The County of Los Angeles Fire Department (LACoFD) spotlights the University of California’s (UC) recent grant awards totaling near $6 million in state funding to advance research aimed at reducing cancer and cancer risk among firefighters.
According to Julia Busiek, UC Newsroom, “Grants were awarded to eight research teams through the California Firefighter Cancer Prevention and Research Program, established in 2023 by the State legislature.” The program is administered by the UC in coordination with the State interagency firefighting advisory program, FIRESCOPE, to ensure that research projects being funded address the most critical areas of need.
The grant awards will fund teams co-led by California based firefighters and UC researchers to understand the causes of cancer in firefighters and how to prevent it. This research is critical as statistics from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health show that cancer is the primary cause of mortality among firefighters. Various studies have revealed that firefighters face a higher risk of cancer compared to the general public due to regular exposure to smoke and other cancer-causing substances on the front lines. Despite utilizing specialized personal protective equipment, firefighters remain vulnerable to inhaling, ingesting, and coming in contact with harmful chemicals, further increasing their risk of cancer.
Leading four of the eight cancer research teams as co-principal investigators include Fire Captains Jamie Gabriel, Jeffrey Kimura, and Ryan Tripp, along with Fire Fighter Paramedic (FFPM) Thomas Sullivan. Additionally, Fire Fighter Specialist (FFS) Derek Urwin, is co-leading a two-year study into the causes of cancer among California’s wildland firefighters funded by the California Action Grants program. FFS Urwin has teamed up with cancer research colleagues to implement an initiative that outfits firefighters with devices that measure levels of carcinogens and to learn and understand more specifics about what is inhaled by firefighters while working. In addition to serving as a FFS, Urwin holds a P.h.D and serves as a chemistry professor at UCLA.
The LACoFD expresses its utmost gratitude to Fire Captains Gabriel, Kimura, and Tripp, along with FFS Urwin, and FFPM Sullivan, along with the University of California, and the dedicated experts channeling their time and expertise towards combating the detrimental impacts of cancer on our firefighting community.
