Research Community

Dr Victoria Williamson is a Researcher at King's College London and the University of Oxford. Her research focuses on the psychological impact of trauma exposure, including exposure to moral injury. She has led the first UK feasibility study to develop and pilot a treatment for moral injury related mental health difficulties with Combat Stress, which will be trialed in an RCT in 2023. 

Dr Walter Busuttil is a Consultant Psychiatrist (Lifetime Member of the Association of Psychiatry Malta) and Director of Research and Clinical Training at Combat Stress (previously Director of Medical Services). He was an Honorary Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry at Kent Institute for Medical Studies and is now Visiting Professor at King’s College London, KCMHR. Walter is a founder of the Combat Stress research department collaboration with KCMHR and a founder member of the UK Psychological Trauma Society and Five Eyes Mental Health Research Collaborative. He is past Chair of the UK Trauma Group and sits on the mental health subcommittee and Armed Forces Clinical Reference Group for NHS England. He served as a General Duties Medical in the RAF and was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for Soldiering.

Emily is a PhD researcher, undertaking research with the Veterans & Families Institute at Anglia Ruskin University. Emily has a background in Forensic Psychology, and is a qualified Independent Mental Health Advocate, having previously worked in male forensic psychiatric services prior to joining ARU. Currently, she is working on research examining servicemen's experiences of sexualised behaviour whilst serving in the UK Armed Forces, focusing on male Veteran narratives and support service provision. Having previously conducted research on sexual harassment and deviant sexual preferences within civilian populations, Emily is excited to expand her interests with different populations and hopes to better understanding of sexualised behaviour in the UK Armed Forces and of how servicemen can be better supported with formal reporting and help-seeking.  

Ffion Hildred is a PhD Candidate in the Centre for Multidisciplinary and Intercultural Inquiry (CMII) at University College London; her research is funded by the London Arts and Humanities Partnership (LAHP). Ffion's research spans critical military, gender, and feminist studies. Her PhD project investigates how personnel in the British Army feel and experience belonging through their bodies. She is developing embodied corporeality as an analytical framework through which to examine the relationship between bodies, space, and belonging within institutions. As a framework it seeks to highlight the importance of centring bodily experiences in our analyses of institutions to address gender and race inequalities and inequities.

The International Centre for Moral Injury (ICMI) is an academic research centre formed to study and understand the causes and impacts of moral injury and dedicated to opening pathways to recovery.

It supports and promotes the development and dissemination of innovative research, pastoral resources and training methods around moral injury, helping to generate new partnerships and collaborations across the world in the furtherance of individual, institutional and societal well-being.

Jemma Lakmaker is a PhD student at Manchester Metropolitan University exploring the experiences of ex-servicemen who became deaf in the First World War and how they were treated upon their return to society. Jemma aims to uncover the experiences of deaf ex-servicemen as a group whose voice is missing from the historical narrative. She is interested in the perceptions of deafness and how this continues to impact the deaf community today. Jemma is proficient in British Sign Language. Jemma is also a trustee for a charity working to ensure disabled people and people from disadvantaged backgrounds are given an equal voice in society and a platform on which to be heard.

Jess is a PhD student at Swansea University. Her PhD focuses on understanding the lived experience of Service personnel, Veterans, and affected others coping with harm from gambling. The research aims to explore how external factors to the military may be linked to the veteran gambling population, to help identify how individuals may be at risk before they join the military but also during and after their service due to these external factors. More specifically it aims to understand what influence the family has on gambling behaviours. 

Kate Salem is a Senior Researcher at the Westminster Centre for Research in Veterans. She has experience conducting mixed-methods research and has led on multiple research projects related to health and well-being in the Armed Forces Community. Kate is also the wife of an Army veteran and is completing her PhD which explores the impact of Veterans' mental health experiences upon their partners, with the aim of highlighting the needs of the military partner population.

Katie is a third-year Trainee Clinical Psychologist at Coventry University/University of Warwick. She currently works clinically in the NHS alongside completing her thesis. Her thesis aims to explore the experiences of problematic eating and exercise behaviours in United Kingdom (UK) male veterans. These behaviours may include but are not restricted to, fasting (not for religious or cultural reasons), binge-eating/over-eating, laxative use, purging and excessive exercise.

The King’s Centre for Military Health Research (KCMHR) is the leading civilian UK centre of excellence for military health research providing much-needed evidence on the health and well-being of Serving and ex-Serving personnel and their families. KCMHR’s research relates to conflict and health, occupational psychiatry, personnel issues and social policy. Their research is conducted in four key areas, Serving personnel, ex-Serving personnel, military families (including those of ex-Serving personnel) and interventions.

Laura Grover is a Postdoctoral Research Associate who recently completed a mixed-methods PhD as part of the ADVANCE study at King’s College London. Her doctoral research focused on social support within the ADVANCE cohort - a prospective study examining the long-term psychosocial outcomes of military personnel who sustained combat injuries during the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. Her work explored differences in social support between injured and uninjured personnel and investigated how social support is associated with mental health and wellbeing. In her current role, Laura contributes to several projects on veteran health, with a particular emphasis on physical health and cognitive decline. She is committed to advancing research that improves understanding of veterans’ long-term health needs and informs evidence-based support.”

Laura Waddams is currently a second year Doctorate in Clinical Psychology student at the University of Essex. Laura has research interests in male and Veteran mental health, anxiety disorders, and the connection between mental health and physical health. Laura’s prior research has included a systematic review on the experience of depression in older men, and a narrative analysis on recovery memoirs. Laura is currently working on her thesis project, which is a qualitative exploration of body modification practices in UK male military Veterans who have an injury, disability, illness, and/or mental health condition.