Allison Ford

Allison Ford serves as an Associate Professor at the Institute for Social Marketing and Health at the University of Stirling. Her academic work focuses on understanding health behaviors and the complex relationship between marketing practices and public health outcomes.

Dr. Ford specializes in qualitative research methods and has developed expertise in tobacco prevention, cessation strategies, and harm reduction approaches. Her research portfolio includes significant work on alcohol use patterns, bereavement related to substance use, food marketing impacts, and public attitudes toward Covid-19 vaccination. She has established a strong track record of conducting research with disadvantaged and vulnerable populations.

Her current research leadership includes directing the Scottish arm of an NIHR-funded randomized controlled trial examining e-cigarettes versus standard care for smoking cessation in homeless centers. She also leads critical work packages on e-cigarettes and emerging nicotine products marketing, along with a DHSC-funded study investigating women's access to and attitudes about contraception. Since 2013, she has been an investigator for the Youth Tobacco Policy Survey (now expanded to the Youth E-cigarettes Policy Survey).

Dr. Ford currently serves as the University of Stirling lead and Co-Investigator in the NIHR Public Health Policy Research Unit, a position she assumed in June 2022. She also contributes to the University of Stirling's NHS, Invasive or Clinical Research (NICR) Ethics Committee. Her previous service roles include serving as Associate Editor for Nicotine and Tobacco Research, board membership with the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco Europe, and module coordination for the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies (UKCTAS)/SPECTRUM CPD program on Nicotine and Tobacco: Current Issues, Policy and Practice.