Professor Paul Martin

BA (Hons), MSc, DPhil

Department of Sociological Studies

Professor of Sociology

(He/him)

Professor Paul Martin
Profile picture of Professor Paul Martin
paul.martin@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 6414

Full contact details

Professor Paul Martin
Department of Sociological Studies
The Wave
2 Whitham Road
91Ö±²¥
S10 2AH
Profile

Paul works at the interface of science and technology studies (STS) and medical sociology. He joined the Department in March 2012 to take up the position of Chair in the Sociology of Science and Technology, and Director of Research. He was Head of Department from April 2014-December 2016.

He has a first training in biology with a BA Zoology from the University of Cambridge. He won an MRC PhD studentship to undertake biomedical research at the Mammalian Development Unit at University College London, but his scientific career ended after he suffered a very serious head injury in a road traffic accident.

Paul then worked for a number of years in the voluntary sector as a campaigner and policy analyst for the group Health Rights.

He returned to academia after taking an MSc in Sociology (social policy) at Southbank University and completed a DPhil part-time at SPRU at the University of Sussex. His PhD thesis was a historical sociology of the development of gene therapy in the USA.

Paul worked at SPRU as a Research Fellow on a series of EU projects related to innovation in the bio/pharmaceutical industry, science policy and the regulation of emerging medical technologies

In 1999 he moved to the University of Nottingham and helped establish the Institute for Science and Society (ISS) as one of Europe’s leading centres in STS with a strong commitment to supporting the career development of postgraduate students and early career researchers. He was Director of ISS from 2009-2012 until he moved to 91Ö±²¥.

Research interests

Paul has a strong track record of high quality empirical research, as well as research leadership and project management. Over the course of his career he has raised over £2.6M of external funding as Principal Investigator and held seven major awards (worth > £100k) from the ESRC, Wellcome Trust, Leverhulme Trust, and European Union. He has published ~ 50 peer reviewed articles in leading national and international journals.

Currently Paul’s research interests are:

  • The development of epigenetics and the role of science in (social) policy;
  • Novel biosocial concepts and methods in the social sciences;
  • What it means to be human in the 21st Century;
  • The clinical and commercial development of genomics and personalised medicine;
  • Responsible Research and Innovation.

Paul is currently Principal Investigator on a Leverhulme Trust funded grant; How Does Inequality get Under the Skin? Epigenetics, health disparities and the making of social policy (2014-18, £215,000).

This is studying the development of the emerging science of epigenetics as a means of better understanding the link between deprivation and inequalities in health, and how this new knowledge is being used to inform public policy.

The project has a strong focus on providing a sociological understanding of how this new multidisciplinary field is being constructed and the role of epigenetics in providing accounts of the biological embodiment of social and environmental experience.

His work on epigenetics is part of a broader exploration of the changing relationship between biology and society, and the rise of new ‘biosocial’ approaches to understanding questions of health, behaviour and social interaction.

In particular, Paul is interested in how ideas of society and ‘the social’ are used in the biological sciences and how novel biosocial methods might be applied to social science research. In future, he is looking to extend this strand of work to critically investigate how new biological knowledge is changing how we understand what is means to be human.

To help achieve this, Paul is working closely with Dan Goodley and Kirsty Liddiard (Education) and Warren Pearce and Stevie deSaille (Sociological Studies) to establish a major new multidisciplinary Institute for the Study of the Human (iHuman) iHuman draws on expertise from across the social sciences, humanities and STEM disciplines, and brings together academics, community groups and third sector organisations.

It promotes risky conversations between and across disciplines and does this primarily through a number of externally funded research projects.

Another strand of ongoing research concerns the clinical and commercial development of emerging biotechnologies. This builds on his previous research on genomic medicine, pharmacogenetics, regenerative medicine, synthetic biology and gene therapy.

Paul is currently undertaking preliminary research and preparing funding applications on the development of gene editing technology (with Ilke Turmendag, Newcastle).

He has contributed to policy debates in this area and has been invited to an OECD Expert Meeting on Gene Editing in Berlin in July 2017.

Before leaving Nottingham Paul was awarded a £1.7M Leverhulme Trust programme grant on Making Science Public: Opportunities and Challenges. He was initially PI on this major five-year grant, but this role was taken over by Brigitte Nerlich in December 2011, who successfully delivered an outstanding programme of research.

As part of this, Paul recently completed a project (with Stevie deSaille) on policymakers and activist concepts of responsible research and innovation (RRI). He currently chairs the University of 91Ö±²¥ working group on RRI.

Publications

Edited books

  • Meloni M, Williams S & Martin P (Eds.) (2016) . Wiley. RIS download Bibtex download

Journal articles

  • Baumgartner R, Arora P, Bath C, Burljaev D, Ciereszko K, Custers B, Ding J, Ernst W, Fosch-Villaronga E, Galanos V , Gremsl T et al (2023) . Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, 144, 102658-102658. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Martin PA (2022) . Sociology of Health & Illness. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Martin PA & Turkmendag I (2021) . New Genetics and Society. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Stephens N, Morrison M, Martin P & Hogle L (2021) . Regenerative Medicine, 16(3), 229-235. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Rose N, Manning N, Bentall R, Bhui K, Burgess R, Carr S, Cornish F, Devakumar D, Dowd JB, Ecks S , Faulkner A et al (2020) . Wellcome Open Research, 5. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Martin P, Morrison M, Turkmendag I, Nerlich B, McMahon A, de Saille S & Bartlett A (2020) . New Genetics and Society. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Tiwari SS, Raman S & Martin P (2017) . Regenerative Medicine. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Weiner K, Martin P, Richards M & Tutton R (2017) . Sociology of Health and Illness. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Meloni M, Williams S & Martin P (2016) . The Sociological Review, 64(1_suppl), 7-25. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Balmer AS, Calvert J, Marris C, Molyneux-Hodgson S, Frow E, Kearnes M, Bulpin K, Schyfter P, Mackenzie A & Martin P (2016) . Journal of Responsible Innovation, 3(1), 73-80. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Meloni M, Williams S & Martin P (2016) . The Sociological Review Mongraphs, 64(1), 7-25. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Martin P (2015) . BioSocieties, 10(4), 422-443. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Pickersgill M, Martin P & Cunningham-Burley S (2015) . Public Understanding of Science, 24(7), 878-892. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Gabe J, Williams S, Martin P & Coveney C (2015) . Social Science and Medicine, 131, 193-198. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Balmer AS, Calvert J, Marris C, Molyneux-Hodgson S, Frow E, Kearnes M, Bulpin K, Schyfter P, MacKenzie A & Martin P (2015) Taking Roles in Interdisciplinary Collaborations: Reflections on Working in Post-ELSI Spaces in the UK Synthetic Biology Community. Science and Technology Studies, 28(3), 3-25. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Pickersgill M, Niewöhner J, Müller R, Martin P & Cunningham-Burley S (2013) . New Genetics and Society, 32(4), 429-447. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Moffatt F, Timmons S & Martin P (2013) . Sociology of Health and Illness. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Pickersgill MD, Cunningham-Burley S & Martin P (2011) . Subjectivity: international journal of critical psychology, 4(3), 346-365. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Williams SJ, Martin P & Gabe J (2011) . Sociology of Health and Illness, 33(5), 710-725. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Williams SJ, Martin P & Gabe J (2011) . Sociology of Health and Illness, 33(5), 729-730. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Martin PA & Dingwall R (2009) , 511-529. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Coveney CM, Nerlich B & Martin P (2009) . Soc Sci Med, 68(3), 487-495. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Martin P (2009) Drug induced cognitive enhancement and society. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 3(1). RIS download Bibtex download
  • Plagnol AC, Rowley E, Martin P & Livesey F (2009) Industry perceptions of barriers to commercialization of regenerative medicine products in the UK. Regenerative Medicine, 4(4), 549-559. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Calvert J & Martin P (2009) The role of social scientists in synthetic biology. EMBO Reports, 10(3), 201-204. RIS download Bibtex download
  • England T, Martin P & Bath PMW (2009) Stem cells for enhancing recovery after stroke: A review. International Journal of Stroke, 4(2), 101-110. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Martin P, Balmer A & Nerlich B (2008) Synthetic biology and the public. Science and Public Affairs, 23-23. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Ellison GTH, Tutton R, Outram SM, Martin P, Ashcroft R & Smart A (2008) An interdisciplinary perspective on the impact of genomics on the meaning of 'race', and the future role of racial categories in biomedical research. NTM Journal of History of Sciences, Technology, and Medicine, 16, 378-386. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Weiner K & Martin P (2008) . Sociol Health Illn, 30(3), 380-395. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Martin P, Brown N & Kraft A (2008) . Science As Culture, 17(1), 29-41. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Williams DJ, Archer R, Hourd P, Crowe J, Meenan B, Lilford R, Martin P, Shakesheff K, Rhodes N & Livesey F (2008) Regenerative medicine-A new industry ~ remedi ~ A grand challenge. European Cells and Materials, 16(SUPPL. 3), 1. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Martin P, Brown N & Turner A (2008) . New Genetics and Society, 27(2), 127-143. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Smart A, Tutton R, Martin P, Ellison GTH & Ashcroft R (2008) The standardization of race and ethnicity in biomedical science editorials and UK biobanks. Social Studies of Science, 38(3), 407-423. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Ellison GTH, Kaufman JS, Head RF, Martin PA & Kahn JD (2008) Flaws in the U.S. food and drug administration's rationale for supporting the development and approval of BiDil as a treatment for heart failure only in black patients. Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics, 36(3), 449-457. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Smart A, Tutton R, Ashcroft R, Martin P, Balmer A, Elliot R & Ellison GTH (2008) Social inclusivity vs analytical acuity? A qualitative study of UK researchers regarding the inclusion of minority ethnic groups in biobanks. Medical Law International, 9(2), 169-190. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Tutton R, Smart A, Martin PA, Ashcroft R & Ellison GTH (2008) Genotyping the future: Scientists' expectations about race/ethnicity after BiDil. Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics, 36(3), 464-470. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Hopkins MM, Martin PA, Nightingale P, Kraft A & Mahdi S (2007) . Research Policy, 36(4), 566-589. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Martin PA, Coveney C, Kraft A, Brown N & Bath P (2006) . Regen Med, 1(6), 801-807. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Martin P (2006) Beyond the next generation of therapeutic proteins. Bio Tech International, 18(5), 17-19. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Busby H & Martin P (2006) . Science as Culture, 15(3), 237-251. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Smart A, Tutton R, Ashcroft R, Martin PA & Ellison GTH (2006) . BioSocieties, 1(3), 313-324. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Brown N, Kraft A & Martin P (2006) . BioSocieties, 1(3), 329-348. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Smart A & Martin P (2006) . Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C :Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 37(3), 583-601. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Hopkins MM, Ibarreta D, Gaisser S, Enzing CM, Ryan J, Martin PA, Lewis G, Detmar S, Van Den Akker-van Marle ME, Hedgecoe AM , Nightingale P et al (2006) . Nature Biotechnology, 24(4), 403-410. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Hopkins MM & Martin PA (2006) . Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, 6(12), 1765-1767. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Martin P (2005) . Critical Public Health, 15(1), 77-78. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Smart A, Martin P & Parker M (2004) . Bioethics, 18(4), 322-343. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Nerlich B, Dingwall R & Martin P (2004) . Discourse and Society, 15(4), 363-368. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Nightingale P & Martin P (2004) . Trends in Biotechnology, 22(11), 564-569. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Webster A, Martin P, Lewis G & Smart A (2004) . Nature Reviews Genetics, 5(9), 663-669. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Hedgecoe A & Martin P (2003) . Soc Stud Sci, 33(3), 327-364. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Martin P & Frost R (2003) . Critical Social Policy, 23(2), 186-207. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Martin P (2001) . New Genetics and Society, 20(2), 157-183. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Martin P (2000) Industry update.. J Gene Med, 2(4), 301-302. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Dingwall R & Martin P (2000) . Journal of Health Services Research and Policy, 5(2), 67-68. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Martin P & Kaye J (2000) . New Genetics and Society, 19(2), 165-191. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Kaye J & Martin P (2000) . British Medical Journal, 321(7269), 1146-1149. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Martin PA (1999) . Sociology of Health and Illness, 21(5), 517-538. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Martin PA & Thomas SM (1998) . Human Gene Therapy, 9(1), 87-114. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Martin PA (1997) . Gene Therapy, 4(9), 881-882. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Martin P & Thomas SM (1997) . Biofutur, 1997(163), 31-33. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Martin P & Thomas SM (1997) . Biofutur, 1997(163), 12-18. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Hogarth S & Martin P () . Regulation & Governance. RIS download Bibtex download

Chapters

  • Gabe J & Martin P (2023) Pharmaceuticalisation: Origins, drivers and new developments, Handbook on the Sociology of Health and Medicine (pp. 170-186). RIS download Bibtex download
  • Gabe J & Martin P (2021) Pharmaceuticalisation: Origins, drivers, and new directions, Routledge International Handbook of Critical Issues in Health and Illness (pp. 34-46). RIS download Bibtex download
  • Martin P (2019) , The Social Management of Genetic Engineering (pp. 139-157). Routledge RIS download Bibtex download
  • de Saille S & Martin P (2018) Monstrous regiment versus Monsters Inc.: Competing imaginaries of science and social order in Responsible (Research and) Innovation In Nerlich B, Hartley S, Raman S & Smith A (Ed.), Science and the politics of openness: Here be monsters Manchester: Manchester University Press. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Martin P & Kaye J (2018) , Reconfiguring Nature (2004): Issues and Debates in the New Genetics (pp. 96-132). RIS download Bibtex download
  • Tiwari SS, Martin P & Raman S (2017) , Stem Cells in Clinical Applications (pp. 247-262). Springer International Publishing RIS download Bibtex download
  • Chen SH, Forbes I & Martin P (2016) Knowledge transfer and the biopharmaceutical innovation system in Taiwan, Innovation Systems and Capabilities in Developing Regions: Concepts, Issues and Cases (pp. 97-117). RIS download Bibtex download
  • Martin P, Smart A & Dingwall R (2016) Potential social, ethical, and legal issues raised by the development of pharmacogenetics, Pharmacogenetics (pp. 51-64). RIS download Bibtex download
  • Smart A, Tutton R, Martin P & Ellison GTH (2012) 'Race' as a social construction in genetics In Schramm K, Skinner D & Rottenburg R (Ed.), Identity Politics and the New Genetics: Re/Creating Categories of Difference and Belonging (pp. 30-52). Berghahn RIS download Bibtex download
  • Williams SJ, Katz S & Martin P (2011) In Pickersgill M & Van Keulen, I (Ed.), Sociological Reflections on the Neurosciences (pp. 231-254). RIS download Bibtex download
  • Martin PA, Pickersgill M, Coveney C & Williams S (2011) Pharmaceutical cognitive enhancement: Interrogating the ethics, addressing the issues, Augmenting Cognition (pp. 179-192). RIS download Bibtex download
  • Hopkins MM, Kraft A, Martin PA, Nightingale P & Mahdi S (2006) Is the biotechnology revolution a myth?, Comprehensive Medicinal Chemistry II (pp. 591-613). RIS download Bibtex download
  • () Routledge RIS download Bibtex download

Book reviews

  • Williams S, Gabe J & Martin P (2012) . Social Science & Medicine, 75(12), 2129-2130. RIS download Bibtex download

Other

  • Williams SJ & Martin P (2009) . Nature, 457(7229), 532-532. RIS download Bibtex download
Teaching activities
  • SCS1017 Science, Technology and Society
  • SCS3034 What it means to be Human