Dr Marie Murphy PhD MSc BSc

Dr Marie Murphy

Department of Applied Health Sciences
Assistant Professor

Contact details

Address
Room 248 Murray Learning Centre
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham B15 2TT

Dr Marie Murphy is an Assistant Professor of Child and Adolescent Nutrition in the Public Health and Women’s Health Team. Marie’s research interests are centred around improving child and adolescent nutrition and addressing dietary inequalities and food insecurity through public health policy and intervention. Marie has led on studies evaluating school food policy in secondary schools and is currently leading a project exploring support for health eating in special schools. Marie is a member of the School for Public Health Research, working collaboratively with colleagues on a range of projects, including evaluation of the Holiday Activities and Food Programme. As a mixed methods researcher, Marie is interested in developing innovative and inclusive qualitative and mixed methods approaches for engaging young people in all stages of research.

Marie is Deputy Programme Lead for the Masters in Public Health, leading on Student Support.

ORCiD profile

ResearchGate profile 

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Qualifications

  • PhD Medical Sciences 2019
  • PGA Teaching and Learning in Higher Education 2016
  • MSc Public Health Nutrition 2007
  • BSc Biology 2003

Teaching

Marie is an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and contributes to teaching on the Masters in Public Health and the MBChB. Marie co-leads to MPH Health Improvement module and is interested in incorporating novel teaching approaches, such as Open Space Learning, to public health teaching.

Teaching activities:

Teaching interests:

    • Public Health Nutrition
    • Qualitative Methods and Mixed Methods Research
    • Novel teaching approaches
    • Supervising postgraduate research students

Other activities

Within the Department, Marie is a representative for the Early Career Researcher Academic Group and co-founder of the Department's special interest group on food, nutrition and weight. Externally, Marie is a member of the School for Public Health Research, and a committee member for their ResNet Early Career Researcher network. Marie co-chairs the UK Society for Behavioural Medicine Special Interest Group on Child Health.

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Hatch, L, Tinner, L, Khofi-Szeremley, C, Darling, F, Clohessy, S, Tanner, J, Robinson, H, Jago, R, Summerbell, C, Mazzoli-Smith, L, Pallan, M, Defeyter, MA & Murphy, M 2025, 'Challenges and opportunities for inclusive, equitable and accessible school holiday clubs for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)', International Journal for Equity in Health, vol. 24, no. 1, 236. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-025-02607-y

Pokhilenko, I, Pallan, M, Murphy, M, Adab, P, Morrison, B, Sitch, A, Adamson, A, Bartington, S, Duff, R, Griffin, T, Hurley, K, Lancashire, E, McLeman, L, Passmore, S, Rowland, M, Ravaghi, V, Spence, S & Frew, E 2025, 'Economic evaluation of the national school food standards across secondary schools in The Midlands, UK (the FUEL study): methodological challenges of undertaking health economics research within non-health settings', The International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, vol. 22, 142. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-025-01840-6

Floredin, I, Husbands, S, Hancock, J, Mitchell, PM, Coast, J, Frew, E, Adab, P, Murphy, M, Clarke, J, Pallan, M & Peters, TJ 2025, 'Factors associated with changes in capability-wellbeing for children and young people of secondary school age during the first covid-19 lockdown', Child Indicators Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-025-10294-y

Alving-Jessep, E, Pallan, M, Ansell, E, Hamill, L, McConnell, C, McIlwee, D, McKinley, MC, Moore, SE, Murphy, M, Neville, C, O’Neill, C, Sevel, E, Adab, P, Bryant, M, Chambers, S, Cardwell, CR, Ensaff, H, Evans, C, Reid, S, Holford, A, Bradley, J, Spence, S & Woodside, J 2025, 'Free school meals, diet quality and food insecurity in secondary school students: protocol for a multiple-methods study – the CANTEEN study', BMJ open, vol. 15, no. 10, e101428. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2025-101428

Pokhilenko, I, Frew, E, Murphy, M & Pallan, M 2025, 'Impact of the COVID-19 lockdown in the United Kingdom on adolescent’s time use (CONTRAST study)', PLOS ONE, vol. 20, no. 1, e0310597. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0310597

Darling, F, Mazzoli-Smith, L, Robson, M, Tinner, L, Murphy, M, Pallan, M, Tanner, J, Hatch, L, Jago, R & Summerbell, C 2025, 'Reflections of a Research Team on Using Creative Facilitation for the First Time: Illuminating the Lived Experience of the School Holidays for Children and Families Living in Poverty Across England', International Journal of Qualitative Methods, vol. 24, 16094069251369293. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069251369293

Ashraf, A, Murphy, M, Duff, R, Adab, P & Pallan, M 2025, 'Sustainability of Diets Consumed by UK Adolescents and Associations Between Diet Sustainability and Meeting Nutritional Requirements', Nutrients, vol. 17, no. 13, 2140. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17132140

Murphy, M, Coffey, A, Pallan, M & Oyebode, O 2024, 'Changing the food environment in secondary school canteens to promote healthy dietary choices: a qualitative study with school caterers', BMC Public Health, vol. 24, no. 1, 1970. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-19513-7

Pallan, M, Murphy, M, Morrison, B, Sitch, A, Adamson, A, Bartington, S, Dobell, A, Duff, R, Frew, E, Griffin, T, Hurley, K, Lancashire, E, McLeman, L, Passmore, S, Pokhilenko, I, Rowland, M, Ravaghi, V, Spence, S & Adab, P 2024, 'National school food standards in England: a cross-sectional study to explore compliance in secondary schools and impact on pupil nutritional intake', The International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, vol. 21, 123. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-024-01672-w

Pallan, M, Murphy, M, Morrison, B, Pokhilenko, I, Sitch, A, Frew, E, Rawdin, C, Adams, R, Adamson, A, Bartington, S, Dobell, A, Duff, R, Griffin, T, Hurley, K, Lancashire, E, McLeman, L, Passmore, S, Ravaghi, V, Spence, S & Adab, P 2024, 'School food policy in secondary schools in England and its impact on adolescents’ diets and dental health: the FUEL multiple-methods study', Public Health Research, vol. 12, no. 12, pp. 1-167. https://doi.org/10.3310/TTPL8570

Kipping, R, Pallan, M, Hannam, K, Willis, K, Dobell, A, Metcalfe, C, Jago, R, Johnson, L, Langford, R, Martin, CK, Hollingworth, W, Cochrane, M, White, J, Blair, P, Toumpakari, Z, Taylor, J, Ward, D, Moore, L, Reid, T, Pardoe, M, Wen, L, Murphy, M, Martin, A, Chambers, S & Simpson, SA 2023, 'Protocol to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of an environmental nutrition and physical activity intervention in nurseries (Nutrition and Physical Activity Self Assessment for Child Care - NAP SACC UK): a multicentre cluster randomised controlled trial', BMC Public Health, vol. 23, no. 1, 1475. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-16229-y

Chapter

Johnson, R & Murphy, M 2023, Teaching mixed methods using an open-space learning approach. in M Nind (ed.), Handbook of Teaching and Learning Social Research Methods. Edward Edgar Publishing, pp. 106–118. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800884274.00016

Murphy, M & Pallan, M 2023, The role of schools in supporting healthy eating in children and young people. in GS Lalli, A Turner & M Rutland (eds), Food Futures in Education and Society. 1st edn, Routledge, pp. 87-101. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003294962-8

Conference article

GENIUS network, Woodside, JV, O'Kane, N, Pallan, M, Evans, CEL, Defeyter, G, Brownlee, I, Murphy, M, Parnham, JC, Lalli, GS, Bryant, M, McKinley, MC, Gallagher, AM, Schliemann, D, McConnell, C, Olgacher, D & Spence, S 2024, 'The Generating Excellent Nutrition in UK Schools (GENIUS) network: working towards a more health-promoting food and nutrition system in UK schools', The Proceedings of the Nutrition Society. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0029665124007560

Review article

Turner, A, Porter, A, Murphy, M, Parsonage, J, Coombes, J & Kipping, R 2025, 'Food Policy, Practice, and Provision in UK Early Childhood Education and Care: A Scoping Review', Public Health Nutrition. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980025101298

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