About

Role of the Centre for Evidence for the Armed Forces Community, funded by FiMT

To ensure research evidence is at the heart of decision making for the benefit of the Armed Forces community, the Centre has two key roles.

  1. Provide access to trusted evidence about the Armed Forces community in accessible and digestible formats.
  2. Connect and equip all to use the available evidence.

To facilitate access to trusted evidence, the centre:

  • Provides a searchable online repository of international research evidence and policy and practice documents about the Armed Forces community.
  • Publishes regular news articles that deliver digestible updates and insights about current research and evidence, highlight gaps in existing evidence and understanding, raises topics that require focus, and increase awareness of experts across the Armed Forces community sector.
  • Creates research and policy summaries that provide syntheses of existing research evidence and overviews of current policy and service provision across nine core transition outcome areas.
  • Conducts primary research on issues of importance for the Armed Forces Community.

To connect and equip all to use the evidence, the centre delivers:

  • An annual conference.
  • Comprehensive searchable directories of research experts and current research being undertaken.
  • Resources designed to enable growth of knowledge and understanding about research process, methods, good practice, critical appraisal, and translation of research into action.
  • Advising and connecting with those working with and interested in the Armed Forces community in the context of conducting and using research and evidence.

Contact us at [email protected] if you would like to learn more, connect, or have any of your research work and outputs included on the website.

Image credit: UK MOD
© Crown copyright 2019

The team

  • Nicola T. Fear

    Co-Director

    Professor Nicola Fear is one of the Directors of the Centre for Evidence for the Armed Forces Community alongside Ruth Harris. Nicola holds a Chair in Epidemiology at the Academic Department of Military Mental Health (ADMMH) and is Director of the King's Centre for Military Health Research (KCMHR) at King’s College London (UK). Nicola has worked in the field of occupational health throughout her career, including within the UK Ministry of Defence as their Consultant Epidemiologist. She trained in epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the University of Oxford, from where she obtained her doctorate.

  • Ruth Harris

    Co-Director

    Ruth Harris is one of the Directors of the Centre for Evidence for the Armed Forces Community, alongside Nicola Fear, and is the Director of the Defence & Security Research Group at RAND Europe. Prior to joining RAND, she served for 25 years in the UK Armed Forces specialising in logistics. During her Service, Ruth worked across several areas including in humanitarian and disaster relief operations in Africa, held appointments within NATO, the UK MOD and the Cabinet Office, and has served on multiple operations worldwide. Ruth holds a MPhil in International Relations, an MA in Defence and Security Studies, and an MSc in Conflict Studies and Disaster Response.

  • Neil Greenberg

    Governance Advisor

    Professor Neil Greenberg is a Consultant Academic, occupational, and forensic Psychiatrist, and a Governance Advisor for the Centre for Evidence for the Armed Forces Community. Neil served in the UK Armed Forces for more than 23 years as Royal Navy Commando trained Medical Officer, Psychiatrist, and Researcher. Neil is a senior team member within the King’s Centre for Military Health Research and a Principal Investigator within a nationally funded Health Protection Research unit at King’s. 

  • Simon Wessely

    Governance Advisor

    Professor Sir Simon Wessely FRS is a Psychiatrist and Epidemiologist. He started his psychiatry training at the Maudsley in 1984, and has been at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neurosciences, King’s College London, ever since. He established the King’s Centre for Military Health Research in 1996 and remains the Co-director alongside Professor Nicola Fear. His main areas of research have been in unexplained symptoms/syndromes, military health, epidemiology, clinical trials and how populations and people react to adversity.

  • Mary Keeling

    Research Manager

    Dr Mary Keeling is a Chartered Psychologist who has worked in the field of Military Health Research since 2010, both in the UK and the US. Mary’s research has aimed to understand the psychological and social impact of military service on military personnel, Veterans, and service-connected families. Mary joined RAND Europe as Research Leader in Defence and Security to take on the role as Research Manager of the Centre for Evidence for the Armed Forces Community in August 2022.

  • Kirsty Dimond

    Deputy Research Manager

    Kirsty Dimond has worked in research study management and delivery across a broad span of clinical areas within the NHS since 2016, during which time she completed an MSc in Clinical Research at University College London. Her professional focus has been promoting the inclusion of stigmatised and under-represented groups in research and championing research accessibility. Kirsty joined the King's Centre for Military Health Research, King's College London, to take on the role of Deputy Research Manager, in November 2022. 

  • Ivet Pritomanova

    Research Assistant

    Ivet Pritomanova is an early career Research Assistant with a background in Psychology. She has previously worked in the NHS as a Support Worker on psychiatric wards, as a Research Assistant in OpCourage (an NHS mental health support service for Veterans, service leavers and reservists), in addition to multiple research placements in charities and council organisations. She is primarily interested in clinical psychology, with an emphasis on military populations. Ivet joined the King's Centre for Military Health Research, King's College London, to take on the role of Research Assistant in June 2023. 

  • Mélusine Lebret

    Research Assistant

    Mélusine Lebret is a Research Assistant at RAND Europe working in the area of Defence and Security (D&S). Mélusine contributes to the Defence Economics & Acquisition and the Defence Workforce & Skills workstreams, as well as studies on space governance and technology deployments. She holds an MSc in Culture and Conflict in a Global Europe from the London School of Economics and a BA in European Social and Political Studies, with a specialism in Economics and Russian, from University College London.

  • Sean Flanagan

    Research Analyst

    Sean Flanagan is a Junior Analyst within the Defence & Security Research Group at RAND Europe. Sean works across a wide range of issues in defence including the Defence Workforce & Skills workstream. His speciality lies in defence policy within the Indo-Pacific and the socioeconomic and legal implications of overseas military basing agreements for host nations. Sean completed his undergraduate study in Japan and the United States and holds an M.Sc. in international relations from the London School of Economics.

  • Karishma Jivraj

    Postdoctoral Research Associate

    Dr Karishma Jivraj is a Psychologist who has worked in the area of mental health research since 2011. She has worked across various academic institutions, the NHS and the National Institute of Health Research in clinical research. Her main interests centre around improving service delivery, mental health and well-being outcomes and amplifying voices of unrepresented groups with a focus on co-production. Karishma holds a PhD in psychology and specialises in mixed methods research. She joined the King’s Centre for Military Health Research, King’s College London as a Postdoctoral Researcher in May 2024.

About our funders: FiMT

Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT) was founded in 2011 with a £35 million endowment from the National Lottery Community Fund to improve transition to civilian life for Service leavers and their families. Its mission is to enable successful and sustainable transition to civilian life, and the Trust’s strategy is to provide an evidence base that will influence and underpin effective policy making and practice. By funding high quality, credible research where there is an identified gap in relevant understanding, and by then exploiting the findings, FiMT aims to effect positive change.

Visit the FiMT website

Expert Advisory Board

Our Expert Advisory Board (EAB) provides expert independent advice, and specialist insights relevant to research, to the Centre for Evidence for the Armed Forces Community. The EAB broadens our scope of expertise, helps us to grow and innovate and has a role in managing potential conflicts of interest.

The EAB consists of between eight and 10 individuals; membership is rotational. The membership purposefully includes colleagues who have a wide range of perspectives and backgrounds. Members are experts in their fields, and their expertise is highly relevant to the Centre’s work.

Current EAB members are:

  • Dr Alan Finnegan
  • Prof. Cherie Armour
  • Dr Dean Whybrow
  • Dr Lisa O’Malley
  • Prof. Lisa Scullion
  • Dr Steve Rolfe
  • Richard Swarbrick
  • Alison Treadgold