Research Community

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.   

Dr Victoria Williamson is a Researcher at King's College London and the University of Oxford. Her research focuses on the psychological impact of trauma exposure, including exposure to moral injury. She has led the first UK feasibility study to develop and pilot a treatment for moral injury related mental health difficulties with Combat Stress, which will be trialed in an RCT in 2023. 

Dr Walter Busuttil is a Consultant Psychiatrist (Lifetime Member of the Association of Psychiatry Malta) and Director of Research and Clinical Training at Combat Stress (previously Director of Medical Services). He was an Honorary Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry at Kent Institute for Medical Studies and is now Visiting Professor at King’s College London, KCMHR. Walter is a founder of the Combat Stress research department collaboration with KCMHR and a founder member of the UK Psychological Trauma Society and Five Eyes Mental Health Research Collaborative. He is past Chair of the UK Trauma Group and sits on the mental health subcommittee and Armed Forces Clinical Reference Group for NHS England. He served as a General Duties Medical in the RAF and was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for Soldiering.

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.