Dr Patricia Cullen | UNSW Research

Keywords

implementation science

adolescence

intimate partner violence

family violence

co-design

Fields of Research (FoR)

Public Health and Health Services, Health and Community Services, Mental Health

SEO tags

Women's Health

Mental Health

Social Structure and Health

Health and Support Services

Mental Health

Biography

My research program focuses on strengthening how health and social systems prevent and respond to violence, abuse and early life adversity. As a public health researcher, clinical psychology registrar and educator, I bring research and practice together to embed trauma- and violence-informed care in the everyday work of health, education and community services.

Using implementation science, co-design, cohort studies and intervention trials, my...view more

Using implementation science, co-design, cohort studies and intervention trials, my research develops and tests approaches that build evidence for prevention, early intervention, and recovery models of care. Recently, my work has focused on supporting organisations to build supportive cultures through workforce development, peer-support and peer-led initiatives, and approaches that promote collective care for safer, more inclusive workplaces and communities.

My Qualifications

Doctor of Philosophy, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, 2013-2017

Master of Clinical Psychology, School of Psychology, University of Wollongong, 2021-2022

Bachelor of Social Science (Psychology) Honours (Class 1), School of Psychology, Charles Sturt University, 2009-2012

My Awards

Distinguished Dozen for the Journal of Adolescent Health (2024)
Centre of Research Excellence for Driving Global Investment in Adolescent Health Emerging Leader Publication Award (2024)
School of Population Health Early Career Teaching Award (2024)
Faculty Educational Excellence Award, Early Career (2024)
Faculty Education Innovation Team Award (2022)
Research Action Award winner, Sax Institute (2017) https://www.saxinstitute.org.au/news/celebrating-research-making-real-world-difference/
Australian Injury Prevention Network: Award for best student abstract (2015)

My Research Activities

Current projects include:

RESTORE Centre of Research Excellence (NHMRC, 2024-29): National research collaboration transforming how health systems respond to trauma and sexual violence through trauma- and violence-informed, lived experience-led research. As CI and Lived Experience Co-Lead, I am responsible for strategic planning and embedding lived experience across research, governance and capacity development restorecentre.org.au
Trauma- and Violence-Informed Care PREM (2024-2026): Development of patient-reported experience measure to assess the quality and safety of trauma- and violence-informed care for use in domestic, family and sexual violence services.
Peer-support: Suite of projects evaluating peer-led support models to identify principles, structures and enabling conditions for safe, ethical, and effective peer support across community and health settings.
MANTRA Measuring the benefits of trauma-sensitive yoga (NHMRC, 2025-28): Randomised controlled trial led by the University of Melbourne testing trauma-sensitive yoga against cognitive processing therapy to support recovery following sexual violence medicine.unimelb.edu.au/mantra
Child to Adult Transition Study (NHMRC, 2023-27): Longitudinal study examining how early life adversity influences mental health trajectories from adolescence into adulthood, identifying early intervention points using longitudinal data and participatory methods mcri.edu.au/cats
Perpetrator Study (ANROWS, 2024-27): Identifying opportunities for prevention by understanding pathways, risk and protective factors for people who use violence anrows.org.au/measuringdfsv
WEB Project (MRFF, 2024-29): Cluster randomised trial testing a multicomponent trauma- and violence-informed care model in primary care saferfamilies.org.au/web-project
School-based Prevention Trials (MRFF & SPA, 2024-29): Led by the Black Dog Institute in partnership with NSW Department of Education, a series of large-scale studies implementing trauma-informed and co-designed prevention initiatives in primary schools, including the Good Behaviour Game and the U&I self-harm prevention programme.

My Research Supervision

Areas of supervision

I am committed to developing researchers with ethical, trauma- and violence-informed and participatory approaches. My supervision emphasises reflexivity, collaboration and translation that supports students to produce work that has both academic and real-world impact.

I currently supervise higher degree research students investigating topics such as trauma- and violence-informed workforce development, peer-led support models, measurement frameworks for trauma-informed care, and prevention and improving health outcomes following exposure to early life adversity.

My Teaching

Convenor of two postgraduate electives (PHCM9761 Public Health Aspects of Mental Health, PHCM9793 Public Health Advocacy & Communication), with course design explicitly grounded in mutual and skills-based learning within real world tasks, and building graduate capabilities aligned with students' professional goals.
Recognised by three UNSW Education Awards: Faculty Education Innovation Team Award (2022); School of Population Health Early Career Teaching Award (2024); Faculty Educational Excellence Award, Early Career (2024).

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