Immersive Internship
Ohio Wesleyan Student Researches How People Use Nicotine Pouches
Name: Kelsea Cooper '26
Hometown: Atwater, Ohio
High School: Bio-Med Science Academy STEM School
Majors: Public Health and Genetics
Minors: Food Studies
OWU Connection Experience: Completing an internship at the Center for Tobacco Research at The Ohio State University
For her internship, Cooper studied "Fighting Gravity: Oral Nicotine Pouch Topography in Regular Users" in the laboratory of Dr. Brittney Keller-Hamilton, assistant professor of epidemiology.
"I worked at the OSU Center for Tobacco Research on the Tobacco Center for Regulatory Science Project 2, which is a project funded by the FDA (Federal Food and Drug Administration) and NIH (National Institutes of Health).
"This project aims to inform regulations for oral nicotine pouches. This project is still in the first year of the grant, so there is still a lot of work to be done, and I will continue to work in Dr. Keller-Hamilton's lab part-time!"
Levels of Risk
In her research abstract, Cooper shares: "Nicotine pouches … allow users to get their nicotine fix without exposing them to as many tobacco-related harms. While nicotine pouches might pose a public health threat by exposing young people to nicotine, they also present a potential harm reduction benefit for smokers or smokeless tobacco (dip, chew, moist snuff) users who reduce their health risks by successfully switching to nicotine pouches.
There is very little data on how people actually use nicotine pouches, however. The goal of my project was to learn how people use nicotine pouches in the real world to inform clinical trials investigating switching from cigarettes or SLT (smokeless tobacco) to nicotine pouches."
Internships give you a glimpse into what your future career would look like and help tremendously when trying to figure out what you actually want to do. And this internship did exactly that.
Connecting The Dots
"Working in public health research directly tied back to my coursework, especially when understanding health disparities and why health issues more [strongly] impact certain populations. … After working with Dr. Keller-Hamilton, she showed me that I want to be an epidemiologist and public health is my niche and what I want to spend the rest of my life doing!
"Internships give you a glimpse into what your future career would look like and help tremendously when trying to figure out what you actually want to do. And this internship did exactly that, it showed me that I want to become an epidemiologist and help prevent diseases and conquer health disparities."
My Favorite Moment
"My favorite part of my experience was the end of summer capstone where I got to present my independent project from the summer. Everyone from my research lab was able to come and support me and it felt like all of my work had paid off!"
OWU Mentors
"There were several OWU faculty who helped me get my internship. Kristen Astorian '14 helped me throughout the application process! (Astorian is a career catalyst in Ohio Wesleyan's Career Connection office.)
"Dr. Randolph Quaye (professor of Africana, Gender and Identity Studies) and Tammie Edwards (Chemistry lab instructor) were also very helpful when writing recommendation letters."
Outside the Classroom
"I am the vice president of education for Kappa Alpha Theta. I also serve on the Public Health Board and the Honors Board."
Why OWU?
"I wanted a small school and when I visited campus, I loved the community and how friendly everyone was."
My Plans After Graduation
"As a freshman, I knew that I wanted to major in Genetics, but it wasn't until I took Medical Professions Cross-Nationally and Race, Ethnicity, and Health with Dr. (Randy) Quaye when I realized that Public Health was the field for me!
"As of right now, I plan to get my Master's of Public Health in Epidemiology (most likely at Ohio State) and then potentially get my Ph.D. in Epidemiology. OWU has helped me tremendously with not only exposing me to classes that helped me realize that Public Health is where I want to be but also providing me with professional and academic skills that will prepare me for any type of plan after graduation."