Avril Taylor
Contact Details
Room L104 (Paisley Campus)
Tel: 0141 848 3771/3603
E-mail: avril.taylor@uws.ac.uk
Staff profile
Professor Avril Taylor holds the Chair in Public Health and is the Director of the Institute for Applied Social and Health Research and Associate Dean for Research in the School of Social Sciences. She Taylor received her PhD in 1991 from the University of Glasgow. Her thesis was the first full ethnographic study of female drug injectors and was published as a book, Women Drug Users: an Ethnography of a Female Injecting Community by Oxford University Press in 1993.
Since then, she has continued to research in the area of illicit drug use with a particular emphasis on risk behaviours for blood borne virus infections. This research has led to many peer reviewed publications. The findings of her report “Examining the Injecting Practices of Injecting Drug Users in Scotland” (Scottish Executive 2004) has informed the Scottish Government’s current Hepatitis C Action Plan. That research, which involved filming injecting drug users whilst they injected in their homes, also led to the development of a training DVD (“The Injecting Process: Viral Transmission”), which has been disseminated widely to healthcare workers both in the UK and internationally. It also led to the commercial development of coloured syringes, distributed to injectors through needle exchanges, to reduce the prevalence of syringe sharing.
The leading role played by Professor Taylor in research into hepatitis C infection has led to invitations to participate in international and national conferences. Her expertise in the area of hepatitis C is also recognised by invitations to participate in committees relevant to hepatitis C and policy development. She is currently the Chair the Hepatitis C Action Plan for Scotland Prevention Working Group and a member of the Hepatitis C Action Plan for Scotland Action Plan Coordinating Group.
Professor Taylor is a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health.
Selected Publications
Avril Taylor, Sharon J Hutchinson, Gail Gilchrist, Sheila Cameron, Susan Carr, David J Goldberg. Prevalence and determinants of hepatitis C virus infection among female drug injecting sex workers in Glasgow. Harm Reduction Journal, 2008. 5:11
Palmateer N, Anderson N, Wadd S, Hutchinson S, Taylor A, Goldberg D. Exploring associations between perceived HCV status and injecting risk behaviours among recent initiates to injecting drug use in Glasgow. Substance Use and Misuse, 2008; 43:3, 375-388
Deborah Zador, Andrew Rome, Sharon Hutchinson, Matthew Hickman, Alex Baldacchino, Tom Fahey, Avril Taylor, Brian Kidd. Differences between injectors and non-injectors and a high prevalence of benzodiazepines among drug-related deaths in Scotland 2003. Addicition Research and Theory, 2007; 15(6): 651-662
Hutchinson SJ, Bird SM, Taylor A, Goldberg DJ. Estimating the prevalence, incidence and cessation of injecting drug use in Glasgow 1960-2000: combining expert opinion with capture-recapture prevalence data. International Journal of Drug Policy, 2006; 17(1) 29-34
Wadd S, Taylor A, Hutchinson SJ, Ahmed S, Goldberg D. High risk injecting behaviour in hostel accommodation for the homeless in Glasgow 2001-2: a study combining quantitative and qualitative methodology. Journal of Substance Use, 2006; 11(5): 333-341.
Hutchinson SJ, Bird SM, Taylor A, Goldberg DJ. Modelling the spread of hepatitis C infection among injecting drug users in Glasgow: Implications for prevention. International Journal of Drug Policy, 2006; 17: 211-221.
SJ Hutchinson, KM Roy, S Wadd, SM Bird, A Taylor, E Anderson, L Shaw, G Codere, D Goldberg. Hepatitis C virus infection in Scotland: Epidemiological Review and Public Health Challenges. Scottish Medical Journal, 2006; 51 (2): 8-15
Ali Judd, Sharon Hutchinson, Sarah Wadd, Matthew Hickman, Avril Taylor, Steve Jones, John V Parry, Sheila Cameron, Tim Rhodes, Syed Ahmed, Sheila Bird, Ray fox, Adrian Renton, Gerry V Stimson, David Goldberg. Prevalence of and risk factor for hepatitis C virus infection among recent initiates to injecting in London and Glasgow. Journal of Viral Hepatitis 2005; 12: 655-662.
A. Taylor, S. Hutchinson, J. Lingappa, S. Wadd, S. Ahmed, L. Gruer, T.H. Taylor Jr, K. Roy, G. Gilchrist, C. McGuigan, G. Penrice, D. Goldberg. Severe illness and death among injecting drug users in Scotland - a case control study. Epidemiology and Infection 2005; 133: 193-204.
Champion JK, Taylor A, Hutchinson S, Cameron S, McMenamin J, Mitchell A, Goldberg D.
Incidence of Hepatitis C Virus Infection and Associated Risk Factors among Scottish Prison Inmates: A Cohort Study. Am J Epidemiol. 2004;159 (5):514-9.
Sharon J Hutchinson, Sarah Wadd, Avril Taylor Sheila M Bird, Alan Mitchell, David S Morrison, Syed Ahmed, David J Goldberg.. Sudden uprise in uptake of hepatitis B vaccination among injecting drug users associated with a universal vaccine programme in prisons. Vaccine, 2004; 23: 210-214.
Avril Taylor, Alex Fleming, Jeanne Rutherford, David Goldberg. Examining the injecting practices of injecting drug users in Scotland. Scottish Executive Effective Interventions Unit, February 2004
L. Shaw, A Taylor, KM Roy, SO Cameron, S Burns, P Molyneaux, P McIntyre, G Codere, D Goldberg. Establishment of a database of diagnosed HCV-infected persons in Scotland. Communicable Disease and Public Health, 2003; 6(4): 305-310.
Roy K, Hay G, Andragetti R, Taylor A, Goldberg D, Wiessing L. Monitoring hepatitis C virus infection among injecting drug users in the European Union: a review of the literature. Epidemiology and Infection 2002 December; 129 (3): 577-585.
Hutchinson SJ, McIntyre PG, Molyneaux P, Cameron S, Burns S, Taylor A, Goldberg DJ. Prevalence of hepatitis C among injectors in Scotland 1989-2000: declining trends among young injectors halt in late 1990’s. Epidemiology and Infection 2002 June: 128 (3), 473-7.