Professor Carol Emslie
Research Culture Lead
Department of Nursing, Community and Public HealthProfessor Carol Emslie co-leads the Substance Use Research Group at Glasgow Caledonian University and is co-Chair of the Scottish Alcohol Research Network. As a medical sociologist, her applied research (funding from NIHR, ESRC, WHO, CSO) aims to understand the social context of drinking and explore ways to reduce alcohol-related harm. She has been interviewed by BBC Panorama, BBC Radio’s Women’s Hour, BBC Alba’s Eorpa, the Guardian and the New York Times and has presented her research at the Scottish Parliament.
She has an international reputation for research on gender and alcohol, and launched the #dontpinkmydrink social media campaign to highlight alcohol marketing to women. Recent work includes a WHO-commissioned report on gender and alcohol, studies of drinking and alcohol marketing in LGBTQ+ communities, ‘sober curiosity’ among sexual minority women and exploring the impact of alcohol minimum unit pricing on people with experience of homelessness.
Professor Emslie is People, Culture and Environment Lead for the School of Health and Life Sciences, and was formerly Co-director of our Research Centre for Health (2022-2025). She has led GCU’s Crucible programme for early-career researchers since 2018. This develops leaders of the future who can communicate their research to media, practitioners, and policymakers and who are committed to working with partners to deliver positive social change. With Professor Rachel Baker, she also leads GCU’s new Propel programme for mid-career researchers.