Lena's research interests lie in criminology and in Science and Technology Studies (STS) with a particular interest in how crime and technology intersect. Currently her research focusses on how AI and ML-based technologies may be used to offend and to enhance security. Among the topics she has researched are automated affect recognition, smart home technologies and policing, extended reality in police training, automated social security, and algorithmic bias and transparency.

Lena's research interests lie in criminology and in Science and Technology Studies (STS) with a particular interest in how security, crime and technology intersect. Her research focusses on how AI and ML-based new and emerging technologies may be used to offend and to enhance security in the areas of policing and cybersecurity. She joined Lancaster University as part of the Security and Protection Science Initiative. Lena is an Associate Fellow of the Research Institute for Sociotechnical Cyber Security (RISCS).

Among the topics she has researched are automated affect recognition, smart home technologies and policing, extended reality in police training, automated social security, and algorithmic bias and transparency. Lena is a Co-I for the Lancaster University Policing Academic Centre of Excellence (L-PACE).

Lena's most recent work was conducted in relation to the resilience of Critical National Infrastructure as well as to cybersecurity culture. Recently she worked on FinFraudSIM which aims to use AI/ML-based techniques and crime scripting to identify points of intervention for online financial fraud.

In relation to automated affect recognition she explored the problems and threats associated with using technologies that claim to detect people's emotions or intentions in crime prevention and policing.

As part of the Emotional AI in Cities research project funded by UKRI-JST Joint Call on Artificial Intelligence and Society she co-authored papers on the use of smart-home technologies in police investigations and evidence procedures, and on the potential role of artificial agents in online radicalisation. 

In an EPSRC-funded project she explored the vulnerabilities of Virtual and Extended Reality immersive police training.

Previously she investigated the lived experiences of Universal Credit recipients through a novel, qualitative longitudinal study, and worked on the CyCAT (Cyprus Centre for Algorithmic Transparency) EU Horizon 2020 Twinning Project where she conducted research on algorithmic bias and transparency.

Dr Podoletz currently is convening and teaching the module Cybercrime and Cybercriminality.

She also teaches on the following modules: Criminological thought; Criminological research in practice; Crime and criminal justice in the 21st century; Contemporary issues in policing

Before coming to Lancaster Lena worked as a Research Fellow in Automated Universal Credit at STIS (Science, Technology and Innovation Studies) at the University of Edinburgh. Prior to this she was a Research Fellow in Emotional AI and Smart Cities at the School of Law, University of Edinburgh and a Research Assistant at the School of Informatics also at the University of Edinburgh.