Research Community

Alison Cotton is a final year PhD student at Oxford Brookes University.  Her research is around the educational attainment and Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) of children from UK Armed Forces families. Alison has used the National Pupil Database (NPD) for England to compare the GCSE outcomes and SEND rates and types between Service children and non-Service children. Alison was also a research assistant on the Supporting All to Thrive (SATT) project which investigated the educational opportunities, experiences and outcomes of children with additional needs from UK Armed Forces families. Alison has extensive experience of working with learners who have SEND. She is a qualified Specialist Teacher who holds Associate Membership of the British Dyslexia Association (AMBDA) and an Assessment Practising Certificate (APC).  Being from a military family herself, Alison hopes to use her knowledge and research to improve outcomes for Armed Forces families.

Amanda Bonson is a PhD student and a qualified Cognitive Behavioural Therapist. She currently works as a Research Therapist at Combat Stress, the UK's leading Veterans' mental health charity, where she is delivering a novel treatment of moral injury to military Veterans. Amanda's PhD thesis will be an exploration of predictors of treatment outcomes for UK military Veterans with moral injury. Amanda has a special interest in translational research in clinical treatment of trauma, particularly in military and Veteran populations. 

Amy is a first-year PhD student based at Newcastle University. Having recently left the Royal Air Force after a varied career in the service and having directly experienced the gender culture of the UK Armed Forces, she is excited to start her PhD in Human Geography. Her research will examine how gender and the other multitude of conflicting intersectional identities of military personnel impact the social construction and speciality of the RAF. Often viewed as homogenous, Amy is focused on understanding how the RAF’s unique organisational culture and varying sub-cultures based on rank and role impact the social construction of RAF culture. Underpinning her data collection with reflexivity through her position as an RAF Veteran, Amy is excited to commence the project to support cultural understanding and effect change. 

Andreana Glendinning specialises in the employment and long-term career development of women veterans from the UK Armed Forces (UKAF). Her work focuses on understanding the experiences of women during their service and as they transition to civilian working life, with particular interest in factors that contribute to their success after leaving the military. She is also interested in the broader employment and career development of UKAF veterans of all genders, including early service leavers, older leavers, and those from minority groups.

Anna Bell contributes specialist expertise to the College for Military Veterans and Emergency Services (CMVES) as a Lecturer in Adult Nursing with a strong background in this field of research, widening participation and Armed Forces community advocacy. Drawing on her lived experience as a former RAF Senior Non-Commissioned Officer and military spouse. She brings nuanced insight into military family life, resilience, and transition, helping shape evidence-informed recommendations for policy and practice.

Over 15 years experience in harvesting real-world evidence from front line of everyday practice in a veterans' charity Serving veterans and family members. Production of high quality practice-based data, submission for independent analysis and peer reviewed articles published by Kings College London and timely independent reports produced by Nottingham Trent University, Independent economic analysis conducted by Pro Bono Economics demonstrating the economic and social benefit of the charity. Currently involved in 2 year study called 'Project ITQ' tracking veterans and family members of veterans through treatment investigating the shift from Complex PTSD to no PTSD in treatment.

Bruce served nearly 27 years as a soldier and officer in the British Army, before becoming a leadership lecturer in Further Education for 2 years. Bruce is currently a Level 7 Senior Leader Development Coach and completing a Professional Doctorate in Education with the University of Portsmouth. He is a Chartered Companion of CMI, Fellow of the Institute of Leadership, Fellow of IoSCM, FIEDP, and Chartered MCIPD. His research interests are in how the military and Veterans can contribute to education post-service. Bruce has a provisional agreement for this research to help evidence towards the Office for Veterans' Affairs employment policies and the Education and Training Foundations future strategies.

The Traumatic Stress Research Group is an interdisciplinary team with a mission to improve the health and well-being of individuals exposed to traumatic events. The organization aims to improve understanding of traumatic stress through high-quality, externally funded research, as well as develop effective and cost-efficient interventions for individuals experiencing psychosocial difficulties after traumatic incidents. They also aim to build strong interdisciplinary global collaborations, increase research capacity in the traumatic stress field, and disseminate evidence-based knowledge. 

Catherine is a Senior Research Data Scientist at RAND Europe whose work primarily focuses on applying statistical modelling to data on the Armed Forces community, such as forecasting the size and demographics of the Armed Forces community out to 2040, estimating the cost and prevalence of poor transitions from the Armed Forces and understanding the interactions of Armed Forces children with the social care system. Catherine’s research has focused on understanding and supporting the Armed Forces Community across a wide range of issues since 2022, with projects for the Ministry of Defence, Royal British Legion, RAF Benevolent Fund, Greenwich Hospital, the OVA and FiMT.

The Centre for Evidence for the Armed Forces Community is an independent centre funded by Forces in Mind Trust and run by a consortium of RAND Europe and King’s Centre for Military Health Research (KCMHR) at King’s College London. The centre provides an accessible and authoritative evidence base exploring the transition from military to civilian life, to inform policy and practice affecting ex-Service personnel and their families in the UK. It also functions as a community hub for the UK Armed Forces research community, connecting researchers, policy makers, and service providers, to support the forging of joined up working and collaboration, and build pathways to impact. This is achieved through various outputs, including but not limited to, a accessible online research repository, informative themed research and policy summaries and primary research exploring key themes impacting the UK ex-Service community. 

The Centre for Injury Studies formerly known as The Centre for Blast Injury Studies (CBIS) at Imperial College London. It is an expansion of CBIS’ previous remit, with the work going beyond a focus on Serving military personnel and veterans, to also include research into the significant number of civilians who are injured during conflicts around the world. The research considers those who are injured and works closely with those who treat conflict injuries to be able to improve treatment, mitigation and rehabilitation. This includes research into personal protective equipment, surgery and devices (such as medical equipment, prosthetics and orthotics). By embedding civilian and military health professionals, scientists and engineers within the Centre, this centre continues to deliver change through new technology, equipment and policies.