Professor Jeffrey Grierson

Professor Grierson is a social researcher with over 25 years of experience in HIV/AIDS and sexuality. His work with HIV positive populations and those at risk of HIV infection in Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia is widely respected for the combination of inclusive processes and high academic rigour.

[email protected]

Background

In 2014, Professor Grierson joined Anglia Ruskin University to contribute to our faculty’s research endeavour with marginalised communities in the health and social care context.
Professor Grierson's research career in the area of health and social care has focused on populations of people living with HIV/AIDS and populations at risk of HIV infection. This work, in Australasia and internationally, has focused on the points of engagement these populations have with systems of health care and social services. His work with people living with HIV includes the widely respected HIV Futures project. This project, for which he has been the principal investigator since 1998 has to date achieved seven rounds of data collection with over 7,000 surveys completed. He has also conducted the survey twice in New Zealand, and it has directly informed similar projects in Norway, Japan and Botswana. Other important projects in this area include Tracking Changes, a project that has helped us understand antiretroviral adherence in the 21st century, and national collaborations including the Positive Health Cohort Study.

In the area of marginalised communities, Jeffrey's doctoral work with gay men in Melbourne has been followed by work that has employed social network methodologies such as the Vines Study and Mapping Gay Communities with Professor Anthony Smith, innovative work in gay saunas in Melbourne, an ongoing NHMRC project exploring the construct of monogamy among gay men, work with the Bangkok gay community, internet surveys in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam with gay men and his recent work on a large program of work in Indonesia, funded by AusAID through the Indonesian National AIDS Commission.

Research interests

• HIV/AIDS- particularly the lived experience of PLHIV, the relationship between PHLIV and clinicians and the wellbeing of PLHIV communities
• The experience of antiretroviral and other HIV medication from the patient perspective
• Sexuality and the dynamics of sexual communities
• Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transgendered communities in Developing countries
• Social research as advocacy and activism
• Sexual health promotion
• Marginality and social connectedness
• Social drug use and drug using communities
• Social network analysis as a method for understanding social construction of marginalised communities
• 2-mode social network analysis and its role in accessing ‘hard to reach’ populations

Areas of research supervision

Professor Grierson would be pleased to consider supervising doctoral students with the following research interests/topics:

• HIV/AIDS
• Social network analysis
• Gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and intersex communities
• Social drug use
• Marginalised communities
• Sex work and social policy
• Sexuality in developing countries

Recent and current doctoral supervision as first supervisor:

• The generational cost of HIV in Zimbabwe: comparable analysis of the psychosocial effect of HIV between perinatally and behaviourally infected adolescents/young people as they transit into adulthood (current)
• What are the experiences of Black and Ethnic Minority students in relation to their progression on undergraduate social work courses in England? (current)
• The implementation of the Unitary supervision approach in Cambridgeshire (current)
• Improving the general understanding of the public role in participating in clinical trials for new medicines and their benefits in the NHS (current)
• Cultural adaptation of maternal health interventions to enhance access, acceptance and improve maternal health in Nigeria (current)
• Social Support and the Experience of Living with HIV for Women in Australia (current)
• Locating Pleasure: Narratives of Women's Intimate Experiences in the Quest for Sexual Well-Being in Contemporary Vietnam (2015)
• Malay Muslim PLU men in Peninsular Malaysia: Negotiating non-heteronormative sexualities and sexual identities in Malay Muslim-dominant society (2015)

Qualifications

• PhD, Community, Attachment, Structures and the Epidemic (CASE): A Study of the Importance of Gay Community in the Lives of Gay Men. Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University, Victoria. Submitted 5/11/98, Conferred 24/9/99.
• BPsych (Hons), James Cook University, Queensland. Subjects included extensive statistical content and a focus on social psychology. Thesis topic: AIDS Risk At Blarney Stone: A Content Analysis of Newspaper Articles on AIDS 1983-1985. Grade: Class I 

Memberships, editorial boards

• Member: National BBV STI Strategy Indicator Working Group 2014
• Member [Confidential Committee]: Department of Health Victoria 2012-present
• HIV Taskforce: Department of Health Victoria- 2009- 2011
• Board Member: Australian Federation of AIDS Organisation (AFAO) 2007- 2009
• National Program Committee (NPC) ASHM Annual Conferences 2007-2010
• Chair, Research and Ethics Committee, Victorian AIDS Council/ Gay Men's Health Centre (2000-2011)
• Member, Campaigns Advisory Committee, Victorian AIDS Council/ Gay Men's Health Centre (2009-2014)

Research grants, consultancy, knowledge exchange

• 2014 McNally S and Grierson J MSM/TG: Strengthening synergies between policy, community and research (ASHM Leadership Program), (R14-0389), Australia Awards Fellowship $217,936
• 2014-2016 Prestage G, Grierson J, Jin F, Degenhardt L, Batrouney C, Martin P, Honnor G Drug using behaviours and beliefs, and associated harms, among gay and bisexual men ARC Discovery Grant $600,000
• 2011-2012 Grierson J, McNally S. Strategic HIV research for men who have sex with men in Indonesia, AusAID through NAC (Indonesia), $274,573
• 2010-2013 Smith A, Grierson J, Prestage G: Monogamy as an HIV and STI prevention strategy for gay men, NH&MRC Project Grant $394,250
• 2010-2011 Grierson J and Saxton P The role of situational disinhibition in HIV and STI risk among gay men at international gay sporting events La Trobe University, $18,500
• 2009-2011 Grierson J and Pitts M Treatment Experience among HIV-positive people, Gilead Sciences Pty Ltd $99 836
• 2010 Grierson J and Pitts M Review of the NZAF’s research, Analysis, Policy, Information/Library and Evaluation Delivery Activities: An Assessment and Future Directions, New Zealand AIDS Foundation $NZ 15,000

Selected recent publications

Book chapters

McNally, S. Grierson J. and Hidayana I. (2015) Belonging, Community and Identity: Gay Men in Indonesia, in Sexing Indonesia: Sexual Subjectivities, Politics and Subcultures of the Reformasi era, edited by Linda Rae Bennett and Sharyn Graham Davies, Routledge

J Grierson & P Canavan (2007) Social Research with HIV Positive Populations: A Conversation (pp143-159) in Pitts M & Smith A (Eds.) Researching the Margins: Strategies for Ethical and Rigorous Research With Marginalised Communities Palgrave MacMillan, Basingstoke UK

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles

Rachel Koelmeyer, Dallas R. English, Anthony Smith & Jeffrey Grierson (2014): Association of social determinants of health with self-rated health among Australian gay and bisexual men living with HIV, AIDS Care: Psychological and Socio-medical Aspects of AIDS/HIV, 26:1, 65-74, DOI:10.1080/09540121.2013.793273

Lyons, A., Pitts, M., & Grierson, J. (2013). Methamphetamine use in a nationwide online sample of older Australian HIV‐positive and HIV‐negative gay men. Drug and alcohol review, 32(6), 603-610.

Chris Lemoh; Claire E Ryan, Ph.D.; Zamberi Sekawi; Anna C Hearps; Eman Aleksic; Doris Chibo; Jeffrey Grierson; Samia Baho; Alan Street; Margaret Hellard; Beverley-Ann Biggs; Suzanne M Crowe (2013) Acquisition of HIV by African-born residents of Victoria, Australia: insights from molecular epidemiology, PLoS ONE 8(12): e84008. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0084008

Lyons, A. , Pitts, M., Grierson, J. (2012) Exploring the psychological impact of HIV: Health comparisons of older Australian HIV-positive and HIV-negative gay men AIDS and Behavior, Volume 16, Issue 8, November 2012, Pages 2340-2349

Lyons, A., Pitts, M., Grierson, J. (2012) Versatility and HIV Vulnerability: Patterns of Insertive and Receptive Anal Sex in a National Sample of Older Australian Gay Men, AIDS and Behavior , pp. 1-8   Article in Press

Anthony Lyons, Marian Pitts, Jeffrey Grierson, Anthony Smith, Stephen McNally, Murray Couch (2012) Sexual Behavior and HIV Testing Among Bisexual Men: A Nationwide Comparison of Australian Bisexual-Identifying and Gay-Identifying Men AIDS and Behavior 16 (7) , pp. 1934-1943

Anthony Lyons, Marian Pitts, Jeffrey Grierson (2012) Growing Old as a Gay Man: Psychosocial Well-Being of a Sexual Minority, Research on Aging published online 3 May 2012, DOI: 10.1177/0164027512445055

Anthony Lyons, Marian Pitts, Jeffrey Grierson, Anthony Smith, Stephen McNally, Murray Couch (2012) Age at first anal sex and HIV/STI vulnerability among gay men in Australia, Sexually Transmitted Infections 88 (4) , pp. 252-257

Anthony Lyons, Marian Pitts, Geoffrey Smith, Jeffrey Grierson, Anthony Smith, Stephen McNally, and Murray Couch (2011) Versatility and HIV Vulnerability: Investigating the Proportion of Australian Gay Men Having Both Insertive and Receptive Anal Intercourse, Journal of Sexual Medicine; 8:2164–2171

J Grierson, R Koelmeyer, A Smith, M Pitts (2011) Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy: Factors Independently Associated with Reported Difficulty Taking Antiretroviral Therapy in a National Sample of HIV-Positive Australians, HIV Medicine Volume 12, Issue 9, October 2011, Pages: 562–569

John M Murray, Garrett G Prestage, Jeffrey Grierson, Melanie G Middleton, and Ann A McDonald (2011) Increasing HIV diagnoses in Australia among men who have sex with men correlated with the growing number not taking antiretroviral therapy, Sexual Health Vol. 8 No. 3 Pages 304 - 310

Anthony N Lyons, Marian Pitts, Anthony Smith and Jeffrey Grierson (2010) Letter to the Medical Journal of Australia: "The case for boosting infant male circumcision in the face of rising heterosexual transmission of HIV ... and now the case against". (5 Dec 2010)

Lyons A, Pitts M, Grierson J, Thorpe R, Power J (2010) Aging with HIV:  Health and psychosocial wellbeing of older gay men, AIDS Care, 22 (10): 1236-1244

Chris N Lemoh, Samia Bah, Jeffrey Grierson, Margaret Hellard, Alan Street, Beverley-Ann Biggs (2010) African Australians living with HIV: a case series from Victoria Sexual Health, 7, 142–148

Anthony Lyons, Anthony M. A. Smith, Jeffrey W. Grierson and Henry von Doussa (2010) Australian men’s sexual practices in saunas, sex clubs and other male sex on premises venues, Sexual Health,  7, 186–192

Marina Carman, Jeffrey Grierson, Marian Pitts, Michael Hurley and Jennifer Power (2010) Trends in the location of the HIV-positive population in Australia: Implications for access to healthcare services and delivery, Sexual Health, 7, 154–158

Anthony Smith, Jeffery Grierson, and Henry von Doussa (2010) Gay men's sex venues, the men who use them, and gay community perceptions, Sexual Health 7, 177–181

Anthony Smith, Jeffery Grierson, and Henry von Doussa (2010) Understanding gay men’s sex venues as sites for sexual health promotion, Sexual Health, 7, 182–185

Reports

Anna Wilkinson, Carol El-Hayek, Yik Siang Cheah, Jeffrey Grierson, Graham Brown, James McMahon, Alison Duncan, Mark Stoové (2014) Financial barriers to HIV treatment in Victoria: A brief report Burnett Institute, Melbourne, Australia

Grierson J, McNally S, Hidayana I (2013) Networks of MSM in Indonesia: A 2‐mode study of MSM and sites of engagement, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia

J Grierson, M Pitts, R Koelmeyer (2013) HIV Futures Seven: The Health and Wellbeing of HIV Positive People in Australia, monograph series number 88, The Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society ,La Trobe University Melbourne, Australia

Grierson J and McNally S (2012) The Bangkok Sauna Study: Findings from a survey of gay men in Thailand, Monograph Number 87, Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia

J Grierson, R Koelmeyer and M Pitts (2011) Tracking Changes: Tracking the Experiences of Starting and Switching Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy in Australia, Monograph Series Number 85, The Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La T robe University, Melbourne, Australia

Grierson J and Pitts M (2011) NZAF’s Research, Analysis, Policy, Information / Library and Evaluation Delivery Activities: An Assessment and Future Directions. Confidential report to the Trust Board of the New Zealand AIDS Foundation.

Grierson J. (2010) Gap analysis of current prevention and sexual health/HIV care service provision for MSM Report prepared for Komisi Penanggulangan AIDS Nasional, Indonesia. Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia

R Koelmeyer, K McDonald, M Pitts and J Grierson (2010) HIV Futures 6: Making Positive Women’s Lives Count, Monograph Series Number 77, The Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia

J Grierson, J Power, M Pitts, S Croy, T Clement, R Thorpe and K McDonald (2009) HIV Futures 6: Making Positive Lives Count, monograph series number 74, The Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, Latrobe University, Melbourne, Australia

Carman, M., Grierson, J., Hurley, M., Pitts, M., & Power, J. (2009). HIV Populations in Australia: Implications for access to services and delivery (ARCSHS Monograph No. 71). Melbourne, Australia: Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University

Recent presentations and conferences

Grierson J. (2014) The lived experience of HIV positivity 1997 to 2013, The Division of Health Psychology, British Psychological Association Annual Conference 9-12 September, 2014, York UK

Grierson, J., Are young gay men really so different?: Considering the HIV health promotion needs of young gay men, Invited symposium at 13th Social Research Conference on HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Related Diseases (HHARD). Sydney, February 2014.

J Grierson, S McNally, I Hidayana (2013) Social inclusion, Stigma and Resistance: multi-method research with Indonesian gay men, MSM & Waria, 11th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP 11), Bangkok, Thailand, November 18 -22, 2013

J. Grierson (2013) HIV Futures 7- implications for the HIV sector Invited symposium presentation, 25th Annual Conference of the Australasian Society for HIV Medicine, October 21-23 Darwin, Australia

J Grierson, S McNally, I Hidayana (2013) An Indonesian 2-mode network study of gay, bisexual and MSM engagement with social and sexual sites in three cities, paper presented at the XXXIII Sunbelt Social Networks Conference of the International Network for Social Network Analysis. (INSNA), May 21-26 2013, Hamburg, Germany

J Grierson, S McNally, I Hidayana (2013) Hard to reach? Using social network analysis to optimise reach among gay, biseks & MSM in Indonesia (poster) 11th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP 11), Bangkok, Thailand, November 18 -22, 2013

J. Grierson, (2012) Tracking Changes- summary of findings, Invited paper for the Gilead Breakfast Symposium at The 24^th Australasian HIV/AIDS Conference, Melbourne, October 18, 2012

J. Grierson, (2012) Men and Place: Preliminary results from the first large scale social network study of Indonesian gay, bisexual and MSM engagement with social and sexual sites, Invited paper for a joint symposium at The 13^th International Union on Sexually Transmitted Infections World Congress and The 24^th Australasian HIV/AIDS Conference, Melbourne, October 17, 2012

M Pitts, J Grierson, R Koelmeyer (2012) Drivers of treatment change in PLHIV: Psycho-social factors are more important than considerations of adherence, poster presentation, 2012 ISHEID: International Symposium on HIV & Emerging Infectious Diseases, Marseille, France, 23rd to 25th May 2012

J Grierson, M Pitts, R Koelmeyer (2012) Consistency between clinician and patient perspectives on ARV treatment commencement and switching examined, poster presentation, 2012 ISHEID: International Symposium on HIV & Emerging Infectious Diseases, Marseille, France, 23rd to 25th May 2012

J. Grierson, (2011) Building strategic research with MSM (LSL) communities in Indonesia, Invited symposium presentation, The 10^th International Congress of AIDS in Asia and the Pacific, Busan, Korea, August 26-30

J Grierson, M Pitts, R Koelmeyer (2011) The impact of patient and doctor concerns on commencing and changing antiretroviral treatment, The 10^th AIDS Impact Conference, Santa Fe, USA, September 12-15

J Grierson, S McNally (2011) Sex and sociality in Thai gay saunas, The 10^th AIDS Impact Conference, Santa Fe, USA, September 12-15

S McNally, J Grierson, M Pitts, A Smith, (2011) Bao cao su, kondom, ถุงยาง: sexual cultures, condoms and lubricant, The 10^th AIDS Impact Conference, Santa Fe, USA, September 12-15

S McNally, J Grierson, M Pitts, A Smith, (2011)  Assumptions, assessments and disclosure around HIV status for men who have sex with men (MSM) in Indonesia, The 10^th AIDS Impact Conference, Santa Fe, USA, September 12-15

J. Grierson, R. Koelmeyer, A. Smith, M. Pitts (2011) Independent factors associated with difficulty taking antiretroviral medication in an Australian sample of people living with HIV, Poster , The 6^th IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention, Rome Italy, 17-20 July

J Grierson (2011) Gaps in HIV prevention, treatment, care and support for MSM in Indonesia and strategies to address them: results of a rapid gap analysis, Poster, The 6^th IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention, Rome Italy, 17-20 July

M. Pitts, J. Grierson, R. Koelmeyer (2011) If it ain't broke, don't fix it: the impact of patient and doctor concerns on commencing and changing antiretroviral treatment, Poster, The 6^th IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention, Rome Italy, 17-20 July

R. Koelmeyer, J. Grierson, M. Pitts, (2011) If it ain't broke, don't fix it: the impact of patient and doctor concerns on commencing and changing antiretroviral treatment, Poster, The 23^rd Australasian HIV/AIDS Conference, Canberra, Australia, 26-28 September

J. Grierson, M. Pitts, A. Smith (2010) Gay and lesbian community attitudes to PLWHA and disclosure, Poster, The XVIII International AIDS Conference, Vienna, Austria, July 18-23

Grierson J, Couch M, Pitts M, Smith A, McNally S, Smith G (2010) Sexual health and sexual practice among Indonesian MSM, 16th IUSTI Asia Pacific Conference, Bali, Indonesia, May 4-6

Pitts M, Grierson J, Couch M, Smith A, McNally S, Smith G (2010) Understanding versatility and reciprocity in sexual practices in male to male sex, 16th IUSTI Asia Pacific Conference, Bali, Indonesia, May 4-6

Grierson J, Pitts M, Koelmeyer RL (2010) Ageing with HIV: health and wellbeing cohort effects for those over 40, 22nd Australasian HIV/AIDS Conference, October 20-22, Sydney

Grierson, J., Koelmeyer, R. L., Smith, A., & Pitts, M. (2010). Factors Associated with Difficulty Taking Antiretroviral Medication in an Australian Sample of People Living with HIV. Poster Number 137 exhibited to Australasian HIV/AIDS Conference. Sydney, October 2010.