Dr. Sarahjane Cullen

SarahJane is Head of School and Associate Professor in Sport & Exercise Physiology in the School of Health & Human Performance in Dublin City University (DCU). A founding member of the Irish Sport and Exercise Sciences Association (ISESA) in 2023, she currently serves on the Board of Directors and as Vice-Chair, and will assume the position of ISESA Chair in November 2026. She was appointed a Director of International Confederation of Sport and Exercise Science Practice (ICSESP) in 2026. She is an ISAK-accredited anthropometric instructor (Level 3) and chaired the Body Composition working group in Sport Ireland Institute. She serves as Scientific Coordinator on the Irish Horseracing Research Advisory Committee, advancing evidence-informed practice in the sport. She co-leads the coordination of the International Conference for the Health, Safety and Wellbeing of Jockeys (ICHSWJ) and associated working groups on behalf of the IFHA Health and Wellbeing Committee. As an ISESA-Accredited Advanced Sport Scientist (AASS), she provided physiology support to high performance athletes and para-athletes through Sport Ireland Institute for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 and sports science support on Team Irelands holding camps in Rio 2016 and London 2012.

SarahJane graduated from Sport Science & Health in DCU. She spent time as a research assistant in the Centre of Sports Medicine & Human Performance at Brunel University London and the School of Exercise Science at ACU Sydney. She received a scholarship funded by IHRB to complete a PhD and Postdoctorate in DCU focusing on the health and performance characteristics of current and retired jockeys. She also completed a MSc in Applied Sports Nutrition in St Mary's Twickenham, focusing on body composition in elite male athletes.

SarahJane’s research interests include: 1) Physiological and psychological impacts of making weight in weight category sports, 2) Female athlete health and performance 3) Musculoskeletal health and body composition in athletes. She has extensive experience investigating jockey health and performance from bone health and body composition, physical fitness and race day demands, effects of making weight, female jockey health, minimum riding weights, behaviour change, transition into retirement, concussion education, mental health and predictors of injuries and fractures. She also has ongoing projects exploring athlete, coaches and practitioners perceptions, knowledge, understanding and experiences of body composition as well as menstrual cycle in weight category female athletes.