Amazing Student Research!
Miranda Farrar and Nancy Morales presented their research Examining the Relationship of E-Cigarette Vapor Exposure & Exercise Performance in Aerobically Trained Rats at the 2025 Texas Chapter of the ACSM conference and their poster presentation was selected as a finalist in the undergraduate research category!
Stokes Lab research students Miranda Farrar and Nancy Morales presented their Kinesiology Capstone project Examining the Relationship of E-Cigarette Vapor Exposure & Exercise Performance in Aerobically Trained Rats at the end of the fall 2024 semester.
The Stokes Lab and the Guarraci Lab (Psychology) published their findings on the effects of prepubescent e-cigarette exposure on puberty and sexual motivation in Nicotine & Tobacco Research.
Alicia Peters and Mila Fisher published their findings on the effects of 14-day e-cigarette exposure in The Journal of Student Research.
Mila Fisher published their findings on the effects of a single 10-minute e-cigarette vapor exposure in Cureus.
Logan Zermeno completed his capstone project, building and testing a new hindlimb strength training apparatus for rats!
Both Alicia Peters and Mila Fisher presented posters on their research projects at the Texas Chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine Conference held in Waco, TX. Alicia's poster focused on her capstone project on adolescent exposure and she won a poster finalist award for her presentation! Mila's poster shared updates to our acute exposure work.
Dr. Stokes presented the acute exposure data at a national conference in April - The American Physiological Society's Annual Summit held in Long Beach, CA.
Alicia Peters presented her capstone project and graduated with a BS in Kinesiology from SU in May. She is now a DPT student at Texas Tech. (And we miss her!)
Dr. Stokes and Mila Fisher collaborated with the lab of Dr. Fay Guarraci on a manuscript on the effects of vaping on sexual maturity and sexual function in male and female rats highlighting the labs collaborative studies from 2022 and 2023.
More Student Research Highlights!
Stokes Lab research students Alicia Peters and Mila Fisher investigated the effects of e-cigarette vapor exposure on lung function and lung tissue health. Studies include both adult and adolescent rats and acute (1-day) and chronic (2-week) vape exposure.
Check out Mila's poster on the effects of ONE vape session!
Mila Fisher is also assessing the role of hormones in ventilation in female rats. This is a collaborative study with students in Dr. Fay Guarraci's lab.
Also in collaboration with Dr. Fay Guarraci's lab, SU students are testing the effects of vaping on sexual maturity and sexual function in male and female rats.
Rat ventilation recording using whole body plethysmography.
“I am very excited to participate in the research we are doing this summer! In our first study, we are researching the effect of female rats’ estrous cycles on their breathing patterns. This study is very exciting because we can include female rats in our vape studies and collect accurate data on their breathing patterns after vaping. We are also continuing our vaping study on adult rats, which can help explore the effects of vaping after physical maturity. I believe that this research is very important, and can help to expand the knowledge available on the effects of vaping.”
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-Mila Fisher
Is short-term e-cigarette use harmless?
Stokes Lab research student Alicia Peters is investigating the effects of e-cigarette vapor exposure on lung function and lung tissue health.
In this acute (short-term) exposure study rat ventilation (breathing) patterns are recorded and analyzed both before and after 7-days of e-cigarette vapor exposure (10 minutes per day). At the end of the study lung tissue will be tested for signs of inflammation and damage.
Check out Alicia's poster from the SU Summer Research Open House!
“One of the things I have loved about this research is learning how to work with animals in a study. The unpredictability of animals can make studies like ours challenging, but the skills you come out with is something you won’t get anywhere else. I’m also proud of the work we’re doing, as vaping is still so new to our generation, and the major health impacts are still uncertain. While current research indicates that vaping may harm a person’s immune response within the lungs, we hope to learn more about how this happens through our research.”
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-Alicia Peters
