Carol Gray Brunton
Carol Gray Brunton

Dr Carol Gray Brunton BA (Hons) MSc PhD CPsychol AFBPsS FHEA

Lecturer

Biography

I am a Lecturer in Health and Social Care Sciences. I am a Chartered Psychologist and Associate Fellow with the British Psychological Society (highest standards of knowledge and experience in the field of psychology). I have strong theoretical knowledge and skills around applying behavioural, psychological and social sciences to health. My work and subject expertise has attracted local, national and international attention through my conferences, speaker invites, international symposia, and as visiting scholar.

I am a specialist methodologist with wide expertise in Qualitative research and evaluation (discourse analysis; thematic analysis; IPA; grounded theory; thematic synthesis for evidence synthesis).

I am a member of various BPS associated groups including the Division of Academics, Teachers and Researchers in Psychology; Qualitative Methods in Psychology Section; Division of Health Psychology. I am a member of the International Society of Critical Health Psychology (ISCHP); European Qualitative Methods in Psychology Society (EQUIP); British Psycho-Oncology Society; Behavioural Research UK (BR-UK) and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

My research interests and expertise are focused on working with hard-to-reach, vulnerable groups using behavioural, psychological and science theories especially for public health issues including:
1) Leading the Vaccine Hesitancy and Confidence Research programme over the past 12 years in SHSC
2) Qualitative Research and Evaluation
3) Professional roles and service evaluation
4) Psycho-oncology for rare cancers


I previously worked as a postdoctoral research fellow for 5 years at ENU in cancer and public health where I developed my own interests/expertise in vaccine uptake and confidence/hesitancy on a range of childhood vaccines e.g. for MMR, HPV, H1N1 and for COVID-19 vaccine amongst Health & Social Care professionals during the pandemic. I worked as a research assistant for QMU and taught widely in psychology. I have previously worked as a psychology research assistant in the NHS on a range of research projects. I have been involved in service evaluation and consultancy for the NHS and charitable sector (Attention Fife, Macmillan Cancer Support). I worked at the Open University teaching Social Psychology.

I have over 15 years' experience of working in Higher Education and have taught widely across undergraduate and postgraduate provision for Nursing (all branches), Psychology and Business school students. I have taught at ENU, Queen Margaret University and the Open University.

During 2019-2022 I was the School Research Degrees Lead for over 50 research degrees students in the SHSC. I lead and monitored the development and overall progress for students and provided support for supervisors.

I have presented widely at national and international conferences. I am active in pursuing research funding and in publishing in peer-reviewed journals. I have been sought out to join funding bids/collaborations as a result of my expertise on large and international bids. I have been successful as PI or main contributor for bodies including Carnegie University Trust, Macmillan, Royal Society for Edinburgh.

I have successfully supervised PhD students (four completions - one of these subject to revisions). I have chaired two Vivas and am an independent panel chair for two students.
I am open to supervising new PhD students and MRes in vaccine hesitancy/confidence and other areas within my expertise.

Themes

Research Areas

Date


53 results

Young men with intellectual disabilities’ perceptions of HPV and HPV vaccine: A qualitative study on how to communicate HPV vaccine information

Journal Article
Carnegie, E., Gray-Brunton, C., Kennedy, C., Pow, J., Willis, D., & Whittaker, A. (2025)
Young men with intellectual disabilities’ perceptions of HPV and HPV vaccine: A qualitative study on how to communicate HPV vaccine information. Human Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics, 21(1), Article 2491857. https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2025.2491857
The success of vaccination programs relies on acceptance of recommended vaccines by communities and individuals. There is a paucity of evidence regarding how young men with in...

A systematic review and thematic synthesis exploring how gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) experience HPV and HPV vaccination

Journal Article
Pow, J., Clarke, L., McHale, S., & Gray-Brunton, C. (2025)
A systematic review and thematic synthesis exploring how gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) experience HPV and HPV vaccination. Human Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics, 21(1), Article 2490440. https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2025.2490440
There are suboptimal levels of HPV vaccine uptake among gay, bisexual and men who have sex with men (GBMSM), despite the prevalence and incidence rates of HPV infection among ...

Qualitative Systematic Review with Thematic Synthesis on Ethnic Chinese Informal Migrant Caregivers’ Experiences in Caring for Someone with Cancer

Presentation / Conference Contribution
Mengxue, X., O'Leary, L., & Gray Brunton, C. (2025, April)
Qualitative Systematic Review with Thematic Synthesis on Ethnic Chinese Informal Migrant Caregivers’ Experiences in Caring for Someone with Cancer. Presented at Cancer in Primary Care Research International (Ca-PRI) Conference, Manchester
Background: With advancements in cancer detection and treatment, survivorship rates are increasing worldwide. This shift has extended the role of informal caregivers—family me...

Commentary and methodological insights: Reaching girls/women, boys/men and vulnerable groups to maximise uptake for the Human papillomavirus vaccine

Journal Article
Gray Brunton, C., Pow, J., Carnegie, E., Petrova, D., Garcia Retamero, R., Whittaker, A., & Todorova, I. (2025)
Commentary and methodological insights: Reaching girls/women, boys/men and vulnerable groups to maximise uptake for the Human papillomavirus vaccine. Human Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics, 21(1), Article 2478705. https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2025.2478705
The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine has been shown to be an effective cancer-prevention vaccine against oncogenic types of the HPV virus implicated in cervical, anogenital,...

STEAM for generating collaborative, creative, inclusive approaches to immunisation awareness

Presentation / Conference
Healy, C., Macdonald, I., Firth, R., Gray-Brunton, C., Wimbish, D., & Malone, E. (2024, April)
STEAM for generating collaborative, creative, inclusive approaches to immunisation awareness. Presented at ESAI Conference 2024, Maynooth University, Ireland

Exploring Vaccine hesitancy for COVID-19 amongst Health and Social Care Professionals/Students: an Exploratory Study

Report
Gray Brunton, C., & Anderson, L. Exploring Vaccine hesitancy for COVID-19 amongst Health and Social Care Professionals/Students: an Exploratory Study. Royal Society of Edinburgh

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Gray Brunton, C., & Anderson, L. Exploring Vaccine hesitancy for COVID-19 amongst Health and Social Care Professionals/Students: an Exploratory Study. Royal Society of Edinburgh

Supporting and harnessing the reflections of a trans-disciplinary academic team to power HPV education by STEAM

Presentation / Conference
Healy, C., Macdonald, I., Firth, R., Gray Brunton, C., & Malone, E. (2023, March)
Supporting and harnessing the reflections of a trans-disciplinary academic team to power HPV education by STEAM. Presented at Education Studies Association Ireland 2023, Belfast

Vaccine hesitancy, COVID-19 vaccination and healthcare workers

Presentation / Conference
Gray Bunton, C. (2021, August)
Vaccine hesitancy, COVID-19 vaccination and healthcare workers. Paper presented at International Society of Critical Health Psychology 12th Binennial Conference, Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand
Vaccine ‘hesitancy’, seen as delays or refusals, are a serious public health issue. The global pandemic with COVID-19 and high mortality rates have made vaccination a priority...

Life Interrupted: Experiences of adolescents, young adults and their family living with malignant melanoma

Journal Article
McInally, W., Gray‐Brunton, C., Chouliara, Z., & Kyle, R. G. (2021)
Life Interrupted: Experiences of adolescents, young adults and their family living with malignant melanoma. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 77(9), 3867-3879. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.14959
Aim Melanoma is one of the most common human malignancies; yet, it is often thought of as a disease of adulthood rather than one affecting adolescents and young adults. This s...

Research made simple: using multiperspective interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore healthcare phenomena

Journal Article
McInally, W., & Gray-Brunton, C. (2021)
Research made simple: using multiperspective interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore healthcare phenomena. Evidence-Based Nursing, 24(3), 71-73. https://doi.org/10.1136/ebnurs-2021-103428

Pre-Napier Funded Projects

  • Gray, C. (2007). Parent’s experiences with the services of a holistic charity for children’s attentional difficulties: a Qualitative Evaluation. Report for ATTENTION Fife; Kirkcaldy, June
  • Older men’s talk about health, ill health and help-seeking behaviour; Queen Margaret University.
  • Gray, C. & Schwannauer, M. (2004). Audit and Evaluation of the NW Edinburgh ADHD Project: A Multi-Agency Approach. Report for NHS Lothian

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