Dr Johanna Feary

Dr Johanna Feary attended and did a talk on artificial stone silicosis at OH2025, The Workplace Health Protection Conference on Tuesday 17th June 2025 in Newcastle, UK.

Read more about the event at the conference website.

Read more about education and training we provide.

The Grenfell Firefighters Study is a cohort study of firefighters from the London Fire Brigade to look at the medium and long term risks associated with firefighting, with a particular emphasis on cardiorespiratory health and cancer. The cohort includes both firefighters who did, and did not attend the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017. Recruitment began in late 2019 and finished in 2023.

Analysis of a subgroup of blood results looking at cancer biomarkers has now been published on Scientific Reports (Feary et al, 2025). Our findings revealed that 11 firefighters carried pathogenic DNA variants associated with cancer, but we found no association between fire smoke exposure and the presence of these variants.

Read the full article. 

Read more about our current research. 

Analysis of lung function results is expected to be complete by 31/12/2025.

Dr Johanna Feary was recently featured on BBC Morning Live at Royal Brompton Hospital to talk about silicosis due to artificial stone, and advises those working with the material to get their lungs checked.

The feature also includes an interview with our patient Ryan, who spoke about how his silicosis diagnosis has affected his life. Nurse Tamanna Kabir was also featured performing spirometry with Ryan.

Watch the feature on BBC Morning Live online from 11mins and 22 secs.