Prof. Massimo Caruso and Prof. Rosalia Emma, from the REPLICA team, presented the latest updates on the research project at the 2025 CORESTA PSPT Conference held in Annecy, France, from October 19 to 23.
The 2025 edition of the CORESTA Product Science and Product Technology (PSPT) Conference brought together researchers, experts and representatives from associations and institutes around the world, continuing its long tradition of promoting international scientific collaboration.
Prof. Massimo Caruso, co-project leader of the REPLICA project, and Prof. Rosalia Emma, both researchers at CoEHAR, presented the latest developments from the project coordinated by the laboratories in Catania.
As we recall, the REPLICA project involved seven laboratories working tirelessly over five years to standardize techniques for exposing cells to cigarette smoke and ENDS aerosols, thereby strengthening the credibility and reproducibility of scientific data in tobacco harm reduction studies.
Prof. Caruso discussed the harmonization of smoke and aerosol generation for human cell exposure, an effort that required close collaboration among all seven participating laboratories. Drawing on this experience, he opened his presentation by stating: “This project was born to build bridges between labs, between methods, and ultimately between science and policy”.
He concluded by expressing his hope that “this could be the first step toward building another bridge between academia and industry, so that THR science can be robust, trusted, and ultimately impactful.”
Prof. Emma presented new data from the REPLICA team’s latest research on the effects of cigarette smoke and e-cigarette aerosol on cancer chemotherapy in a head and neck cancer model.
Her presentation emphasized the importance of using standardized and repeatable methods in such studies to prevent the generation of weak or inconsistent data that could undermine the credibility of sound scientific work.
CORESTA (Centre de Coopération pour les Recherches Scientifiques Relatives au Tabac / Cooperation Centre for Scientific Research Relative to Tobacco) is an association founded in 1956 under French law, with the mission of promoting and facilitating international