Dr Rachael Gribble is Senior Lecturer in War & Psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s College London.

Based in the King’s Centre for Military Health Research (KCHMR), she is interested in understanding how occupation, and the risks, challenges, and rewards involved with high-risk jobs, impact and influence the well-being of family members such as partners, children, parents and siblings. 

A member of the international Garnet Families (Families Matter Research Team), Dr Gribble regularly collaborates on research and outputs with international colleagues working with military or public safety/first responder families.

As Research Advisor for the Service Children in Progression Impact Centre, she provides expert research advice and support to those working with military-connected children and young people. She is a member of the Rethinking Military Spouses Critical Research Group, a group of academics focusing on novel methods for understanding the experiences of non-serving military spouses, and the UK Psychological Trauma Society.

Dr Gribble has been involved in a number of mixed-methods qualitative and quantitative studies aimed at better understanding the role of occupation in family health.

Key projects include public attitudes to the military, weekly separation among Naval families (CHASE study), veteran transition trajectories, and domestic violence/(IPVA), and international projects on LGBT and public safety families. A key theme is her work is the idea of who is considered to be a 'military family', exploring this both across policy and research.

She was Principal Investigator on the LIFE-Q study critically exploring influences on alcohol and other lifestyle behaviours among military partners. Recently, she was Co-Investigator on the UK's first study of the health and wellbeing of veteran families (the UK Veterans Family Study) and on the Military Children Promote, Protect, Prevent study looking at social determinants of health among military-connected children.

Dr Gribble is an experienced PhD supervisor and is interested in supervising postgraduate research students interested in the impacts of occupation or conflict on family health, the health of women, or marginalised groups.

Research Interests

• Military Families
• Military & Veteran Health
• Family health and relationships
• Women’s health
• Occupational Health
• LGBT+ health
• Mixed Methods
• Reviews

Teaching

• Deputy Lead, War & Psychiatry MSc programme
• Module lead for Civilians and Extreme Trauma (7PCPWCIV) and the Dissertation (7PAGWRES)
• PGT research methods and skills (Dissertation (7PAGWRES))

Expertise & Public Engagement

Dr Gribble is Research Advisor for the SCiP Impact Centre which supports practitioners, funders, researchers and policymakers to evaluate their work, make better use of evidence and share learning that can improve outcomes for Service children.

She is co-lead for the SCiP Alliance London Hub, along with the Royal British Legion and Brunel University of London – the hub connects those working with Service children in Greater London to improve their outcomes.

She organises the annual King’s Centre for Military Health Research-Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research Invitational Roundtable on Military Families involving academics, practitioners, policy makers and charities from the UK and internationally.

Dr Gribble has experience of building and maintaining strong connections with key stakeholders in military and military family health from policy, research and the third sector throughout research projects, from development to dissemination and impact.

She regularly presents to a range of stakeholders, including politicians, policy makers, academics, practitioners, medical professionals, military personnel, military charities and military families.