Rutgers awarded $1.5M grant to fund volunteer FF cancer research, prevention

By Rachel Engel

RUTGERS, N.J. –– Rutgers School of Public Health was awarded a $1.5 million grant from FEMA in support of cancer research and prevention for volunteer firefighters.

The funds will go toward ongoing research being conducted in collaboration with Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey as part of the Cancer Assessment and Prevention Study, which works with departments state-wide to determine how to better treat and protect volunteer firefighters, the university announced in a press release .

“With this Federal Emergency Management Agency funding, the Cancer Assessment and Prevention Study will engage with volunteer firefighters and stakeholders in New Jersey and nationally to address the knowledge gap in cancer causing exposures and risk factors among volunteer firefighters and inform cancer prevention strategies,” said Judith Graber, the grant’s principal investigator and an associate professor at the Rutgers School of Public Health and associate member of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey.

As part of the Cancer Assessment and Prevention Study, firefighters will also be able to join the national Firefighter Cancer Cohort Study, which works with departments across the country to disseminate the latest research findings.