Eight applications, co-led by California-based firefighters and UC researchers, were awarded as a result of the 2024 California Firefighter Cancer Prevention and Research Program. University of California (UC) awarded nearly $6 million in state funding through this grant program to advance research aimed at understanding the causes of cancer, reducing cancer risk, and preventing cancer among firefighters. Projects started in December 2024 and will run for 2 years (pilot awards) or 3 years (full awards). Read about the funded projects in the award announcement.

View project abstracts and additional information in our funded research database: 

Search Funded Projects

2024 List of Awards

Project Title: Understanding occupational exposures to PFAS among Orange County firefighters (Full Award: F01FF8764)
Fire service Co-Principal Investigator: Derek Biering, Orange County Fire Authority
UC Co-Principal Investigator: Veronica Vieira, UC Irvine
 
Project Title: Examining longitudinal changes in DNA methylation in firefighters exposed to products of combustion (Full Award: F01FF8767)
Fire service Co-Principal Investigator: Thomas Sullivan, Los Angeles County Fire Department
UC Co-Principal Investigator: Janine LaSalle, UC Davis
 
Project Title: Firefighter indirect smoke exposure (Full Award: F01FF8773)
Fire service Co-Principal Investigator: Gerald May, San Jose Fire Fighters IAFF Local 230
UC Co-Principal Investigator: Aris Polyzos, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
 
Project Title: The California firefighter cancer research study: Harmonizing cohorts to elucidate cancer risks (Full Award: F01FF8805)
Fire service Co-Principal Investigator: Jamie Gabriel, Los Angeles County Fire Department
UC Co-Principal Investigator: Shehnaz Hussain, UC Davis
 
Project Title: Firefighters’ perceptions and behavioral patterns: a social science approach to cancer prevention (Pilot Award: F01FP8716)
Fire service Co-Principal Investigator: Andrew Violante, San Marcos Professional Firefighters Association
UC Co-Principal Investigator: Wei Zhao, UC Riverside
 
Project Title: Identifying carcinogenic chemical exposures in firefighters to reduce cancer risk (Pilot Award: F01FP8725)
Fire service Co-Principal Investigator: Jeffrey Kimura, Los Angeles County Fire Department
UC Co-Principal Investigator: Brigitte Gomperts, UC Los Angeles
 
Project Title: Characterization of mutagen-driven landscapes and signatures of tumors arising in firefighters (Pilot Award: F01FP8745)
Fire service Co-Principal Investigator: Jeff Meston, California Fire Chiefs Association
UC Co-Principal Investigator: John McPherson, UC Davis

Project Title: Individualized exposure assessment of firefighters to airborne carcinogens (Pilot Award: F01FP8765)
Fire service Co-Principal Investigator: Ryan Tripp, Los Angeles County Fire Department
UC Co-Principal Investigator: Cristina Davis, UC Davis

 

Request for proposals

In 2024, the California Firefighter Cancer Prevention and Research Program invited applications from teams of CA-based fire service professionals and UC academics for community-based participatory research that “will have a positive, direct, and timely impact on the California fire service." 
 
The invited application deadline has passed. Review the 2024 Request for Proposals information.