Grenfell Firefighters Study

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 took part in a live panel discussion as part of the Fire Committee with the London Assembly today. Dr Feary speaks about the Grenfell Firefighters Study from 01:11:10 (1hr 11mins). Watch the full discussion online at the Mayor of London website: https://webcasts.london.gov.uk/Assembly/Event/Index/23eb223f-e51f-4ebd-9043-9db7d6c77144 

Read more about our work on firefighters' lung health.

The Lungs at Work team attended, presented and chaired at the most recent British Thoracic Society (BTS) Winter Meeting between 26-28 November 2025 in Westminster, London.

Our team presented the following abstracts:

• S112 Description of 32 cases of artificial stone silicosis from a single UK centre (presented by Dr Jo Feary)
• S113 Silicosis prevalence and association with cumulative silica exposure among current and ex- underground small-scale miners in Northern Tanzania (presented by Dr Patrick Howlett)
• S114 Longitudinal change in respiratory function in firefighters; results from the Grenfell Firefighter Study (presented by BSc medical student)
• M37 The burden and determinants of tuberculosis among small-scale miners and community members in Northern Tanzania (presented by Dr Patrick Howlett)
• P73 Changing trends in occupational asthma cases identified at a single specialist centre over 30 years (presented by nurse Tamanna Kabir)

Dr Feary was co-chair for a session on "Occupational hazards of exposure to particulates",  and Dr Howlett a co-chair for a session titled "Breathing room: Confronting lung diseases from modern workplaces".

See the full event programme with full abstracts on the BTS website.