Dr Emma Pullen

Emma Pullen is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences (SSEHS).  She completed her PhD at Loughborough University in 2016 before completing a UKRI funded Postdoctoral Research position. Emma joined Loughborough University as a Lecturer in 2019. Emma currently leads the University Women in Sport Research Hub and the Health and Wellbeing for Women in Sport Research Cluster.

Emma’s research interests are broadly focused on gender/sex equity in sport and exercise contexts with a particular focus on female health and wellbeing, feminist debates and transdisciplinary approaches, and intersectionality. Emma has experience in the creative curation of research data for public consumption and has translated her research through artwork, documentary and creative film, radio and public talks. Emma has led on research projects funded by UKRI, UK Sport, and central government.

Emma is an editorial board member for the journal Communication and Sport and regularly peer reviews papers for leading journals in her field such as Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, Sports Medicine, and International Review for the Sociology of Sport. Emma has been involved in a number of professional working groups and is a member of the Peer Review College (PRC) for the Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC). Emma has contributed to policy development, documentaries, radio and online media including BBC East Midlands and BBC World Service.

• Malcolm, D, Marcén, C, & Pullen, E. (2023). The World Health Organization, physical activity and the contradictions of neoliberal health promotion. International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics, 1-15. DOI: 10.1080/19406940.2023.2242874
• Pullen, E, Miller, B, Wiltshire, G, Plateau C. (2022). A feminist materialist inspired analysis of the meaning and management of pregnancy and reproductive health in Olympic and Paralympic female athletes. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health. DOI: 10.1080/2159676X.2022.2146162
• Wiltshire, G, Pullen, E, Brown, FF, Osborn, M, Wexler, S, Beresford, M, Tooley, M, Turner, JE. (2020). The experiences of cancer patients within the material hospital environment: Three ways that materiality is affective. Social Science & Medicine, 264, pp.113402-113402. DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113402
• Malcolm, D, & Pullen, E. (2020). 'Everything I enjoy doing I just couldn’t do': Biographical disruption for sport-related injury. Health, 24(4), 366-383. DOI: 10.1177/1363459318800142
• Pullen, E. and Silk, M. 2019. Gender, technology and the Ablenational Paralympic body politic. Cultural Studies. DOI: 10.1080/09502386.2019.1621917
• Pullen, E, & Malcolm, D. (2018). Assessing the side effects of the ‘exercise pill’: The paradox of physical activity health promotion. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 10(4), 493-504. DOI: 10.1080/2159676X.2017.1388833