Research Community

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 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. 

The Dymond Lab is a research centre based at Swansea University and home to two interrelated labs. The Experimental Psychopathology Lab investigates learning and emotion systems underpinning adaptive behaviour and examines generalization and extinction of fear and avoidance. The Swansea Gambling (SwanGam) Lab drives research, education, and treatment for all forms of gambling-related harm. Additionally, their work identifies those at heightened vulnerability to harm, such as military Veterans, and captures their harm pathways to better design and evaluate evidence-based treatment and intervention.

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.