The Firefighter Cancer Initiative (FCI) is an interdisciplinary effort led by Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Our goals are to:

1. understand the excess burden of cancer in the fire service
2. identify novel, evidence-based methods to reduce risk.

We provide opportunities for fire service members around the world to participate in research, firefighter cancer screenings, and education. We also provide tailored firefighter care through our dedicated nurse navigator.

For more information regarding FCI projects, please visit our active projects page.

Yes, members of the fire service are invited to participate in FCI. Each study will outline eligibility requirements, some of which may be specific to geolocation, fire service subgroup, work status (active or retired), etc.

Current research studies include Annual Cancer Survey, National Firefighter Tumor Bank, Fire Investigator Cohort study, Cancer Survivorship program, and AERIAL (retirees only). FCI also offers study enrollment specific to Florida Firefighters, including F2IRE Cohort and HER Study. You can view the current national and international projects on our active research projects page.

Anyone in the fire service is welcome to participate in active FCI research and education programs on an individual basis.

If your entire department is interested in participating, assign one contact person to reach out to the FCI team. We will work with your contact within the department to coordinate enrollment events.

For department enrollment, please contact the FCI team at firefighterstudy@miami.edu.

The Firefighter Cancer Prevention Education curriculum aims to increase awareness of occupational cancer risks in the fire service and provides strategies and tools to reduce the risks. The course can be delivered in-person in about 3 hours and includes a pre-assessment survey, interactive presentation, and post-assessment survey, as well as a follow-up survey 6 months after the initial presentation.

No, participation is completely voluntary. In addition, if you consent to participate in a research study and later decide you do not want to continue, you are able leave the study at any time.

Yes. The information you share is confidential and is only available to authorized University personnel. Your information is not shared with workers’ comp, your union, department, or chief.