Any views expressed within media held on this service are those of the contributors, should not be taken as approved or endorsed by the University, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University in respect of any particular issue.
Sachet of doxycycline capsules

Engaging DoxyPEP in Scotland

Engaging DoxyPEP in Scotland

Toggle navigation menu Menu

  1. Engaging DoxyPEP in Scotland
  2. Research Insights
  3. Stage 1: Understanding DoxyPEP

Stage 1: Understanding DoxyPEP

Understanding Biosocial Aspects of DoxyPEP in the UK is a qualitative research study run by Dr Chase Ledin. The study involves semi-structured interviews with doctors, nurses, health promotion specialists, microbiologists, and other allied healthcare professionals working in sexual health.

The Problem

Background: Recent biomedical and clinical research has demonstrated good efficacy and safety of doxycycline use for preventing bacterial STIs (including chlamydia, gonorrhoea, and syphilis) amongst gay and bisexual men (GBMSM). This research situates DoxyPEP in relation to broader public health issues of antibiotic over-consumption, including sustainable antibiotic use and stewardship within population health.

Problem: Principally, public health researchers question if/whether increased use amongst GBMSM will have a disproportionate impact upon population health. However, recent social science scholarship has identified the need for more specific research about GBMSM-focussed health education tactics and stewardship strategies to avoid blaming discrete communities and making deterministic arguments against DoxyPEP use.

The Study

Research Focus: This research attends to the tensions between biological and social understandings of DoxyPEP, to uncover new ways of thinking about AMR stewardship in sexual health and medicine. The study is guided by two core questions:

  1. How and why do medical and healthcare practitioners understand the inclusion and implementation of DoxyPEP in sexual medicine? 
  2. How and why do practitioners define, negotiate, and/or contest the use of DoxyPEP within sexual communities?

Methods: The study uses semi-structured interviews with healthcare practitioners (n=16), including doctors, nurses, health promotion specialists, microbiologists, and allied health professionals.

Ethics & Funding: Ethical approval provided by Edinburgh Medical School Research Ethics Committee (25-EMREC-017). This study is funded by the Moray Endowment Fund (2025) and the Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness (2025).

The Findings

Findings from the study are currently being written up. Stay tuned for more updates.

The Outcomes

Stay tuned for more updates.

css.php

Report this page

To report inappropriate content on this page, please use the form below. Upon receiving your report, we will be in touch as per the Take Down Policy of the service.

Please note that personal data collected through this form is used and stored for the purposes of processing this report and communication with you.

If you are unable to report a concern about content via this form please contact the Service Owner.

Please enter an email address you wish to be contacted on. Please describe the unacceptable content in sufficient detail to allow us to locate it, and why you consider it to be unacceptable.
By submitting this report, you accept that it is accurate and that fraudulent or nuisance complaints may result in action by the University.

  Cancel