Dr. Borrelli did not call the company back. Neither did Dr. Carll’s mentor, Aruni Bhatnagar, a medical school professor at the University of Louisville and a co-director of the American Heart Association’s e-cigarette research program; or Dr. Martin Tibuakuu, a resident physician at St. Luke’s Hospital in Baltimore; or Dr. Mohammadhassan Mirbolouk of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, among others.
Juul has managed to recruit a few high-profile scientists, among them Erik Augustson, formerly of the National Cancer Institute. A Juul spokeswoman, Lindsay Andrews, said the company was committed to top-notch scientific research.
Ms. Andrews also says that Juul has agreements to fund work at three American universities, but she would not disclose which institutions were involved. Several people within the company said the institutions were fearful of controversy if their names were revealed.
Juul’s predicament is made worse by the bans that many universities have on accepting funding from the tobacco industry. Juul considers itself an e-cigarette company, but since selling a 35-percent stake to the tobacco giant Altria, maker of Marlboro cigarettes, last year, some universities are not so sure.
Ms. Andrews acknowledged the problem posed by the $12.8 billion investment from Altria.
“Altria’s minority investment has created a potential conflict with some institutions’ no-tobacco policies, and we are actively addressing those issues as they arise,” she said. “We certainly understand the skepticism that comes with a category like ours, particularly in light of how historical tobacco companies have used science and misinformation in the past.”
Inside Juul there is anxiety about the science program. One of Juul’s co-founders, James Monsees, complained last fall to Dr. Robert K. Jackler, a professor at the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute at Stanford, that research scientists were rejecting the company’s offers, both Dr. Jackler and Juul confirmed. (Dr. Jackler said the company had not tried to recruit him.)
Source : Nytimes
