Centre Co-director: Centre for Health, Activity and Rehabilitation Research
Professor Cathy Bulley (PhD, BSc (Hons) is a Professor in the Dietetics, Nutrition & Biological Sciences, Physiotherapy, Podiatry & Radiography Division. She is also co-director of the Centre for Health, Activity and Rehabilitation Research (CHEARR). Since 2018 she has been a founding co-director of the Health Design Collective Social Enterprise, a spin-out from ÐÔÊӽ紫ý.
- Overview
- Research Interests
- Research Publications
- Funded Projects
- Teaching & Learning
I trained as a Physiotherapist at ÐÔÊӽ紫ý between 1994 and 1998 and remained to complete my PhD in health psychology between 1998 and 2002. After working clinically, I found that my heart lay in research and development. I focused on using audit, service evaluation and research to advocate for people who are living with different long-term health conditions and for the people in their lives – families and informal carers. I have worked with people living with the impacts of breast cancer and its treatment, lymphedema, stroke, multiple sclerosis and renal disease. I take a pragmatic approach and use quantitative and qualitative methodologies as appropriate to ask and answer questions from different perspectives. More recently my work has progressed into enterprise and entrepreneurship. My research interests in people’s experiences of health devices led to collaboration with others to form a spin-out social enterprise called the ‘Health Design Collective’ . We collaborate with end-users to co-design fit-for-purpose, accessible, attractive and affordable heath care products. Our initial focus is on footwear for footdrop. I am progressing research into the footwear and strategies to support decision-making.
Affiliations/Memberships to Other Organisations:
- Member of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy
- Registered with the Health and Care Professions Council
- Member of the Association for Chartered Physiotherapists in Neurology
Professional Social Media:
Research/Knowledge Exchange Centre Membership:
Co-director of the Centre for Health, Activity and Rehabilitation Research
I have wide ranging interests which have developed through interdisciplinarity and support of others. My most persistent research focus has been on foot drop and devices that support people who are living with it, particularly functional electrical stimulation. This interest has led to my involvement in social entrepreneurship – particularly in co-founding a spin-out social enterprise called the Health Design Collective. We are developing and researching footwear for footdrop. This has developed my fascination with ensuring a circular approach to research and knowledge exchange – with much shorter and more iterative relationships between research, innovation and practice.
I believe everyone should be reflective about their underlying influences and the way in which we research, innovate, practice and teach. This has led me to interests in person-centredness and in decolonising. I have become interested in how we can use artificial intelligence in a way that makes people’s lives better when making health-related decisions, as well as in how we can use it to support our research practices.
Active Research Interests:
- Experiences of foot drop and related orthotic devices, particularly functional electrical stimulation
- Development of new devices for foot drop to provide options for people to choose from
- User-centred product design
- Use of Artificial Intelligence to support person-centred health decision making
- Knowledge exchange, enterprise and entrepreneurship
- Person-centred practice
- Decolonising research, teaching and practice
Research Methods:
- Qualitative research methods using face-to-face, online and telephone interactions, and most frequently from pragmatic, realist or phenomenological perspectives.
- Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement PPIE
- Service evaluation and development
- Use of social media in research
- Use of artificial intelligence in research
Research and KE Grants & Contracts Funding:
2023: HDC successfully applied to the Scottish Enterprise IP Audit Scheme, which provides £2500 toward an IP Audit
2022: HDC was awarded £1000  by the Merchants Company of Edinburgh Entrepreneurship Fund to support IP activities
2022: HDC was awarded £1500 by the Santander Universities Funding Enterprise and Innovation stream
2021: HDC Founders were awarded further Innovation Fellowship by ÐÔÊӽ紫ý with a total of £15,000 to provide support for their time
2021: HDC awarded Santander Universities Employability Scheme 2020/21 fully funded student internship
2021: MS Society Catalyst Award: The feasibility of Frame Running as an exercise option for people with MS with impaired balance and mobility. (van der Linden, M., Andreopoulou, G., Bulley, C. (Co-Investigator), Koufaki, P., Jagadamma, K., Theis, N) - £47,750.00 – January 2022 – December 2022
2021: SFC Research Funding to Mitigate the effects COVID 19 on the Research Base; Support After COVID: health and social care delivery for COVID-19 and influences on access to support across Scotland. Bulley, C. (Principal Investigator), Dewing, J., McCormack, B., Salisbury, L., Tyagi, V., Sagan, O., Magowan, R., Nicols, K.) - £28,280.00 – January 2021 – July 2021
2020: HDC awarded £1200 by the Santander Growth Fund
2020: Chief Scientist Office Rapid Research in Covid-19 Programme: Research Portfolio ÐÔÊӽ紫ý submission; Project 4: Supporting recovery from illness experienced in isolation due to a pandemic context: survey and development of recommendations for practice. (Bulley, C. (Principal Investigator), Dewing, J., McCormack, B., Salisbury, L., Tyagi, V., Sagan, O., Magowan, R., Nicols, K.) - £28,326.00 – May 2020 – October 2020.
2020: Chartered Society of Physiotherapy Professional Network Fund: Development of Clinical Guidelines for the use of Functional Electrical Stimulation to support walking Stage 2: Delphi Consensus Study (Bulley, C. (Principal Investigator), Burridge, J., Adonis, A., Street, T., Joiner, S., van der Linden, M.) - £10,000.000 – January 2021 – December 2021.
2019: HDC Founders were awarded further Innovation Fellowship by ÐÔÊӽ紫ý with a total of £15,000 to provide support for their time
2019: HDC awarded East Lothian Council Social Enterprise Start Up grant £3062.50
2019: HDC awarded East Lothian Council Seed Funding £500
2019: Joint funded by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy Professional Network Fund and the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Neurology: Development of Clinical Guidelines for the use of Functional Electrical Stimulation to support walking Stage 1: Design and systematic review of the evidence (Burridge, J., Bulley, C. (Co-applicant), Meagher, C., Street, T., Taylor, P.) - £10,000.000 – October 2019 – February 2020
2018: HDC was awarded £1000 by the Merchants Company of Edinburgh Entrepreneurship Fund, with additional mentoring in relation to medical device registration and legal aspects of intellectual property
2018: HDC Founders were awarded Innovation Fellowships by ÐÔÊӽ紫ý with a total of £15,000 to provide support for their time
2018: HDC was Runner-up in the ‘Social Enterprise’ category of Converge Challenge (£4000 cash award and £4000 in-kind support)
2018: The Society and College of Radiographers (SCoR) Doctoral Fellowship Grant: The distinctiveness of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual (LGB) persons affected by cancer treatment and impact on personhood: a participatory research study in Scotland. (Hill, G.: Doctoral Student and Dewing, J., Bulley, C. (Research Supervisors) - £24,957.00
2016: Multiple Sclerosis Society: Scoping the Needs Of FamiLies and Carers of people with MS (SNOFLAC-MS Study). (Bulley, C. (Principal Investigator), Baer, G., McCormack, B., Donald, S., Lugton, K., Gillespie, D.) - £47,947
2014: NIHR National Institute for Health Research: PrEscription of intraDialytic exercise to improve quAlity of Life (PEDAL Trial). (Macdougal, I., Mercer, T., Feehally, J., Kalra, P., McIntyre, C., Jardine, A., Ford, I, Walker, A., Macdonald, J., Greenwood, S., Pugh, C., Kumwenda, M., Koufaki, P., Smith, A., Palmer, N., Bulley, C. (Co-applicant; lead of qualitative sub-study)) - £ 1,368,413.00
2010: Breast Cancer Institute: Continuation: Validation of a multifaceted screening tool for identifying perceived changes in pain, fatigue, arm swelling and function after breast cancer treatment. (Bulley, C (Principal Investigator), Coutts, F., Blyth, C., Tan, C.) - £7,942.00
2009: MS Society: The impacts of core stability exercise (Pilates) on posture, pain, function and quality of life in wheelchair-users with Multiple Sclerosis, a feasibility study. (van der Linden, M., Bulley, C. (Co-applicant), Mercer, T., Hooper, J., Cowan, P.) - £39,190
2009: Breast Cancer Institute: Validation of a multifaceted screening tool for identifying perceived changes in pain, fatigue, arm swelling and function after breast cancer treatment. (Bulley, C. (Principal Investigator), Coutts, F., Blyth, C., Tan, C.) - £31,510.00
I particularly enjoy working with students who come from varied countries and cultures and have a focus on facilitating transitions into, through, and out of higher education. My primary topics of interest relate to integrating research and practice with knowledge exchange – particularly enterprise and entrepreneurship. I promote clinically-based dissertations at all levels in the physiotherapy subject area and have supported students on all programmes to publication and presentation from their dissertations.
