Research Community

The Centre for Military Gambling Research (MilGAM) is the multi-disciplinary centre of excellence for all aspects of military-related research on gambling harm.

The aim of MilGAM is to coordinate and direct the growing body of research evidence on military gambling research and to act as a clearinghouse, training provider, and to advance evidence-based knowledge generation and dissemination.

The Centre for Military Women’s Research (CMWR)’s core mission is to inform and improve the well-being of women in the military and Veteran community through world-leading collaborative research and evaluation. Their work highlights women’s experiences, issues, and support needs and the centre is dedicated to fostering co-production with members of the military community and collaboration with partners and stakeholders.

Charlotte Williamson is a doctoral student at King’s Centre for Military Health Research, King’s College London. Her PhD seeks to explore self-harm and suicide behaviours in the UK Armed Forces using a mixed-methods design. Prior to commencing her PhD, she worked as a Research Assistant across several research projects in the field of military mental health, at both Combat Stress and the King's Centre for Military Health Research. Her research interests include self-harm and suicidality, military mental health, and using digital technology in mental health care.

Chloe Storer is a third-year PhD student at King's College London and Imperial War Museums. She was awarded AHRC CDP funding for her PhD which explores narratives of Operation Herrick told over time. She also has a distinction level MA in Public History and a first class History degree, both from Royal Holloway, University of London. Her historical interests include social and cultural history.  She specialises in the history and experience of Warfare, and is interested in exploring material culture further in the future. She is an experienced oral historian, working both on her PhD and a new project LOUD Fence which explores child sexual assault. 

As a trainee health psychologist, I am focused on understanding and improving mental health pathways for UK Armed Forces veterans. Drawing on my own lived experience as a veteran, and my work alongside a range of veteran organisations across the UK, I am particularly interested in why many veterans struggle to engage with, or benefit from, standard PTSD treatments such as CBT, EMDR and pharmacotherapy. My research examines how cultural competence, systemic barriers and loss of trust shape veterans’ experiences of care. I also explore emerging interventions—especially psychedelic‑assisted psychotherapy—for those with treatment‑resistant PTSD or moral injury. Overall, my work aims to inform policy and develop more holistic, veteran‑centred models of care that enhance choice, acceptability and long‑term recovery.

CEDAR is an Applied Psychological Practice Centre of Excellence, and one of the UK's largest providers of training in evidence-based psychological practice and therapies, working in the NHS and private practice. One of the research groups (APTIA) focuses on adapting low-intensity written and mobile phone app-based CBT interventions to improve access and effectiveness for diverse groups, such as Armed Forces Veterans, Muslims, Informal Caraers and people with various physical health conditions. 

The College for Military Veterans and Emergency Services (CMVES) conducts impactful research focused on improving educational access and wellbeing across the Armed Forces community. Its work includes a regional Military Spouse Project, which explores the lived experiences of military spouses and partners, identifying barriers to education, employment, and social mobility. 

Combat Stress has an established record of conducting high-quality robust research to ensure the delivery of the best possible services to the Veteran community. Their work is focused on furthering understanding of how best to help Veterans with mental health difficulties and currently has three main areas of focus: Evaluating Combat Stress treatment programmes, population research (Understanding the needs of help-seeking Veterans) and exploring new ways to support help-seeking Veterans.

Danielle Dryden is a Research Assistant at the Combat Stress Centre for Applied Military Health Research. Her current work focuses on women veterans, military sexual trauma, and the translation of evidence-based research into practice and policy. She is also involved in exploring the use of wearable technology as a tool for monitoring physical activity and mental health in veterans. Her broader research interests include trauma and the experiences of military children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), specifically autism.

Debra Barton is the Early Years Specialist Lead for the Ministry of Defence (MOD), based in Upavon in Wiltshire. As an Early Childhood professional with over 25 years’ experience, Debra aims to bridge the knowledge gap between the needs of young Service children, and early childhood education and childcare (ECEC). Debra provides leadership and subject matter expertise on all ECEC matters, relating to Service children aged from birth to 5 years old, wherever they are in the world. 

Debra is also a self-funded, part-time Ph.D student at the University of Worcester, and is researching the impact of Military deployment on the parenting of young Service Children, focusing on the Royal Navy/Marines in England.

Adejumoke Adeoti is a Lecturer in Human Resource Management and Organisational Behaviour at Brunel University of London. Adejumoke’s career in HR Administration and Project Facilitation, spanning over 13 years, has fuelled her passion for people development and organisational leadership. Her core research interests lie at the intersection of career management, people, and organisational development and performance, as well as leadership, the military, and veterans’ career transitions, with a forward-looking focus on the transformative impact of technology on the future of work in emerging and developing economies.

Dr Alethea McHardy is a Consultant in Sport & Exercise Medicine for the Ministry of Defence. She is the Clinical Lead for the Regional Rehabilitation Unit for Scotland. 

She commenced a PhD in April 2024 on health outcomes in female military veterans in Scotland with a focus on the Musculoskeletal, Reproductive systems, breast and ovarian cancer.  

In 2025 she was awarded a Colt Foundation PhD Fellowship for 3 years which will support this key piece of work. 

She currently sits on the Scottish Government Cross Party Working Group for the UK Armed Forces and Veterans and has a passion for influencing policy decisions based on sound research.