ted Senior Vice President and General Counsel in April 2012.
Martin King Mr. King was appointed President, Latin America and Canada Region in February 2014.
Peter J. Luongo Mr. Luongo was appointed Vice President of Treasury and Planning in June 2013.
Antonio Marques Mr. Marques was appointed Senior Vice President, Operations in February 2014.
James R. Mortensen Mr. Mortensen was appointed Senior Vice President, Human Resources in March 2014.
Part 3. Research amp; Development
3.1 R amp; D at PMI
Developing products which may have the potential to reduce the risks of smoking-related diseases is one of their top priorities. To address this multifaceted challenge, their Research and Development Department includes a team of scientists with expertise across a range of disciplines including biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and computing.research efforts are directed toward understanding the underlying mechanisms of the diseases caused by smoking and the complex role of tobacco smoke constituents in the development of these diseases.important aspect of their research is the development of methods to assess a product s risk reduction potential. This is a very complex task, given the fact that most smoking-related diseases take years, if not decades, to develop.research efforts complement their support of regulation in the area of ??risk assessment. Reduced risk products should require manufacturers to provide regulators with scientific data to substantiate any claims.aim is to provide consumers with the option of reduced risk products. However, smokers should understand that these products are not an alternative to quitting, and that the best way to reduce the risk of smoking-related diseases is to give up smoking.
Smoke and Smoke Constituents
A key focus area of ??their research and development program is on preventing the formation or reducing the levels of toxic chemical compounds produced during the burning of tobacco in a cigarette. More than 5,000 smoke constituents (or emissions) have been identified in tobacco smoke to date. Approximately 100 smoke constituents have been identified as likely causes of smoking-related diseases by public health authorities. They agree with many scientists, including public health experts, that selective reduction of smoke compounds in conventional lit-end cigarettes is unlikely to reduce risk. Therefore, they have focused on the development of new, next generation products (NGP s) that either substantially reduce or completely eliminate many harmful smoke constituents.
The Tobacco Plant
The tobacco plant is a complex biological system. The properties of the plant are the results of the interaction of the plant with the external environment (eg, soil, climate, agricultural practices, and the leaf-curing process). Although many of the harmful substances in smoke are produced by the burning process and are not present in the leaf, tobacco plants can contain harmful substances such as tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNA s) or the heavy metal cadmium that can transfer to smoke when tobacco is burned. We are focused on preventing the formation of these harmful compounds in tobacco plants through various plant breeding and agronomic practices.
3.2 Understanding Disease Mechanisms
Smoking causes serious, fatal diseases such as lung cancer, cardiovascular disease (heart disease), chronic obstructive lung diseases (emphysema and bronchitis). Over the past half-century, classical scientific methods, including non-clinical, clinical, and epidemiological studies, have yielded data and information about smoking and disease. Yet, the precise mechanisms by which smoking triggers disease in human systems remain poorly understood.
Recent breakthroughs in biological and medical research have dramatically changed the understanding of the human body. The human body is a highly complex system of delicately balanced networks. Exposure to cigarette smoke can alter the chemistry or biology of individual molecules, causing a malfunction within one or more of these networks, which ultimately leads to disease., Advanced technologies may allow us to use existing data to explore this question from an entirely new angle-that of how individual tissues, cells, or even particular proteins respond to smoke exposure. These technologies may also help us to identify gaps in knowledge, and design new research projects to address such gaps.
