About The Event
Organised by the King’s Centre for Military Health Research. Bringing together leading academics, researchers, medical professionals and charities to discuss the key issues in military mental health and the Armed Forces community.
The Centre for Evidence for the Armed Forces Community Conference will conveniently be held in the same location, the day before.
After the Centre for Evidence Conference on Wednesday 13th May 2026, there will be a drinks and canape reception in the early evening, for delegates who attended either day.
Where
King's College London, Strand Campus, London, WC2R 1AE.
Registration location to be confirmed in the delegate pack, sent via email.
When
Thursday
14th May 2026
VMHC 2026 Speakers
Professor Dominic Murphy
Organiser / Chair
Combat Stress / King's Centre for Military Health Research, King's College London
Professor Sir Simon Wessely
Speaker
King's Centre for Military Health Research, King's College London
Natalie Fisher
Speaker
QinetiQ
Alan Friggieri
Speaker
Combat Stress
Professor Skip Rizzo
Speaker
University of Southern California, Institute for Creative Technologies
Dr. Philip Held
Speaker
Rush University Medical Center
Jess Williams
Speaker
Swansea University
Dr. Michiel van Elk
Speaker
Leiden University, Cognitive Psychology Unit
MaryAnn Notarianni
Speaker
Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families, Canada
Professor Edgar Jones
Panel Discussion
King’s College London
Elizabeth Hunt
Panel Discussion
Ministry of Defence
Kate McCullough
Panel Discussion
COBSEO - the Confederation of Service Charities
VMHC 2026 Parallel Session Speakers
Danielle Dryden
Combat Stress Centre for Applied Military Health Research
Professor Neil Greenberg
King's Centre for Military Health Research, King's College London
Dr Charlotte Williamson
Population Health Sciences, King's College London
Tamara Obradovic
King's Centre for Military Health Research, King's College London
Dr Laura Goodwin
Lancaster University
Emily Gillings
Population Health Sciences, King's College London
Dr Kate MacEachern
Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families, Canada
Dr J. Don Richardson
Western University, Canada
Dr Howard Burdett
King's Centre for Military Health Research, King's College London
Veterans’ Mental Health Conference 2026 Programme: Innovation to improve mental health outcomes
Registration
• 09:00 - 09:30 Registration
Session 1
Chair: Professor Dominic Murphy
• 09:30 - 09:35 Introduction (Professor Dominic Murphy)
• 09:35 - 10:05 Dedication to Professor Nicola Fear CBE (Professor Sir Simon Wessely)
• 10:05 - 10:30 Understanding the Transition from Military to Civilian Life (Natalie Fisher)
• 10:30 - 11:00 A Call to Action from the Year 2045: Future Views of Armed Forces Mental Health (Mr Alan Friggieri)
Break
• 11:00 - 11:30 Morning break
Session 2 - Parallel Sessions (11:30 - 12:30)
| Session 2a |
Session 2b |
Session 2c |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| 11:30 – 11:50 | Danielle Dryden Research to real world impact. Evidence-based knowledge mobilisation to improve support for UK women veterans who have experienced military sexual trauma (MST) |
Professor Neil Greenberg FIRST® Therapy: proof of concept studies for a novel PTSD treatment potentially suitable for UK military veterans |
Dr Charlotte Williamson Veterans’ Digital Needs in the UK: High Access, Hidden Exclusion, and Mental Health Need |
| 11:50 – 12:10 | Tamara Obradovic An Integrated Theoretical Model of Military Sexual Trauma and Mental Health Outcomes |
Dr Laura Goodwin Adherence to treatment and treatment outcomes in UK military veterans with co-occurring common mental health and alcohol problems |
Emily Gillings Predicting post-traumatic stress symptom severity through machine learning of wearable sensor data: a secondary data analysis of a military population |
| 12:10 – 12:30 | Dr Kate MacEachern Examining discrimination during service and mental health of women Veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces and Royal Canadian Mounted Police |
Dr J. Don Richardson Measurement-Based Care in Veteran Mental Health, Twenty-Five Years of Canadian Experience |
Dr Howard Burdett ADVANCE-INVEST: Wellbeing and employment outcomes for UK veterans with serious combat injuries |
Lunch
• 12:30 - 13:30 Lunch
Session 3
Chair: Professor Dominic Murphy
• 13:30 - 14:00 Virtual reality advances in the treatment of PTSD due to military and sexual trauma: Does it live up to the hype? (Professor Skip Rizzo)
• 14:00 - 14:30 AI Innovation in Military Mental Health: Developing Multi-Agent Tools for Direct Symptom Intervention and Enhanced Clinician Training in Evidence-Based Care (Dr Philip Held)
• 14:30 - 15:00 Interventions for gambling harm and PTSD using a smartphone app: Lessons learned (Jess Williams)
Break
• 15:00 - 15:30 Afternoon break
Session 4
Chair: Professor Dominic Murphy
• 15:30 – 16:00 The past, present and future of psychedelic science (Dr Michiel van Elk)
• 16:00 – 16:30 Prioritising veterans’ mental health together: A Canadian and UK perspective (MaryAnn Notarianni)
• 16:30 – 17:00 Panel discussion (Professor Edgar Jones, Elizabeth Hunt, Kate McCullough)
• 17:00 – 17:05 Closing remarks (Professor Dominic Murphy)
Drinks Reception
• 17:05 - 18:00 Drinks reception and networking
Posters
James Knox
Help For Heroes
A step 2 PWP intervention for anger for the armed forces community
Phoebe Howlett
Combat Stress Centre for Applied Military Health Research
The Lived Experience of Tinnitus in UK Veterans: A Qualitative Exploration
Dr Laura Grover
King's Centre for Military Health Research, King's College London
Bonds Beyond the Battlefield: A Mixed Methods Study of Social Support in Afghanistan Veterans
Georgie Laidlaw & Tanya Gurung
University of Warwick, Medical School
The mental health of Gurkha soldiers in the British Army: a secondary subgroup analysis of routinely collected data.
Grace Williamson
King's Centre for Military Health Research, King's College London
Associations Between Sleep Health and Physical Health in Military Personnel and Veterans who Deployed to Iraq/Afghanistan: A Systematic Review
Stephen Johnson
Birmingham City University
Are Military Leaders Equipped to Support Mental Health? Investigating Leadership Training and Mental Health Interventions in the United Kingdom Armed Forces.
Dr Marg Rogers
University of New England, Australia / Manna Institute, Australia
Co-creating and testing a bibliotherapy e-storybook for children coping with parental CPTSD
Dr Bex Bennett
Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust & Sisters in Service C.I.C.
Inpatient and Residential Treatment Models for Military Veterans in Forensic Mental Health Settings: A Scoping Review
Carlos Osório
Division of Psychiatry, UCL & Op COURAGE
Traumatic Experiences and the Clinical Profile of UK Military Veterans at a Specialist Mental Health and Wellbeing NHS Service
Dr Guyan Sloane & Richard Philpot
Department of Psychology, University of Essex
Nature-based Interventions for PTSD: A Randomised Controlled Trial Examining the Benefits of Angling in a Social, Natural Setting for Military Veterans
Dr Stefan Schilling & Summer Bedford
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Essex
Veteran Connection programme – Evidence from testing a psycho-educational intervention for the military-to-civilian transition
Aarya Menon
King's Centre for Military Health Research, King's College London
Identifying the occupational experiences of women in male-dominated workplaces: A systematic review
Milly Adams
Department of Medicine, Centre for Psychedelic Research, Imperial College London
Differential effects of psychedelic retreat attendance on craving for drugs of abuse versus dietary reinforcers in military veterans
Maheen Ashraf
Department of Computer Science, Swansea University
Let’s Chat: Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Help Support Armed Forces Veterans’ Mental Health
Alex Siira
Tampere University
Looking Beyond Diagnostic Boundaries: Deployment-Related Traumatic Stressors and Subclinical Depression Among Peacekeeping Veterans
Alison Marston
Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College
The psychological impacts of the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan on Nepali former Gurkha soldiers working as security contractors/guards.
Red Johnson
Mynd Immersive
Deploying Immersive Virtual Reality to Support Mental Health, Cognitive Engagement, and Emotional Wellbeing among US Military Veterans within the Department of Veterans Affairs Healthcare System.
Linda Slapakova
RAND Europe
Exploring the future landscape of mental health in the UK Armed Forces Community: A scenario planning approach
Dr Adriane Clomax
Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations, Rutgers University, USA
Comparing UK-US veterans: An exploratory analysis of female and racial/ethnic minority veterans.
Dr Sarah Saxena
OP Courage
Enhancing Feedback Processes: Improving Engagement with Veterans and Carers for Better Service Quality
Dr Alexandra Pitman
OP Courage
The acceptability of comedy courses as a social intervention for veterans with mental health needs: mixed methods study
Joline Attalla
Western University, Canada
The impact of exercise on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in a dults experiencing operational stress injury (OSI): An integrative review
Dr Alexandria Smith
King's Centre for Military Health Research, King's College London
Trauma Exposure and Mental Health in Ex-Servicewomen in the UK Compared with Civilian Women
Meredith Pickett
Canterbury University
Moral Injury in women veteran survivors of MST
Dr Leanne Bannister
Combat Stress
Accelerated Recovery: Evolution and Evaluation of a Cohort-based Multi-disciplinary Intensive Trauma-focused Psychological Therapy Programme for Military Veterans with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or Complex Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD).
Dr Heidi Cramm
Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
A sex-stratified comparison of occupational stress and mental health outcomes among Canadian Armed Forces members
Dr Lucy Sheen-Harker
University of the West of England
The experiences of rock climbing for British veterans living with combat trauma: An IPA study
Claire Ballard
Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Palliative Care, King’s College London
Efficacy and mechanisms evaluation of remotely delivered Fast Imagery Reversal Script for Trauma release Protocol (FIRST Protocol) vs Waiting List (WL) Controlled group for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in UK military veterans (FIRST PETT)
Joline Attalla
Western University, Canada
Highlighting the lived experiences of Veterans/Injured Military Personnel living with chronic pain and PTSD/OSI; an interpretive description study
Aubrey Sutherland
Suzanne-Dworak Peck School of Social Work, University of Southern California
Development of an Ultra-Brief Moral Injury Scale: Reduction of the 10-Item Short Form
Gallery - Images from previous conferences
Event Venue
King's College London, Strand Campus, London, WC2R 1AE.
Registration location to be confirmed in the delegate pack, sent via email.
Ticket Information
Ticket Information:
- If you are booking a ticket on behalf of a colleague, please complete the booking form with their information. The organisers need to know the delegates full name, contact details, dietary requirements, etc.
- The standard fee is £149 per day which includes all refreshments and a canapé reception (early evening Wednesday 13th May 2026 for delegates attending either day). The following discounts are available:
- Joint Ticket, Centre for Evidence Conference and Veterans’ Mental Health Conference (£278) - There will be a small discount for delegates purchasing tickets for both days, which works out at £139 per ticket.
- Cobseo Members, Veterans’ Mental Health Conference (£74.50) - If you are a Cobseo member, you are entitled to a 50% discount on the VMHC, thanks to our sponsors the Forces in Mind Trust. Please note each organisation is only entitled to a maximum of 2 discounted tickets and these are sold on a first come first served basis. There are only 25 discounted tickets available. If you are eligible, please email [email protected] and ask for the Cobseo discount code/password. You must include your organisations name in your email, so we can verify you are a Cobseo member.
- Ticket sales will close on Tuesday 28th April 2026, or earlier if tickets sell out.
- If you are unable to attend, you must let us know before Tuesday 28th April 2026 and we will change the name on your ticket for you or offer you a full refund.
- Any name change requests after Tuesday 28th April 2026 will be declined. Our venues security team require the final list of delegates 2 weeks in advance of the event, and they will not allow people who are not registered to access the building.
- Any refund requests after Tuesday 28th April 2026 will not be granted as it does not give the organisers sufficient time to resell the ticket and confirm this to the building security.
Call for Abstracts: Oral Presentations or Posters
Submissions for this year’s Veterans’ Mental Health Conference (VMHC) will open on 31st October 2025 and will close EOD 14th January 2026.
The 2026 Veterans’ Mental Health Conference (VMHC) will focus on the theme of 'Innovation to improve mental health outcomes’. As such, we encourage submissions to be linked to the theme. We invite submissions from those working in the sector researching the Armed Forces community (including research on serving personnel, veterans and their families). In particular, we welcome submissions from early career researchers (ECRs).
Submissions can be for either poster or podium presentations:- Poster presentations: A traditional poster to be displayed for the duration of the conference. If your abstract is selected as a poster, you will need to purchase a ticket. However, posters will be eligible to win a prize. There are 3 x £50 vouchers available to win.
- Oral podium presentation: Presentations are to be 15 minutes long, with an additional 5 minutes for questions. If your abstract is selected as an oral presentation, you will be given a complimentary ticket to the Veterans’ Mental Health Conference.
- Authors and Affiliations: Include the names of all lead authors and co-authors, and their respective affiliations. These details will be printed in the final delegate pack as submitted.
- Abstract Title: The full title of your submission. This will be printed in the final conference agenda as submitted and is capped at a 50-word limit.
- Abstract: This should be concise (<250 words) and provide a clear overview of the research or project and its aims and objectives. Presented research should either be recently completed or well-progressed, with results. Abstracts with no or preliminary findings will be considered if the full and final findings will be available by the time of the conference (14th May 2026). Please make this clear when you submit your abstract. All applicants should use the following headings for the body of the abstract:
- Background
- Method
- Results
- Conclusions
- Presentation type: Please indicate whether you would prefer the submitted abstract to be considered for a poster presentation, oral podium presentation or both.
- Funding: Please indicate whether your research or project received funding. If applicable, specify the funding body, and if unfunded, please declare this.
- Are you an ECR: Please indicate if you are an ECR e.g. master's student, PhD student, or recent doctoral graduate (within the last 3 years).
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Contact Us
Organiser Address
King's Centre for Military Health Research (KCMHR)Weston Education Centre, Cutcombe Road, SE5 9RJ
London