The National Institutes of Health recently gave a grant of $3.6 million to Moffitt Cancer Center to study the use of electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, for the next five years.

Electronic cigarettes are quite different from the traditionally available cigarettes. E-cigarettes vaporize a liquid that usually contains nicotine, and the user inhales the vapor like they would inhale normal cigarette smoke.

The use of e-cigarettes has grown dramatically since it was first introduced a decade ago. So far very less is known about the safety of these new products as they are thought to be much less dangerous than conventional cigarettes.

As per most of e-cigarette users, they began using the product in an attempt to quit or cut down on smoking. However, there has been little research to date on the effectiveness of e-cigarettes for quitting smoking.

The major goal of the new Moffitt grant is to learn how e-cigarettes are used over time, and whether users are eventually successful at quitting smoking.

It has been said that during the first years of the study, Moffitt researchers will be interviewing e-cigarette users to learn about their experiences and their perceptions of the pros and cons of e-cigarettes.

The researchers will also interview current and former smokers who are also current or former e-cigarettes users.

According to the lead investigator on the project, Thomas Brandon, "Public health researchers are really playing catch-up with the explosion of e-cigarettes onto the marketplace".

Furthermore, during the final four years of the study, Moffitt researchers will enroll 2,500 e-cigarette users throughout the United States, and follow them for 24 months by sending them surveys every three months.