My research focuses on the history of medicine in Britain since the nineteenth century, primarily of hospitals, patients, mental healthcare and social work.

In 2024 I was awarded a Wellcome Trust Early Career Award with my project 'Almoners, patients, and the formation of medicine social work in Britain, 1895-1948'. The first almoners were appointed to charitable hospitals at the end of the nineteenth century to means-test patients and determine if they should be made to contribute toward their treatment, and, when necessary, refer them to charitable aftercare. In this project, I argue that these almoners were precursors to today’s social workers. By identifying the people who shaped the profession, almoners, patients, and their families, I will provide a new insight into the history of early twentieth century social work.

Previously, I was a Daphne Jackson Trust Fellow at the University of York, undertaking the project: 'Patient Data and the Media, 1860s to Present: Using historical scandals to explain current distrust surrounding access to medical data' (sponsored by the University of York, the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)).

My PhD in the History of Medicine (funded by a Wellcome Trust PhD Scholarship) at Oxford Brookes University examined patient case records of the Royal Free Hospital during the early twentieth century. It explored patient identity and choice in the medical marketplace, population health, hospital treatment, and patient experience.

My MA research (funded by a Wellcome Trust Masters Studentship) at Oxford Brookes examined patient case records of the first female gynaecologist appointed at the general hospital in Britain, the record book of the first Lady Almoner (modern day social worker), and post-mortem records from the Littlemore Pauper Mental Asylum in Oxford during the 1880s.

I'm also an award winning playwright and screenwriter. I've won Arts Council England funding, been commissioned by theatre and production companies across the U.K, and most recently have been named a finalist in the Shore Scripts OutHere script competition 2024, the Thousand Films script competition 2024, and am a member of the New Writing North Script Development Group 2025.

Key Publications

Calabria, V. and Cullen, L., ‘Deinstitutionalisation and the Move to Community Care: Comparing England and Ireland post-1922’, History of Psychiatry 35, 2 (2024) 141-157

Cullen, L., ‘Post-mortem in the Victorian Asylum: Practice, Purpose, and Findings at the Littlemore County Lunatic Asylum, 1886-7’, History of Psychiatry, 28, 3 (2017) 280-296

Cullen, L., ‘The First Lady Almoner: The Appointment, Position and Findings of Miss Mary Stewart at the Royal Free Hospital, 1895-1899’, Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, 68, 4, (2013) 551-582

Cullen, L., ‘Patient Case Records in Medical and Family History: Examining the Records of the Royal Free Hospital’, Family & Community History, 15, 1 (2012) 3-14