Gavin Brookes

Fulbright All Disciplines Scholar Award - Northern Arizona University

Gavin is a UKRI Future Leader Fellow in the Department of Linguistics and English Language at Lancaster University. He is a linguist, with a particular interest in how people use language in relation to health and illness, in contexts such as the news media and public health communication.  

Gavin’s expertise has given him a deep appreciation of how fundamental language use is to the ways in which we communicate about health, and the implications this can have for how particular illnesses and health issues are understood and indeed experienced. While at Northern Arizona University, Gavin will work with world-leading linguists to explore how news media in the US communicate about dementia to the general public. Also working with project partners from public health and media organizations, it is Gavin’s hope that his work can help to raise better awareness among public communicators in the US about the potential implications of their language use and the choices they make when writing or talking about dementia. This ambition is a personal one for Gavin; he and his family have been directly affected by dementia, and during his studies Gavin worked part-time in dementia care.   

Outside of his research, Gavin enjoys travelling, science fiction and old horror movies, and watching and playing football (or soccer!). When in Arizona, he’s looking forward to hiking, sampling local craft beers, and exploring the Grand Canyon.