Queensland Bushfire Research Network (QBuRN)

Our research projects include:

EMBER – Environmental Measures of Bushfire smoke Exposure and Respiratory health

The EMBER Study is a comprehensive research project examining how bushfire smoke affects both people and the environment. As bushfires and hazard reduction burns become increasingly common, understanding their impact on community health is vital – particularly for those who live near planned burns or work directly with fire, such as firefighters. The EMBER Study aims to generate strong scientific evidence to guide effective intervention strategies and inform public health and environmental policy.

Learn more about the EMBER study

Co-designing effective health protection strategies for firefighters

Firefighters are at the forefront of controlling bushfires and conducting hazard reduction burns across Australia. Occupationally, they are repeatedly exposed to high levels of pollutants across their career. Although health protective strategies, such as PPE, are implemented by governing organisations, many barriers to effective health protection exist. 

This study aims to investigate the current knowledge and health protective behaviours of firefighters in Southeast Queensland. Additionally, the study investigates what the perceived motivations and barriers are to implementing various health protective strategies. Finally, the study seeks to understand what future research is wanted by firefighters, with the aims of developing co-designed research projects that are feasible and desired by firefighters. 

R-FIRE: Brain Health - Rural Firefighter Investigation of Risk & Exposure: Brain Health

Climate change is greatly increasing exposure to landscape fire smoke (i.e. bushfires, and controlled burns to reduce the risk of uncontrolled bushfires) across Australia with significant health risks, including on brain health due to PM2.5 and ultrafine particles entering the brain. While research has documented many health effects of such smoke pollution, its impact in the brain remains largely unexplored. This knowledge gap is particularly concerning given the escalating exposure of vulnerable populations, including frontline rural firefighters and ageing populations.

International research has shown that air pollution, including landscape fire smoke pollution has adverse impacts on neurodegeneration, the cerebrovascular system, and mental health. However, this has not been studied in Australia’s at-risk populations. Rural firefighter numbers in Australia include ~220,000 volunteers and several thousand full-time personnel. With increased duration of fire seasons, rural firefighters are increasingly on the frontline of landscape fire smoke impacts. 

The R-Fire: Brain Health cohort led from QIMR Berghofer will establish a basis for health monitoring and intervention that can be extended to the broader population. Our research aims will accelerate the implementation of interventions to reduce the health impacts of climate change-induced air pollution.

We will:

1. Establish the first Australian cohort study of rural firefighters and collect data on landscape fire smoke exposure, together with neurological and other health outcomes
2. Collect blood samples from a subset of rural firefighters to identify biomarkers associated with landscape fire smoke exposure and neurological impacts
3. Develop a risk assessment model to estimate an individual’s risk of adverse neurological outcomes from landscape fire smoke exposure
4. Disseminate information on brain health risks associated with smoke exposure and provide actionable recommendations for risk reduction.

PISA – the Prospective Imaging Study of Aging: Genes, Brain and Behaviour

PISA is a longitudinal cohort of middle-aged and older Australians (40–80 years), aiming to discover biological markers of early neuropathology, identify modifiable risk factors, and establish the very earliest phenotypic and neuronal signs of dementia. In PISA Online over 5,000 participants have completed self-report surveys including memory and cognition, medical history, lifestyle, linkage to medical records and online cognitive testing. PISA Onsite includes a subset of approximately 650 subjects genetically enriched for risk of Alzheimer’s disease, and clinically recruited Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment patients (with a 2-year follow-up, amyloid PET, MRI Neuropsych and blood biomarkers).

The PISA cohort is ongoing with additional baseline and follow up time points in progress as part of the Queensland Aging and Dementia Study (QADS) collaboration. In PISA, residential data is used to approximate geolocated PM2.5 (fine particulate matter) measures for both ambient air pollution and bushfire smoke. The association of PM2.5 exposure to health measures, including cognitive health and dementia risk, is being investigated. 

Learn more about PISA

Bushfire smoke toxicology: understanding how bushfire smoke harms human brain and immune cells

This project involves experimental studies to determine how different types of bushfire smoke affect human cells, with the goal of identifying biomarkers that reflect toxic biological impacts. The core is controlled in-vitro exposure workflows where we can compare smoke variants (composition differences by fuel type/region/conditions), quantify inflammatory and stress responses, and build a mechanistic bridge from exposure chemistry to cellular injury pathways and candidate biomarkers that could be measured in exposed people.

Olfactory (nasal) tissue sampling and analysis as a potential means to monitor bushfire smoke health impacts

We are developing olfactory sampling and cell culture as a minimally invasive window into the biological effects of smoke exposure, positioned for biomarker discovery, early detection, and longitudinal monitoring. This may lead to repeated sampling over time to track respiratory, cardiovascular, and neurological-relevant signals, with the olfactory interface serving as a biological ‘front line’ tissue for inhaled smoke impacts and potential brain-health links.