New tools and practices against smoking, “SMOKEFREEBRAIN” Research and Innovation project

The problem of smoking and the consequential health effects are placed at the center of a new innovative research project with the acronym “SMOKEFREEBRAIN” that was launched in November 2015, having as European coordinator the School of Medicine of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The project is funded by the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme of the European Union.

The full project’s title of “SMOKEFREEBRAIN” is “Multidisciplinary tools for improving the efficacy of public prevention measures against smoking” and aims to address the effectiveness of a multi-level variety of interventions aiming at smoking cessation with modern technological and scientific means. Main targets are high risk groups such as unemployed young adults, as well as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma patients and also the general population in Low Middle Income Countries (LMIC).
Specifically, within the project:
- New systems and applications are developed at mobile phones and portable devices which will target through the use of social media and technological social networks at promoting physical exercise and physical activity to stimulate smoking cessation effort.
- Contemporary intervention practices are developed and studied, such as neurofeedback intervention protocol against smoking addiction
- The impact of the electronic cigarette (epigenetic study of the effects of e-cigarette, etc.) is evaluated under a multidimensional approach
- Neuroscience investigation (via electroencephalography) of the impact of advertisements for and against smoking for the arising emotions in smokers and nonsmokers is conducted.
- All these intervention policies are economically evaluated and the main aim is to design a comprehensive plan and health policy for their final integration into the national tackling smoking programs and evaluate in particular their applicability in LMIC.
For the implementation of the project, which is expected to be completed in October 2018, twelve (12) organisations from Greece, Spain, Italy, United Kingdom, Serbia, Bulgaria and Cyprus will cooperate, under the coordination of the School of Medicine of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

Project Coordinator:
Panagiotis D. Bamidis
Assist. Prof., Medical School, Faculty of Health Sciences,
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki,
PO Box 376, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece
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Countries

Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Spain, Italy, Serbia, United Kingdom