Derek Urwin, PhD

As both a UCLA faculty member and Los Angeles County firefighter, Dr. Urwin conducts community engaged participatory research to quantify carcinogenic exposures and the associated biological effects resulting from firefighters' occupational exposures. He utilizes analytic methods to quantify the chemical constituents of smoke and they examine biomarkers of exposure (PAHs, VOCs, PFAS, etc.) and biomarkers of effect (microRNA, DNA methylation, mutational frequency) to quantify firefighters' cancer risk. Dr. Urwin also conducts in-silico research to characterize the structural and thermodynamic features of DNA lesions caused by exposure to products of combustion.  They place an emphasis on report back of research findings to collaboratively develop interventions to reduce firefighters' occupational exposures and cancer risk.

Goodrich, J.M.; Furlong, M.A.; Urwin, D.J.; Gabriel, J.; Hughes, J.; Jung, A.M.; Calkins, M.M.; DuBose, K.N.; Caban- Martinez, A.J.; Schaefer-Solle, N.; Beitel, S.C.; Burgess, J.L. Epigenetic Modifications Associated with Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) Firefighting. 2025, Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis, (Accepted).

Urwin, D.J.; Tran, E.; Alexandrova, A.N. Relative Genotoxicity of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Inferred from Free Energy Perturbation Approaches. 2024, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121(37), e2322155121.

Quaid, M.; Goodrich, J.M.; Calkins, M.M.; Graber, J.M.; Urwin, D.J.; Gabriel, J.; Caban‐Martinez, A.J.; Petroff, R.L.; Grant, C.; Beitel, S.C.; Littau, S.; Gulotta, J.J.; Wallentine, D.; Hughes, J.; Burgess, J.L. Firefighting, per‐and polyfluoroalkyl substances, and DNA methylation of genes associated with prostate cancer risk. 2024, Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis, 65(1-2), pp.55-66.

Jung, A. M.; Furlong, M.A.; Goodrich, J. M.; Cardenas, A.; Beitel, S.; Littau, S.; Caban-Martinez, A. J.; Gulotta, J; Wallentine, D.; Urwin, D. J.; Gabriel, J.; Hughes, J.; Graber, J.; Grant, C.; Burgess, J. L. Associations Between Epigenetic Age Acceleration and microRNA Expression Among U.S. Firefighters. 2023, Epigenetics Insights, 16, 25168657231206301.

Nwanaji-Enwerem, J. C.; Cardenas, A.; Goodrich, J. M.; Furlong, M.A.; Jung, A. M.; Collender, P.; Caban, A. J.; Grant, C.; Beitel, S.; Littau, S.; Urwin, D. J.; Gabriel, J.; Hughes, J.; Gulotta, J; Wallentine, D.; Burgess, J. L. Occupational Years of Service and Leukocyte Epigenetic Aging: Relationships in U.S. Firefighters. 2023, J. Occup. Environ. Med., 65(5):e312