Dr Murphy has been working consistently with MMResearch since 2017, having previously worked as an independent consultant to the company during the early 2000s. Her recent work with MMR has been on projects developing and evaluating health services and programs related to cancer screening and various risk behaviours. In particular, she has worked on projects seeking to understand barriers to and facilitators of engagement in screening programs for cervical, bowel and breast cancer; attitudes and needs regarding air quality; motivations for e-cigarette use amongst young people; and smoking cessation in the LGBTIQ+ community. Recent clients have included Cancer Council Vic, Cancer Institute NSW, SA Medical Health & Research Institute (SAHMRI), Sydney University, and Asthma Australia.

In her role as Associate Director at the Australian Centre for Heart Health (ACHH), Dr Murphy’s work has focussed on the psychosocial consequences of cardiac disease, as well as the development and trialling of interventions to support cardiac patients and their families. During more than 20 years at the ACHH, she has been an investigator on several longitudinal studies and randomised controlled trials, and has co-developed, delivered and evaluated patient support programs and health professional training programs. Her specific interest has been in initiating the Cardiac Blues Program which has involved the development and dissemination of patient and health professional psychoeducation. Recent work has focussed on the psychosocial aspects of Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection (SCAD). She is also involved in the management of the ACHH Cardiac Counselling Clinic.

Since its inception in 2009, Dr Murphy has been an independent advisor to the Mental Health Professionals Network (MHPN), a Commonwealth Government initiative funded under the Better Access Scheme. She is an external member of the MHPN Evaluation Committee and has overseen both independent and internal evaluations of MHPN activities, including the Network and Online Webinar programs. During 2016 she led evaluations of both programs, producing two key reports which were presented to the Commonwealth Department of Health, subsequently published in the Journal of Integrated Care and presented at both the International Congress of Integrated Care in The Netherlands and the Australian Psychological Society Conference in Sydney Australia. She has also been involved in evaluating webinars delivered by MHPN in conjunction with the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA), with a 2020 publication resulting from this work.

Dr Murphy has published over 115 peer-reviewed articles in medical and psychological journals and has delivered over 50 presentations at national and international conferences, several as invited speaker. She regularly reviews manuscripts for 10 international and 5 Australian journals and is on the editorial board of one international journal. She reviews grant applications for the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), the British Heart Foundation (BHF), the National Heart Foundation (NHF), and the New South Wales Department of Health. She delivers regular lectures within the post-graduate psychology programs at University of Melbourne and Swinburne University. She has supervised several PhD, Masters and Honours students, and has assessed theses submitted for these programs at University of Melbourne, Monash University, Federation University and University of Newcastle