Anand Muthusamy

Continuous Nicotine Monitors for Personal Nicotine Pharmacokinetics: A Receptor-Aware Research Agenda Abstract. A minimally invasive “continuous nicotine monitor” (CNM) would resolve the dynamic nicotine concentration, [nicotine]t, faced by high-sensitivity

The full paper will be open access shortly, but please DM for a copy. academic.oup.com/ntr/advance-...

Awesome work by all our co-authors over the years - special shoutout to the lead, Aaron Nichols, Neal Benowitz who studies PK in humans and gave a clinical grounding, and Henry Lester who had led the way in thinking about nicotine receptors and drug PK

Measuring drug PK in large populations, especially in daily life, is challenging with existing lab methods. We outline the requirements for a new device to measure nicotine in situ, and we simulate the measurement feasibility in this paper.

What routines or environmental cues during the bolus or prolonged phase drive addiction? What regimens would help people taper off?
Likewise, all these questions can be applied to smoking cessation drugs in development: do they hit the right PK for the intended behavior change?

Several research directions would benefit from more real-world human data:
Do “low nicotine” or oral pouch products blunt the bolus that drives addiction?
What genotype or lifestyle factors explain the variance in PK across a population or within an individual over time?

Nicotine is thought to enhance the reward value of other stimuli alongside - again, these have to be lined up in time to build routines around use (e.g., smoke break with coffee).

Nicotine addiction is highly schedule- and dose-dependent: cigarettes and vapes tap into the lungs for quick (< 10 min), large bolus necessary for reinforcement with a related sense of well-being, stress relief, or cognitive boost, followed by a prolonged phase that suppresses withdrawal symptoms.

Nicotine is a relatively weak primary reinforcer unlike cocaine and heroin, so why is its addiction so widespread but the habits so variable? Here's our new perspective piece on why we need more human pharmacokinetics measurements to complete the picture.

YouTube video by Animagraffs How Hoover Dam Works

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EdM...

YouTube video by Animagraffs How the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird Works

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkyV...

Highly recommend Animagraffs for incredibly detailed breakdowns of ambitious projects like the SR-71 and Hoover Dam. Deep dives into engineering, logistics, and craftsmanship. Stumbled upon the channel recently, and it's like Modern Marvels on steroids.

If you're a pioneer on the frontier, you're going to need a map! This is a *living* database where you can compose a set of problems and contribute by messaging in more ideas.
Happy to have made a contribution here alongside a whole host of scientists & technologists.

There are so many inspiring examples of scientific roadmaps out there: this post was our quick way of introducing new explorers of the scientific landscape to this fascinating genre. Expect more from us in terms of releasing roadmaps & thinking soon and let us know which of your favorites we missed!

Hello world! 🦅