Research Community

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.

Dr Steve Rolfe's research in relation to the Armed Forces Community has primarily been about Veterans' housing issues following transition, and the types of services which can assist Veterans to secure and maintain appropriate housing. This reflects his wider research interests in the importance of secure housing for well-being, and the ways in which public, private and third-sector actors can support positive housing outcomes.

Dr Tamlyn Watermeyer is a neuropsychology Researcher, interested in brain and behaviour relationships, who seeks to understand biological and psycho-social determinants of brain health in later life, such as why some people develop cognitive decline and why others do not, and what we can do to prevent this. Her work in female Veteran health aims to understand possible biological, social and psychological factors that might contribute to their poorer brain health outcomes.