Research Community

Laura is a Lecturer at King’s Centre for Military Health Research, King’s College London. She joined KCL in 2015 to study her PhD in alcohol misuse among UK Armed Forces personnel. Since then, Laura has worked as a postdoctoral researcher leading on a number of projects, including an exploration into the trajectories and phenomenology of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in the UK Armed Forces. Laura is a mixed methods researcher and conducts both epidemiological and qualitative analyses. Her research interests lie in cultural psychiatry, cultural manifestations of traumatic stress and anthropological perspectives of mental health problems.

Dr Laura Rafferty is a researcher at King’s Centre for Military Health Research at King’s College London.  She is currently working across a number of projects centred on exploring the experience of females within the Armed Forces, during transition out of the military and into civilian life.  Dr Rafferty is interested in understanding, and supporting, the mental health of the Armed Forces community and her previous research has spanned topics ranging from: exploring the impact of Post-Traumatic Disorder and Major Stress Disorder on the development of dementia in military Veterans; to developing an app to support military Veterans with their mental health (Met4Vet). 

Lauren is an Associate Professor of Women & Equalities at Anglia Ruskin University and Co-Director of the Centre for Military Women’s Research (CMWR). She is a mixed methods researcher with a background in psychiatric research and currently has funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research and the Office for Veterans Affairs for her research. Lauren’s main research interests include the needs and experiences of women during and after military service, and interpersonal/sexual violence in the military context.

Dr Liam Satchell is the Director of the Impact Centre at the Service Children's Progression (SCiP) Alliance and a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Portsmouth. He has research expertise in applied research design, quantitative analysis, and the psychology of individual differences / mental health. Overall, his work focuses on practical, everyday, approaches to research methods and interpretation. In both his roles he is research active in understanding effective ways to support children and young people in armed forces families. Alongside his military-connected families work, he has published books on supporting children's mental wellbeing, and is active in research in educational, forensic, policing, and other applied psychology topics.  

Dr Louise Morgan is an academic psychologist with extensive research experience, including nearly a decade as research lead for London’s Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs) and five years working in Veterans’ health. Her research interests include female Veterans, chronic pain and PTSD, and she has particular expertise in understanding the impact of sexual assault, patterns of sexual offending and the wider context of male-perpetrated violence against women and girls.

Marie-Louise is a Senior Research Fellow at King's College London. She is a mixed methods researcher and has research expertise in psychological medicine and epidemiology. Her research interests include the health and well-being of Armed Forces and Emergency Responders and has a focus on methods to extend research impact. She has previous experience in healthcare policy working in the voluntary sector, has postgraduate training in political science and has leadership training through the Clore Social Fellowship.

Martin is a Lecturer in Psychological Trauma and Mental Health in the STARC Research Centre at Queen’s University Belfast. Broadly Martin’s research interests concern the study of health and well-being among hidden and hard to reach groups who have experienced trauma and adversity, including: military Veterans in Northern Ireland, incarcerated populations, and families experiencing pregnancy and child loss. His previous work has investigated the well-being of Veterans, including experience of complex traumatic stress, psychological comorbidity, and helpseeking.

Dr Keeling is Research Leader at RAND Europe, where her primary role is Deputy Director of the Centre for Evidence for the Armed Forces Community, funded by FiMT. Prior to joining RAND, she worked in academia. Mary is a Chartered Psychologist who has worked in the field of military psychology since 2010, both in the UK and the US. Using quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods approaches, her research aims to understand the psychosocial impact of military service on military personnel, Veterans, and Service-connected families. To date, Mary's research has focused on four broad areas: military to civilian transition; romantic relationships and military families; mental health stigma and help-seeking; and the psychosocial impact of Service-connected physical injuries. 

Dr Moira Bailey is a part time Lecturer, freelance Consultant and Researcher at the Robert Gordon University. Her interest in Veteran research came about as a result of her being a member of the Veteran family - her late husband was a Royal Navy Veteran who had mental helath issues arising from his service. Her son also is a Navy Veteran. She was recently a member of the team which produced an independent report commissioned in 2022 by the Office of Veterans’ Affairs to explore the potential of improving female Veterans' access to support services. She is currently working on two projects for different Veteran charities to produce in depth evaluation reports. Moira is also interested in pursing further research in the female Veteran space as well as exploring the experiences of Veterans' carers. 

Dr Natalie Hammond is a sociologist and Senior Lecturer in Health and Social Care. Her research interests include the intersection between gender, health and violence; sexual and reproductive health; and climate change and health. She is currently co-investigator on the AFTER study which aims to understand the long-term psychosocial and sexual experiences of ex-service personnel and their partners affected by conflict-related genital injuries.

Dr Nick Cooper's interests and expertise lie in developing and assessing novel interventions for the treatment of PTSD. There is a particular focus on nature-based interventions, including the use of building resilience skills using angling in tranquil, rural yet social environments. He also has more than 20 years of experience using psychophysiological tools such as EEG to gauge the long-terms effects of stress on the brain.

Dr Pamela Almeida-Meza is a Research Associate at the King’s Centre for Military Health Research. She is an epidemiologist whose work investigates how social, occupational, and life-course factors shape mental and physical health across populations. Her research spans ageing, dementia, caregiving, and occupational health, with a focus on health inequalities.

Pamela’s current work focuses on the physical and mental health of UK Armed Forces veterans using primary care data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD), contributing to a growing evidence base on the healthcare needs of UK veterans.