Research Community

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 Nicola Gillin is a Research Fellow at the Veterans and Families Institute for Military Social Research, Anglia Ruskin University, UK. She is the lead author of two, FiMT-funded, research studies: “Understanding and improving non-UK service and transition in the British Armed Forces” and “Understanding and mapping the psychosocial wellbeing support needs of veteran family members across the UK: a multi-methods study” Alongside her research with military populations, Nicola has continued to build her research expertise in public-sector migration through research, consulting and doctoral student supervision.  She has recently acquired funding to explore retirement intentions amongst UK-situated Filipino nurses.   

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.

Dr Patricia Irizar is a Post-doctoral Research Associate with experience in applying epidemiological and qualitative methods to study co-occurring Alcohol use disorder (AUD) and Common Mental Disorders (CMD) in police officers and military personnel. 

Dr Paul Ansdell is a Physiologist whose research focuses on how age, sex, and hormonal status interact to determine physiological function in health and disease. His work to date aims to detail the interaction between systems and quantify acute responses and chronic adaptation to interventions, such as exercise. Specifically, he is interested in how hormones affect brain health and function across the male and female lifespan.

Dr Paul Watson is an Assistant Director of the Northern Hub for Veterans and Military Families Research (Military connected Children and Young People) and Assistant Professor in Nursing (Children and Young People) & Specialist Community Public Health Nursing. Paul is an expert in narrative methodologies and has a growing portfolio of research on the emotional health and well-being of military connected children and young people and young carers, PTSD and social isolation and loneliness in the Veteran population, and military connected suicide.

Dr Rachael Gribble is a Lecturer in War & Psychiatry, King's College London. Using mixed methods approaches, her research focuses on how occupation impacts and influences the well-being of military families. She has conducted research on the health and well-being of military families, including mental health among military spouses/partners, experiences of weekending, intimate partner violence within the military community, Veteran family health and well-being, Veteran transition, Veteran mental health, and public attitudes to the military. 

Dr Becky Randles is a Lecturer in Psychology at Arden University. Previously she held the post of Senior Researcher at the Westminster Centre for Research in Veterans. She previously led research projects including “Where Are All the Veterans” and “Supporting Armed Forces in Acute Hospital Settings” and has extensive experience in quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. Her prior research career has followed themes such as domestic homicide, touch perception and research ethics and governance. She has produced numerous publications within Veterans' research, with themes surrounding mental health, help-seeking, and well-being and has contributed to the writing of grants and ethical applications.

Dr Robert Allen is an Associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour and Neurodiversity. 
He came to academia in 2013 after 24 years working in the UK Ministry of Defence. Dr Allen has a PhD in the field of Organisational Behaviour and an MSc in Procurement. He also holds a qualification in anxiety and phobia counselling, a PG Diploma in Neurophysiology, and is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. He is academic lead for neurodiversity at Cranfield University and chairs the neurodiversity community. He is Director for the Cranfield University Defence and Security Leadership MSc programme. His research interests centre on OB and neurodiversity, the nature of expertise and mental health/welfare.

Dr Sarah Dixon Smith is a Research Associate at Imperial College London and the ADVANCE study. Her work explores the long-term outcomes of early medical and surgical trauma care interventions in British Veterans, particularly the impact of blood products, analgesics and casualty evacuation. Sarah received her PhD from the Centre for Blast Injury Studies for her work in blast injury and chronic pain, using a longitudinal dataset to track lifelong medical information for 100 amputee Veterans. She is particularly interested in chronic pain, premature ageing after trauma, and the use of Applied History in Veterans’ healthcare.

Dr Sharon Stevelink is a Reader in Epidemiology at the King's Centre for Military Health Research (KCMHR), King's College London. She (co-) leads on a range of studies exploring the health and well-being of the Armed Forces community. She has a keen interest in using novel data sources and techniques to advance research into the health and well-being of military personnel and Veterans. 

Dr Stefan Schilling is a Lecturer in Social & Organizational Psychology at Exeter University. His research interests are the social determinants of health, well-being and teamwork and in particular how to develop healthy and supportive teams in healthcare and the military. He has considerable experience working with the military, having taught military officers for 8 years at King's College London Defence Studies Department, where he also completed his Ph.D. on cohesion, teamwork and leadership in a large exploratory study with the Royal Marines. He has also accompanied various military units on military exercises overseas, and has been involved with military ethics training and devised leadership training for entrepreneurs.