Research Community

Jenny is a Serving Officer in the British Army and has been employed as a mental health nurse working in clinical and management roles within the Ministry of Defence, Departments of Community Mental Health (DCMH). She is currently undertaking a Professional Doctorate in Health through the University of Bath exploring adjustment disorder in the military population. In 2024 Jenny joined the Academic Department of Military Mental Health at King's College London as a senior lecturer. Her research interests include military mental health, adjustment disorder, education and training, and female Veterans.

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. 

John Goulding is a PhD student at Liverpool John Moores University.  His current ongoing work explores the educational experiences of ex-Service personnel with prior justice system involvement. John’s overall research interests include the use of sports to increase educational attainment and achievement, the effect of government policy on social mobility, Veterans’ health and well-being and the causation of Veteran incarceration in the justice system.

Jon Ablett is a PhD student at the University of Bristol investigating the relationship between Veterans and welfare in the UK, specifically as it relates to homelessness welfare provision and services. Jon’s interests lie in housing theory and policy, especially as it relates to homelessness. He has assisted on research involving homeless Veterans with Dr Edward Kirton-Darling and Professor Helen Carr. This included research on local authorities in London and whether they were offering the correct legal information to homeless Veterans on their websites and within their relevant strategies. This also resulted in a conference in London where the results were disseminated among members from local authorities, the Veterans Advisory and Pensions Committee and other interested parties. 

Kate Salem is a Senior Researcher at the Westminster Centre for Research in Veterans. She has experience conducting mixed-methods research and has led on multiple research projects related to health and well-being in the Armed Forces Community. Kate is also the wife of an Army veteran and is completing her PhD which explores the impact of Veterans' mental health experiences upon their partners, with the aim of highlighting the needs of the military partner population.

Katherine Lawrence is Head of Operations at the Service Children's Progression (SCiP) Alliance, bringing together researchers, policy-makers and funders. Katherine runs a UK-wide network of research-practice hubs focused on knowledge exchange around evidence-based practice supporting the educational progression of children and young people in Armed Forces families. In addition to supporting, disseminating and commissioning research in this space and translating it into impact, Katherine has an interest in international comparative research.