Dr. Burgess is the Associate Dean for Research for the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health and previously worked as an Emergency Medicine physician, Medical Toxicologist, and Occupational and Environmental Medicine physician. He received his MD from the University of Washington School of Medicine in 1988, an MS in Toxicology with a Concentration in Industrial Hygiene from the University of Arizona in 199,3 and an MPH in Environmental Health from the University of Washington in 1996.

Dr. Burgess has a long history of collaboration with the fire service, focused currently on cancer prevention, funded by grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

He led the team of multiple academic, government, and fire service partners in establishing the Fire Fighter Cancer Cohort Study (FFCCS), a prospective multicenter cohort study of cancer in the fire service, which is continuing to expand.

He also leads current FEMA grants to study the relationship between per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure and cancer in firefighters, and cancer, stress, and reproductive hazards in women firefighters. He also leads other current research and training projects, including a NIOSH-funded industrial hygiene training program, a National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) funded Center for Indigenous Environmental Health Research, and a NIOSH-funded comparison of exposures and health effects from diesel and biodiesel blend-fueled underground mining equipment.