I am a criminologist and social policy scholar specialising in the governance and delivery of prison health. My research investigates how politics, policy, and public health intersect with punishment, with a particular focus on the structural challenges facing some of society’s most marginalised populations.

My recent monograph, The English Prison Health System After a Decade of Austerity (2023), was shortlisted for three major academic honours: the Social Policy Association’s Richard Titmuss Award, the British Academy’s Peter Townsend Award, and the British Society of Criminology’s Book Award. Such official recognition by my peers reveals the significance of my research across the fields of social policy and criminology.

My work has informed global and national policy through collaboration with the World Health Organization, the European and UN Committees for the Prevention of Torture, the House of Commons Justice Committee, and the National Audit Office. I have also contributed expert insights to civil society organisations such as the Howard League for Penal Reform and Penal Reform International.

As principal investigator of a British Academy–funded project evaluating pandemic preparedness in Southeast Asian prisons (and as a co-investigator on several other projects), I have secured over £500,000 in external research funding. I am also part of a forward-thinking network actively charting a new research agenda on the diminishing use of capital punishment in Malaysia, a topic that is especially significant following that country’s abolishment of the mandatory death penalty in 2023.

My research has been featured in major media outlets, including The Guardian, Byline Times, Daily Mirror, and Al Jazeera, reflecting its wider public and policy relevance. In addition, I serve as co-editor of Justice, Power, and Resistance (Bristol University Press) and sit on the editorial board of the International Journal of Prison Health. So too do I co-lead the Social Harm Policy Group under the Social Policy Association, a collaborative initiative spanning seven institutions, which advances interdisciplinary research on contemporary social harms.

At the University of Bristol, I am Programme Director for BSc Criminology. In 2025, I was shortlisted for the European Award for Excellence in Teaching in the Social Sciences and Humanities, where the judging panel recognised my application as among the most distinguished submissions across 44 countries. Finally, I also serve as external examiner for BSc Criminology at the University of Lancaster.

Before entering academia, I worked as a Public Health Commissioner in Southwest England. That professional grounding continues to shape my core belief: prison health is public health, especially in a system where nine out of ten prisoners eventually return to the community.

For research collaborations, media enquiries, or speaking invitations, please contact me at Nasrul.Ismail@bristol.ac.uk. I also welcome the opportunity to supervise PhD candidates on topics aligned with my research interests.