Dr Kerryn Drysdale | UNSW Research

My Expertise

Drag performance cultures; Drag king history and contemporary practice; LGBTQI+ social scenes; Queer Theory

Chemsex; Sexualised drug use; Gay and bisexual men's drug use; Crystal methamphetamine

Blood borne virus (HIV, HCV, HBV) prevention; Community health; LGBTIQ+ Health

Ethnography; Qualitative research; Community engaged/peer led research; Co-design

Fields of Research (FoR)

Cultural studies, Public health, Sociology of health, Health promotion, Social determinants of health, Sexualities

Biography

I am a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Social Research in Health (CSRH), a specialist research centre located in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at UNSW Sydney. Through my disciplinary background in Cultural Studies, I endeavour to bring a critical cultural lens to everyday lived experiences as they pertain to public health concerns.

I currently conduct research in two broad programmes of work:

Responding to health...view more

I currently conduct research in two broad programmes of work:

Responding to health inequities and social determinants of health, particularly by working with marginalised or vulnerable populations to determine their health and wellbeing needs.
Tracking social scenes for LGBTQ+ people, with a specific focus on the sex-based social norms and affects in precarious urban contexts that give rise to innovative forms of health promotion and harm reduction.

I take a community-led and -engaged approach to all my work, working with affected communities to determine their health needs.

I was awarded my PhD in 2016 from the Department of Gender and Cultural Studies, where I undertook an ethnographic exploration of Sydney's drag king culture as a site for the varied investments in social scenes for LGBTQ people. I taught Gender Studies and Cultural Studies at the University of Sydney before taking up a research-focussed position at the Centre for Social Research in Health in 2017.

My Qualifications

Doctor of Philosophy (2016) University of Sydney.

Master of Arts (2009) Gender Studies (with merit), University of Sydney.

Bachelor of Arts with Honours (2002) University of Sydney

My Awards

Wiley’s Top Cited Article 2021-2022, in Sociology of Health and Illness for “Family imaginaries in the disclosure of a blood-borne virus” (co-author) between January 2021 and December 2022.

Early Career Academics Network Awards for Research Excellence 2022 (Traditional Research Output) for ‘Sex in placemaking activism: lesbian and queer women’s sex-based sociality in Sydney, Australia’ journal article; Faculty of Arts, Design & Architecture, UNSW.

Awarded participant, Women in Leadership (WIL) Program 2022 (competitive entry), UNSW Sydney – awarded to high performing and high potential leader.

Early Career Academics Network Awards for Research Excellence 2021 (Traditional Research Output) for ‘Priorities and Practices of Risk Reduction among Australian Gay and Bisexual Men who Use Crystal Methamphetamine for Sex’ journal article; Faculty of Arts, Design & Architecture, UNSW.

Early Career Academics Network Publication Awards 2020 (Non-traditional Research Output) for ‘Crystal Clear: Negotiating pleasures and risk around sex on crystal’ podcast series; Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, UNSW.

Awarded participant, Kathleen Fitzgerald Laureate Mentorship Scheme, University of Melbourne, 3 – 7 December 2018 - awarded to outstanding early career female researchers to complete an intensive mentoring programme with a focus on research leadership and enhancing career progression (competitive entry; flights and accommodation provided for the duration of the program).

Finalist, Rita and John Cornforth Award (2016), Graduate Medal, University of Sydney - awarded to a person who has achieved the highest standard of academic proficiency in a doctoral thesis, and contributed to the diverse life of the University and broader community (one of four finalists; over 160 submissions).

Dean’s Citation for Excellence in Tutorials (2013), Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Sydney - awarded for tutorial-style teaching, with special mention of ability to teach with sensitivity and for lesson planning.

My Research Activities

Current projects:

“Diverse experiences and Understandings of Immunity in the Pandemic Age”, 2022-2023 - Co-investigator.
“Health Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for the Decriminalisation of Sex Work”, 2022-2027 – Co-investigator.
“Reproductive Autonomy in the Genomic Age”, 2019-2023 – Research Associate leading empirical arm.
“Our Voices, Our Way, Our Lives Project evaluation”, 2022-2023– Chief investigator and project manager.
“The role of language in inclusive women’s health: a case study on cervical cancer screening”, 2022-2023 - Lead investigator
Centre for Research Excellence in the accelerated implementation of new point-of-care technology for infectious diseases, 2020 - current – Social Science stream: Research Fellow.
- Subproject: Understanding the health system implications for delivering integrated POCT for infectious diseases in primary care settings, led by Professor Carla Treloar. 2020. (CRE funded; $80,000) - Co-investigator.

Previous projects:

"Identifying factors that improve the health of people released from prison who inject drugs", 2017-2020– Research manager and NTRO production manager
- Subproject: Health of people who inject drugs released from prison: changing general public attitudes, 2021 – Co-investigator
"Equity Focussed Health Impact Assessment of the medium to long term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated response", 2020-2021 – Co-investigator
“How do place-based services evolve in a world of virtual, physical and hybrid service delivery”, 2021-2022; ANZSOG demonstration project – Co-investigator
Scoping review of the care and support needs among people with hepatitis B/C nearing end of life, 2021 – Lead investigator
Peer Health Champions, Waterloo, 2020-2021; supported by the Waterloo Human Services Collaboration Group, a joint initiative between Sydney Local Health District, Department of Community and Justice, and City of Sydney Council – Academic advisor.
"Deadly Liver Mob", 2016-2021; NHMRC Partnerships grant – Implementation Toolkit Website production manager
"Efficacy of health promotion intervention for LGBTQ communities: scoping review, 2020 – Co-Investigator
"Meaningful inclusion of trans and gender diverse populations in cervical cancer screening: A pilot study" 2018 – Co-Investigator.
'my health, our family’: documenting stories of family life in the context of HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C, 2018-2020 - Research Fellow.
Crystal, Sex and Pleasures between Men, 2017-2019 – Research Manager; Key Researcher; Podcast producer.
Intimate Investments in Drag King Cultures: The Rise and Fall of Lesbian Social Scenes. 2017 – 2019; Monograph, commission by Palgrave Macmillan – Lead Investigator
Complex and changing needs of the ageing population living with viral hepatitis and/or HIV in the ACT, 2017-2018 - literature review and report co-author.

My Research Supervision

Areas of supervision

Qualitative research in public health; Social determinants of health and health inequities; LGTBQ identities, relations and practices; queer performance cultures and scenes; social scenes and scene-making.

Completed PhDs include:

Giselle Newton (2019-2022), Everyday belongings: Exploring Australian donor-conceived adults’ social, linguistic and digital practices across private and public domains. PhD thesis by publication. Joint supervision with Professor Christy Newman, Centre for Social Research in Health, and Associate Professor Michelle Zappavigna, School of the Arts & Media, at UNSW Sydney. PhD awarded with no revisions; recipient: Dean’s Award for Outstanding PhD Theses. hdl.handle.net/1959.4/100760
James MacGibbon (2018-2022), Redefining negotiated safety: Gay, bisexual and queer men adapting to HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis in intimate relationships, Doctoral candidate. Co-supervision with Professor Martin Holt, Centre for Social Research in Health, and Dr Benjamin Bavinton, Kirby Institute, at UNSW Sydney. PhD awarded with minor revisions; http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/100838

My Engagement

Memberships:

Affect and Emotion Network, 2021 to current.
Association for Cultural Studies, 2016 to current.
Australasian Society for HIV Medicine (ASHM), Affiliate Member, 2018 to current.
Australian Women’s & Gender Studies Association, 2017 to current.
Cultural Studies Association of Australasia, 2012 to current.
The Australian Sociological Association, 2017 to current.

My Teaching

While I am in research-focussed roles at UNSW Sydney, I regularly accept invitations to guest lecture in the areas of:

social determinants of health
health equity for marginalised communities
qualitative methodologies, including sensory ethnography and the art of interviewing
queer performances, performativity and LGBTQ scenes
scene theory and practices

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