Introduction: Cigarette smoking is a significant public health issue, and the primary cause of preventable health problems in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Nevertheless, the prevalence of adolescent smoking remains high. Our proposed study aims to investigate the effectiveness of school-based educational programs in reducing adolescent smoking rates in the GTA. It will compare the results of weekly integrated education sessions offered throughout a school term to more focused, discrete sessions offered at two different points in the term at 10 secondary schools in the GTA. The findings will help inform potential policy and curricular changes to promote smoking cessation among current and future youth. Methods: This study utilizes an experimental quantitative research design. Multi-stage cluster sampling will be used. 10 schools will be selected, with 20 students being recruited per school. The intervention group will receive a school-based education program for smoking cessation, lasting an academic semester. The control group will receive an educational session at the beginning and end of the semester. The inclusion criteria is as follows: participants must be (a) adolescents aged 12-17 and attending an accredited primary or secondary school, (b) living in the GTA, and (c) current daily smokers. The Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) and biochemical tests will be used to collect pertinent data about smoking cessation rates. Abstinence will also be assessed using the Russell Standard. Results: The study will use statistical tests to compare the proportion of students in the intervention group who quit smoking to the control group. The primary outcome measures will be 4-week and 6-month abstinence counts and nicotine dependency as measured by the FTND. The analysis will be conducted using IBM SPSS ver. 29. Discussion: The results of this study will provide valuable insight into the effectiveness of educational programs in promoting smoking cessation among youth, which will inform the design of future school-based interventions. Additionally, the study will help to understand adolescent smoking patterns, which can be used to guide public health policies. Conclusion:The results will have the potential to inform future education and public health strategies for encouraging adolescent smoking cessation.

Introduction: Remdesivir (Veklury), a viral ribonucleic acid (RNA)-dependent RNA polymerase inhibitor designed by Gilead Sciences, has shown reductions in recovery time for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients, although its efficacy remains controversial. It has been proposed that combining remdesivir with immunomodulators may improve clinical efficacy. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) exert immunomodulatory properties, which resolve COVID-19-induced pneumonia in early-phase trials. Menstrual blood-derived stem cells (MenSCs) present a novel MSC source, superior in availability, proliferative ability, and ethicality than traditional stem cell sources. This study aims to investigate the efficacy of remdesivir-MenSC combination therapy in resolving severe COVID-19-induced pneumonia. Methods: A randomized, double-blind, controlled study will be performed to assess two primary endpoints: time of recovery, defined as no longer requiring ongoing medical care, and normalization of the immune system, defined as the change in the concentration of key cytokines from baseline. Safety will also be measured as the frequency of treatmentrelated adverse events (AE). The study will aim to recruit 400 eligible subjects, aged 18 to 75, hospitalized with severe COVID-19, and they will be assigned to either receive intravenous (IV) infusions of MenSCs and remdesivir, or receive only remdesivir. A stratified log-rank test will be conducted to compare the time of recovery between study arms, with stratification by disease severity (baseline ordinal score). Two-way repeated measures ANOVA will be used to compare cytokine levels over time in the treatment group compared to the control group. Discussion: We expect remdesivir-MenSC combination therapy to surpass remdesivir in clinical efficacy and safety profile by improving clinical status, lowering duration of hospitalization, reducing mortality, and lowering the incidence of treatment-related AEs. Conclusion: Investigating this promising approach is an essential step in determining the feasibility of stem cell-based treatments in improving current COVID-19 therapeutics and patient outcomes. In particular, evaluating the clinical potential of MenSCs may provide insight into future therapeutic research as the literature has shown that MenSCs are superior to traditional MSC sources.