09/10/2026
Happy Wednesday, CHS Miners! ⛏ This fall, we will highlight several new faculty members. We're pleased to share a clip of our first story, featuring Dr. Nicholas Buoncristiani. Full story at link in bio:
https://tinyurl.com/jjy3mhdj
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Dr. Nicholas Buoncristiani recalls when he first realized that he wanted to set out on a journey into academia, despite having been originally set on a career in physical education and coaching.
“I was a powerlifter in high school, so I had always been interested in how the body responds to exercise,” he said. “Then, I took an exercise physiology course as an undergraduate that really sparked my interest in research, and that ultimately led me to pursue my master’s degree in Exercise Physiology.”
While pursuing his master’s degree, Buoncristiani noticed that much of the exercise science literature focused on athletes. When he came across research applying similar exercise science principles to first responders, he saw an opportunity to use what he had learned to address health and performance questions in a real-world occupational setting.
During his PhD, Buoncristiani developed a research focus on the health, safety and occupational performance of firefighters, with a particular emphasis on those who have experienced cancer. Firefighters face occupational exposures that contribute to cancer risk. While considerable research has focused on prevention and exposure reduction, Buoncristiani became interested in what happens after a firefighter receives a cancer diagnosis, completes treatment and enters survivorship.
At UTEP, he plans to build a research program focused on first responder occupational health and performance. In addition to continuing his work in cancer survivorship, he will work with local fire departments and other community partners to study physical readiness, occupational health, injury risk and strategies that can help personnel remain healthy and capable throughout their careers. Involving students in that work will be central to his laboratory’s mission.
To learn more about how you can become involved, please email Dr. Buoncristiani at [email protected].
