Understanding nicotine metabolism during pregnancy in First Nations peoples (2025-2027)

This project aims to be the world-first to investigate the ways Indigenous Australians metabolise nicotine over pregnancy. Differences in nicotine metabolism are caused by genetic factors, yet data mainly comes from white women in the US & UK, and there is no scientific data on how Indigenous mothers metabolise nicotine. This project will utilise biochemical & genomic analysis to generate this new knowledge. Expected outcomes include highly accurate models for predicting nicotine levels over pregnancy & new theories linking Indigenous heritage with specific metabolism types. This would yield significant benefits through adding to the global knowledgebase, challenging generalisation of non-Indigenous data, & future impacts on health policy.