Research Community

Anna is a Research Associate at KCMHR where she currently leads the qualitative component of ADVANCE-INVEST, a long-term project investigating the experiences and outcomes of battlefield casualties who have left the military. She has previously worked on KCMHR 'Support to Families of Wounded, Injured, or Sick (WIS) Service Personnel – An Investigation of Current Service Provision' Study and 'Potential Gaps and Service Parents’ and Adolescents’ Challenges and Experiences' Study. Anna is particularly interested in post-deployment transition, Veterans and their families, peer support and co-production, Serving/ex-Serving fathers with PTSD and their families, and WIS Service personnel.

The Centre for Evidence for the Armed Forces Community is an independent centre funded by Forces in Mind Trust and run by a consortium of RAND Europe and King’s Centre for Military Health Research (KCMHR) at King’s College London. The centre provides an accessible and authoritative evidence base exploring the transition from military to civilian life, to inform policy and practice affecting ex-Service personnel and their families in the UK. It also functions as a community hub for the UK Armed Forces research community, connecting researchers, policy makers, and service providers, to support the forging of joined up working and collaboration, and build pathways to impact. This is achieved through various outputs, including but not limited to, a accessible online research repository, informative themed research and policy summaries and primary research exploring key themes impacting the UK ex-Service community. 

The Centre for Injury Studies formerly known as The Centre for Blast Injury Studies (CBIS) at Imperial College London. It is an expansion of CBIS’ previous remit, with the work going beyond a focus on Serving military personnel and veterans, to also include research into the significant number of civilians who are injured during conflicts around the world. The research considers those who are injured and works closely with those who treat conflict injuries to be able to improve treatment, mitigation and rehabilitation. This includes research into personal protective equipment, surgery and devices (such as medical equipment, prosthetics and orthotics). By embedding civilian and military health professionals, scientists and engineers within the Centre, this centre continues to deliver change through new technology, equipment and policies.

The Centre for Military Women’s Research (CMWR)’s core mission is to inform and improve the well-being of women in the military and Veteran community through world-leading collaborative research and evaluation. Their work highlights women’s experiences, issues, and support needs and the centre is dedicated to fostering co-production with members of the military community and collaboration with partners and stakeholders.

Dr Alethea McHardy is a Consultant in Sport & Exercise Medicine for the Ministry of Defence. She is the Clinical Lead for the Regional Rehabilitation Unit for Scotland. 

She commenced a PhD in April 2024 on health outcomes in female military veterans in Scotland with a focus on the Musculoskeletal, Reproductive systems, breast and ovarian cancer.  

In 2025 she was awarded a Colt Foundation PhD Fellowship for 3 years which will support this key piece of work. 

She currently sits on the Scottish Government Cross Party Working Group for the UK Armed Forces and Veterans and has a passion for influencing policy decisions based on sound research. 

Dr Alison Osborne is a Senior Researcher in Psychology, with research interests in identity, well-being, EDI, digital health, Armed Forces, and mixed methodologies. Her current work is focussing on the role of digital technologies in women’s health communications. Alison’s research portfolio includes several projects with the Armed Forces Community centred on well-being, alcohol use, bereavement, family separation and limb loss. Most recently, Alison was the lead researcher for Fighting With Pride on the first UK research project exploring the experiences and impact of the UK Armed Forces ‘gay ban’ with LGBT+ Veterans.