Dr Fiona Caryl
- Research Fellow (MRC/CSO Social & Public Health Sciences Unit)
email:
Fiona.Caryl@glasgow.ac.uk
MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, Berkeley Square, 99 Berkeley Street, Glasgow, G3 7HR
Biography
I am a Medical Research Council (MRC) Skills Development Fellow working with the MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit within the Places and Health Programme. I am also an Honorary Fellow at the School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh working with the Centre for Research on Environment, Society and Health. I have a PhD in Biological and Environmental Sciences from the University of Stirling; an MSc in Applied Ecology and Conservation from the University of East Anglia; and a BSc (hons) in Zoology from the University of Leeds.
I joined the SPHSU in January 2018 after 4 years as a (postdoctoral) Consultant Geospatial Scientist (ecology private sector) and 6 years as a postdoctoral Research Assistant/Associate in Quantitative and Applied Ecology (University of Melbourne). Within ecology I gained expertise in quantifying complex environments (e.g., multidimensional, multiscale, interacting, non-linear) and using machine learning and statistics to predict, classify, or describe the spatial distributions of ecological outcomes and how distributions change in time or spatial context.
Within the SPHSU, my research seeks to understand the effect of the natural and built environment on public health, particularly socio-economic and spatial inequalities in the determinants of non-communicable disease. Projects I have worked on have used individual-level GPS data (from the SPACES) to investigate exposures to healthy and unhealthy commodities within the 'activity spaces' of children in Scotland. Specifically, to quantify socioeconomic inequalities in exposure to shops selling tobacco and alcohol, and unhealthy advertising; as well as determining how exposure to natural space effects children's mental health.
I am also interested in prevention policy, and received Cancer Research UK funding to simulate tobacco control policies to compare their spatial and equity impacts.
I am currently CI on a UKRI-NHMRC grant (Better Parks, Healthier for All?) to link green space qualities to human health (UK Biobank) in Scotland and Australia to establish their 'prevention potential'.
Within my remaining MRC Fellowship I will explore how quantitative approaches from my ecological background can be used to quantify complexity in places to link with health outcomes.
Research interests
- Environmental and socio-ecological determinants of health
- Geographies of health and health inequalities
- Prevention potential of place to maximise health and wellbeing
- Unhealthy commodities (alcohol and tobacco)
- Beneficial environments (green/blue, natural spaces)
- Urbanisation, anthropogenic change, and intensification of landuse
- Quantification of complex environments
- Quantification of exposure
Grants
Grants and Awards listed are those received whilst working with the University of Glasgow.
- MRC Networking grant
Medical Research Council
2022 - 2023
- Better Parks, Healthier for All?
Medical Research Council
2020 - 2023
- Do gender-differences in access to urban landscapes lead to gender-inequalities in mental and physical health?
Medical Research Council
2020 - 2023
- To Estimate Of The Impact Of A Reduction In Tobacco Retailer Availability
Cancer Research UK
2018 - 2018
Professional activities & recognition
Prizes, awards & distinctions
- 2020: Fellowship (MRC)
- 2019: Glasgow Crucible (University of Glasgow)
Research fellowships
- 2020 - 2023: MRC Skills Development Fellowship
Professional & learned societies
- 2020 - 2023: Honorary Fellow, University of Edinburgh