Research Community

Dr Craig White is a researcher from the University of Loughborough, working in partnership with Dr Jamie Barker on the Veterans' Resilience Programme. This programme aims to optimise Veterans' resilience and mental health and well-being and strengthen peer support networks for those Veterans that suffer from mental health and well-being issues. Their work uses a holistic approach to enhancing resilience, mental health, and well-being in Veterans by promoting a more active and healthier lifestyle and enhanced feelings of a positive social identity for those who participate. Dr Barker and Dr White are also currently producing an academic paper and policy documentation for the Office of Veterans’ Affairs. This will emphasise the potential impact of non-clinical interventions on Veterans suffering from mental health and well-being issues. Additionally, they are applying for additional funds to expand the Veterans' Resilience Programme nationwide.'

Dr Dan Dyball is a researcher on the ADVANCE study, a study investigating the long-term health impact of sustaining a physical combat injury in Afghanistan. Dr Dyball is specifically interested in mental health, and how mental health affects physical health.

Daniel Leightley is a Research Fellow at the King’s Centre for Military Health Research where he joined in 2015. He leads the KCMHR Digital Labs which is focused on the interface between physical and mental health using digital technology, secondary data sources and big data analytics. 

Dr David Jackson is a disabled Royal Marine Veteran and an honorary Research Fellow at the University of Exeter. He is currently working on The Military Afterlives Project and the Stories in Transition Project. His research interests include engagement and involvement of the ex-Service personnel community and their families within the research process, particularly through participatory and co-research methods. He is interested in moving away from mono modal outputs and moving towards creative research methods which can lead to a different understanding of Veterans and their families.

Dean Whybrow’s research area is organizational health and well-being. He is a subject matter expert in well-being and occupational mental health care. This includes developing resources to cope with job demands such as high workload, ethical dilemmas, or exposure to potentially traumatic events. He is focused on the interplay between job demands and job resources, and strategies for promoting employee resilience. On the flip side are employee burnout, disengagement, and workforce attrition. These factors are especially relevant to healthcare workforces where staff recruitment, education, and retention can impact service delivery. His emphasis is promoting recovery and well-being, understanding the decision to leave a job, the experience of career change and identifying opportunities to promote employee engagement and retention. 

Dr Ed Bryan is an Analyst and the Supporting Lead of the Defence Workforce and Armed Forces Community research portfolio at RAND Europe. His research interests include defence workforce trends, Armed Forces cultures and discourse, as well as areas of systematic disadvantage and vulnerability amongst military populations. Ed holds a PhD, MPhil, and BA in Geopolitics and Political Geography from the University of Cambridge and previously served as an anti-corruption intelligence researcher for UK police forces in the Eastern Region.