‘Needle and the damage done’ is the focus for Professorial Lecture

Professor of Public Health Andrew McAuley will talk about the changing epidemiology of injecting drug use in Scotland over the past 25 years and its impact on related harms such as overdose and blood-borne viruses during his Professorial Lecture.

The Lecture, entitled 'Needle and the damage done: injecting drug use in 21st Century Scotland', will take place on campus on Tuesday,  April 30, from 5-7.30pm, which includes a celebration drinks reception. Register here through Eventbrite.

Professor McAuley, who is a key researcher in the School of Health and Life Sciences' Research Centre for Health (ReaCH), will speak about Scotland's current injecting drug use landscape, the events that have shaped it and the future directions it might take.

Professor McAuley said: "Injecting drug use in Scotland is a major public health issue and has been the subject of intense political debate in recent years. Drug-related deaths in Scotland are at globally high rates and were recently declared a public health emergency."

This lecture will appeal to professionals working in the public health, substance use and blood borne virus fields. Also, members of the public interested in areas of high-profile policy debate and people who use drugs, their families and friends.

Professor McAuley will also discuss his career working between Public Health Scotland and Glasgow Caledonian University, and focus on his 19 years working in the substance use field.

He joined the University in 2014 and works across the Blood-Borne Virus and Substance Use Research Groups. He was promoted to Professor of Public Health in June 2023. His main research interests are harms related to injecting drug use and evaluation of interventions aimed at reducing risk.