Scottish Alcohol Research Network

Professor Carol Emslie 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. She also recently led research where fieldworkers directly observed interactions between staff and customers in bars and clubs using new late-night hours (as part of the NIHR funded Elephant study, a mixed method natural experiment evaluated later premises hours for alcohol in the night-time economy).

Professor Emslie is Research Culture Lead for the School of Health and Life Sciences at Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU), and was formerly Co-Director of the GCU  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.

Please see Carol’s Glasgow Caledonian University profile for further information.

Dr. Andrea Mohan is a Lecturer in Health Sciences and Public Health researcher in the Faculty of Health at the University of Dundee. She is the deputy lead of the Substance Use Research Group. She served as the President of the International Confederation of Alcohol and Other Drugs Research Associations from October 2023 to April 2026. Her research focuses on reducing harms caused by alcohol and other substances, and on improving access to treatment services for marginalised groups. Recent work includes evidence reviews on alcohol brief interventions in primary care, including dental practice settings, and a qualitative exploration of experiences with an alcohol assertive outreach service in Glasgow. Prior to joining the University of Dundee, she worked as a researcher in the Institute for Social Marketing and Health and the University of Stirling, where she worked on projects focused on alcohol licensing and drink-driving.

Research publications: Andrea Mohan – Discovery – the University of Dundee Research Portal

Dr Hannah Carver is an Associate Professor in Substance Use and Co-Director of the Salvation Army Centre for Addiction Services and Research at University of Stirling. Her research focuses on the intersection between substance use, health, and homelessness, as well as on young people’s prevention. Her work is mostly qualitative and she has expertise in systematic review methodologies. Recent work includes the evaluation of Scotland’s first managed alcohol programme; a cluster randomised controlled trial of a peer-delivered intervention; a pilot randomised controlled trial of a school-based intervention; and intervention development work on greenspace programmes.

Research publications: https://www.stir.ac.uk/people/257107#panel_1_3

Elena Dimova is a Lecturer in Psychology at Glasgow Caledonian University. Her main research focuses on reducing alcohol-related harm in different groups, and how identity can influence alcohol use. She has methodological expertise in qualitative research and systematic and scoping reviews. Elena has led charity grants as PI and grants as CI, including from funders such as CSO and WHO.

She is a Chartered member of the British Psychological Society (BPS) and a full member of the Division of Health Psychology.

Dr Jodie McGarry is the Research and Projects Co‑ordinator at Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP). In her role, she leads and supports a wide range of alcohol-related research activities and co‑ordinates the Scottish Alcohol Research Network (SARN).

Jodie completed her PhD at Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) in 2025. Jodie’s qualitative thesis explored how young women gamble, the connections between gambling and drinking in their lives, and how population-level factors such as marketing and availability influence gambling and drinking behaviours.

Jodie graduated from GCU in 2016 with a BSc (Hons) in Psychology, before going on to complete a PGDE at University of Strathclyde. Afterwards, Jodie went on to teach secondary school Psychology, before beginning her PhD studies.