E-cigarettes produce an aerosol by heating a liquid that usually contains nicotine—the addictive drug in regular cigarettes, cigars, and other tobacco products—flavorings, and other chemicals that help to make the aerosol, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Users inhale this aerosol into their lungs. Bystanders can also breathe in this aerosol when the user exhales into the air. Jani, who is also affiliated with Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center and UT Physicians, has several issues with the tobacco substitutes. According to published research data, the flavoring agents used in vaping products can cause inflammation and damage to the lungs. While there is no tobacco, users are still getting nicotine. The impact of vaping to bystanders is not known. In practice since 2007, Jani is a full-time interventional pulmonologist and bedside educator. Jani’s clinical expertise is in procedural care, including electromagnetic navigational bronchoscopy, endobronchial ultrasound-guided biopsies (EBUS), transtracheal oxygen catheter insertions, and percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy. Jani can also speak about hazardous conditions after chemical fires and other disasters.

Andy Tan is Associate Professor of Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication. Tan鈥檚 research program is aimed at advancing communication science to achieve health equity for all. His work examines the impact of marketing, media, and public health messages on health behaviors and outcomes among diverse populations including young adults, socioeconomically disadvantaged, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) populations. He conducts community-engaged research involving organizations that serve LGBT communities to design and develop culturally appropriate communication interventions that are informed by persuasion and message effects theories, social determinants of health frameworks, and implementation science. He utilizes mixed-methods research designs, including sequential designs integrating multiple data collection and analytic methods (e.g., social media and news content analysis, qualitative interviews and focus groups, digital photovoice and diaries, online surveys, and randomized experimental designs). The goal of this work is to translate this knowledge into scalable and culturally sensitive communication interventions to alleviate tobacco- and cancer-related health disparities.

He mentors students, trainees, and new investigators including individuals from underrepresented minority backgrounds. Tan鈥檚 research has received funding from FDA, NCI, and private foundations. He received his medical degree from the National University of Singapore, his Master in Public Health and Master in Business Administration from Johns Hopkins University, and his Ph.D. in Communication from the Annenberg School for Communication. Prior to his doctoral work, Tan has over 5 years of medical and health promotion experience including designing, implementing, and evaluating strategic communications programs.