Contact
Biography
I am an Associate Professor in Sociology with a research interest in sociology of health and illness. I am particularly interested in health inequality, the experience of chronic illness, and the experience of health in older age.
I play an active role in research and knowledge exchange. I am lead for the Institute of Science and Society at the 糖心原创 and Co-Convenor of the British Sociological Association's Medical Sociology Conference. Through these roles, I supports interdisciplinary collaboration, knowledge exchange and the development of the medical sociology community.
I also hold honorary roles at University of Liverpool and the University of Leicester. I completed my PhD in Sociology at the 糖心原创, and I have an MSc in Public Health and a BSc in Environmental Health.
Prior to academic work, I worked in public health in local government for ten years.
Teaching Summary
I teach across the BA Sociology, and Masters of Social Science Research.
For 2026/2027 I will module convenor for Doing Ethnography (SOCI4063 UNUK)
I will also teach on:
- Controversies about Humanity: Experts, Patients and Trust in Science L3 (SOCI3045 UNUK)
- Living Together: Culture, Power, Change (SOCI1017 UNUK)
- Social Science Uncovered 1 (SOCI1022 UNUK)
- Social Science Uncovered 2 (SOCI1023 UNUK)
Research Summary
Research Summary
Since beginning my first academic post in 2017, I have been working on research to improve the experience of health and illness and the delivery of healthcare systems. It is important to me that the research I do benefits those who it is about and has a wider impact that results in positive outcomes. I have worked on studies to explore co-production/co-creation in healthcare, the experience of chronic illness, the experience of health in older age, and the use of Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) in research.
Current Research
I am currently involved in a number of research projects addressing key issues within the sociology of health and illness, with a particular interest in ageing, frailty, healthcare experiences, and patient and public involvement.
I lead work-stream Two of the ESRC-funded study Understanding the Varied Experiences of Frailty in Older Age with Respect to Ethnicity. This works-tream uses photovoice methodology to explore older people's experiences and understandings of ageing and frailty, with particular attention to the ways in which ethnicity and social context shape these experiences.
I am also involved in research exploring patient and public motivations for engaging in patient and public involvement (PPI) activities. This work seeks to better understand the factors that influence people's decisions to become involved in health and social care research.
I have published a number of papers to advance to conceptualisation of biographical disruption. Biographical disruption is a key concept in the sociology of health and illness that has been influential to the understanding of the lived experience of chronic illness. I am currently working on a proposal for an edited collection to showcase work addressing biographical disruption. This will be the first collection of its kind and will be targeted at academics, researchers and practitioners.
I like to use creative methods in my research and I am currently working on developing an accessible and efficient method of analysis for participant generated images.
Research dissemination
As well as publishing in high quality journals and presenting at influential academic conferences I aim to ensure that research findings are accessible to those who cannot access academic outlets. To ensure the research I do benefits those who it is about and is accessible to the wider public, I include accessible dissemination in the work that I do. To do this I have held public facing, free and accessible exhibitions, run workshops, shared findings on open access websites, and I have included members of the public and patients in the dissemination of research (as well as other elements of the research process).
An example of this work can be found on the Frailty and Ethnicity study
Selected publications
Cluley, V., Pickard, S., Conroy, S. and Banerjee, J., 2026. What does frailty mean to older, racialised minority migrants living in the UK? A qualitative exploration of meaning and interpretation. Age and Ageing, 55(6), p.afag169.
Cluley, V., Thomas-Ekweh, G. and Oli, U., 2026. Exploring the relationship between race, older age, and health inequality in the UK: the experience of racialised minority older adults living in the UK. Social Science & Medicine, p.119313.
Cluley, V., Vanhoutte, B., Banerjee, J. and Pickard, S., 2025. The relationship between frailty, ethnicity and health inequality-a scoping review. Journal of Global Ageing, 2(1), pp.159-203.
Pickard, S., Cluley, V., Sharma, S., Oli, U., Thomas-Ekweh, G., Banerjee, J., Williams, C., Conroy, S., Vanhoutte, B. and Labeit, A., 2025. Diversity and "Successful Aging": Exploring intersectional and existential dimensions to aging well. The Gerontologist, 65(1), p.gnaf008.
Cluley, V., Trivedi, A. and Burton, J.O., 2024. Chronic illness as cultural disruption: The impact of chronic illness on religious and cultural practice. Sociology of Health & Illness, 46(8), pp.1901-1922.
Cluley, V., Burton, J.O., Hull, K.L. and Eborall, H., 2024. The paradox of haemodialysis: The lived experience of the clocked treatment of chronic illness. Health Sociology Review, 33(1), pp.24-42.
Cluley, V., Eborall, H., Hull, K., Quann, N. and Burton, J.O., 2024. Progressing the understanding of chronic illness and its treatment: A post-human, ethological understanding of haemodialysis. Health, 28(5), pp.716-735.
Cluley, V., Burton, J.O., Quann, N., Hull, K.L. and Eborall, H., 2023. Biographical dialectics: The ongoing and creative problem solving required to negotiate the biographical disruption of chronic illness. Social Science & Medicine, 325, p.115900.
Cluley, V., Fox, N. and Radnor, Z., 2023. Becoming frail: A more than human exploration. Health, 27(3), pp.417-434.
Cluley, V., Martin, G., Radnor, Z. and Banerjee, J., 2021. Talking about frailty: The relationship between precarity and the fourth age in older peoples' constructions of frailty. Journal of Aging Studies, 58, p.100951.
Cluley, V., Martin, G., Radnor, Z. and Banerjee, J., 2022. Talking about frailty: health professional perspectives and an ideological dilemma. Ageing & Society, 42(1), pp.204-222.
Cluley, V., Martin, G., Radnor, Z. and Banerjee, J., 2021. Frailty as biographical disruption. Sociology of Health & Illness, 43(4), pp.948-965.