Frances Thirlway

Research Database

Frances Thirlway is a Research Fellow in the Department of Sociology. She holds an MSc and PhD in medical anthropology from Durham University. Before joining the University of York in 2017, she spent two years as Co-Investigator evaluating a public health intervention in the North of England; she has also worked with the World Health Organisation (WHO) Nutrition Friendly Schools Initiative (NFSI).

Smoking cessation and health inequalities are the main focus of Frances’s research. She is Principal Investigator on the project ‘Electronic cigarettes, health inequalities and smoking cessation: a community study of take-up and market evolution in two high smoking prevalence areas of the North of England’ funded by Cancer Research UK as well as 'Health inequalities and the use of cannabis and cannabidiol for pain relief: a study in two areas'’ funded by York Centre for Future Health. She is also Co-Investigator on: 'Tobacco smoking among people living with HIV in Uganda: understanding the problem to inform effective interventions'. Her work has been published in journals including Social Science & Medicine, Sociology of Health & Illness and the International Journal of Drug Policy.