Ponticelli, Domenico
Madotto, Fabiana
Conti, Sara
Antonazzo, Ippazio C.
Vitale, Andrea
Della Ragione, Giovanni
Romano, Maria L.
Borrelli, Mario
Schiavone, Beniamino
Polosa, Riccardo
Ferrara, Pietro http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0349-3221
Mantovani, Lorenzo G.
Funding for this research was provided by:
Università degli Studi di Milano - Bicocca
Article History
Received: 9 July 2021
Accepted: 21 September 2021
First Online: 12 October 2021
Declarations
:
: RP is full tenured professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Catania (Italy) and Medical Director of the Institute for Internal Medicine and Clinical Immunology at the same University. In relation to his recent work in the area of respiratory diseases, clinical immunology, and tobacco control, RP has received has received lecture fees and research funding from Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, CV Therapeutics, NeuroSearch A/S, Sandoz, MSD, Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis, Duska Therapeutics, and Forest Laboratories. Lecture fees from a number of European EC industry and trade associations (including FIVAPE in France and FIESEL in Italy) were directly donated to vaper advocacy no-profit organizations. RP has also received grants from European Commission initiatives (U-BIOPRED and AIRPROM) and from the Integral Rheumatology & Immunology Specialists Network (IRIS) initiative. He has also served as a consultant for Pfizer, Global Health Alliance for treatment of tobacco dependence, CV Therapeutics, Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis, Duska Therapeutics, ECITA (Electronic Cigarette Industry Trade Association, in the UK), Arbi Group Srl., and Health Diplomats. RP has served on the Medical and Scientific Advisory Board of Cordex Pharma, Inc., CV Therapeutics, Duska Therapeutics Inc, Pfizer, and PharmaCielo. RP is also founder of the Center for Tobacco prevention and treatment (CPCT) at the University of Catania and of the Center of Excellence for the acceleration of Harm Reduction (CoEHAR) at the same University, which has received support from Foundation for a Smoke Free World to conduct 8 independent investigator-initiated research projects on harm reduction. RP is also currently involved in the following pro bono activities: scientific advisor for LIAF, Lega Italiana Anti Fumo (Italian acronym for Italian Anti-Smoking League), the Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives (CASAA), and the International Network of Nicotine Consumers Organizations (INNCO); Chair of the European Technical Committee for standardization on “Requirements and test methods for emissions of electronic cigarettes” (CEN/TC 437; WG4). L.G.M. received support from the Italian Ministry of Health Ricerca Corrente—IRCCS MultiMedica during the conduct of the study, and grants and personal fees from Bayer AG, Daiichi Sankyo, Pfizer, and Boehringer Ingelheim outside the submitted work. All other authors declare no conflict of interest.
: This study was conducted according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki, and approved by the Institutional Review Board—Comitato Etico Campania Nord, with referral number CECN/1614/2021.
: All participants provided written informed consent before enrollment into the study, including agreeing for the results to be published.