Professor Matt Kiernan

Professor Matthew Kiernan entered academia as a mature student whilst serving in the Royal Navy. Originally qualifying as a RGN in Derby in 1991 he subsequently qualified as a RN (Mental Health) in 2001 with a BSC Med Sci from Sheffield University. He was awarded a PhD from Nottingham University in 2011.

Matthew was the Head of Mental Health Nursing in the Royal Navy, the Specialist Nurse Advisor for Mental Health (Royal Navy) and the Defence Specialist Nurse Advisor (Mental Health) prior to taking up his appointment as a Senior Research Fellow at the Academic Department for Defence Nursing. Matthew saw active service in the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Since arriving at Northumbria he has been committed to developing The Northern Hub for Veterans and Military Families' Research as its Director. Matthew is currently leading a range of research projects which focus veterans and military families. Matthew is the chair of the Independent Advisory Panel for the British Army Infantry Training Centre in Catterick Garrison and an Academic Advisor to the Office of Veterans Affairs.

• Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
• Evaluating the Impact of a Pilot Social Prescribing Service for the Armed Forces Community, Schoultz, M., Boul, L., Senior, E., Swift, A., Kiernan, M. 24 Feb 2026, In: Primary Health Care Research and Development
• MONARCH: Map of Need Aggregated Research Study, Kiernan, M., Tomietto, M., Oxburgh, G., Johnson, A., McGill, A., Meyhew, M., Serra, G., Rodrigues, M., Turoldo, F. 25 Jun 2026
• Outcomes and Outcome Measures Used to Evaluate the Impact of Physical, Psychological, Social, and Substance Harm Reduction Early Intervention approaches linked to primary care for UK Veterans. A rapid scoping review protocol, Whybrow, D., Edwards, D., Johnson, A., Kiernan, M., Nollett, C. 19 Jan 2026
• The Vermont Research Trial Protocol: A Mixed-Methods Study of Group, Farrell, D., Provetto, S., Miller, P., Lavis, T., Moran, J., Knibbs, L., Lucas, B., Galle, M., Kiernan, M. 14 May 2026, In: Journal of EMDR Practice and Research
• Understanding healthcare accessibility for military veterans living with Charles Bonnet Syndrome: co-production of a psychoeducational toolkit, McCready, J., Gomes, R., Kiernan, M., Arnfield, J., Senior, E., Farrell, D. 3 Jun 2026, In: frontiers in psychology
• Developing a nationwide registry of UK veterans seeking help from sector charities ? A machine learning approach to stratification, Serra, G., Tomietto, M., McGill, A., Kiernan, M. 1 Feb 2025, In: The European Journal of Public Health
• Improving early intervention: identifying risk factors for UK military veterans that access military charities—a case-control study and an AI-powered predictive model, Serra, G., Turoldo, F., Tomietto, M., McGill, A., Kiernan, M. 1 Oct 2025, In: European Journal of Public Health
• Intensive Trauma Treatment, Farrell, D., de Jongh, A., Kiernan, M. 21 Aug 2025, The Oxford Handbook of EMDR Therapy, Oxford, United Kingdom, Oxford University Press

• Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
• Northumbria Uni support to RAFFF, Kiernan, M. (Principal Investigator), RAF Families Federation, 01/12/24 - 01/04/25, £3,000.00
• 'Military Children' Promote, Protect, Prevent, Watson, P. (Principal Investigator), Kiernan, M. (Co Investigator), Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust, 01/09/24 - 31/08/25, £124,899.00
• MONARCH (Map Of Need Aggregation ResearCH) Study FIMT, Kiernan, M. (Principal Investigator), Forces in Mind Trust, 01/04/23 - 30/09/24, £325,000.00
• MONARCH (Map Of Need Aggregation ResearCH) Study AFCFT, Kiernan, M. (Principal Investigator), Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust, 31/01/23 - 31/07/24, £199,999.00
• Veteran suicide: Understand-Identify-Prevent, Kiernan, M. (Principal Investigator), Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust, 01/07/21 - 30/06/23, £205,405.00
• Reducing loneliness in veterans who have been treated for PTSD, Kiernan, M. (Principal Investigator), Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust, 22/02/21 - 21/02/23, £70,000.00

• Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
• Invited talk: Age UK Armed Forces Conference (North East Region) 2026
• Invited talk: Reducing military suicide in health and social care delivery: safety planning. 2025
• Invited talk: Improving the health and social wellbeing of veterans through data visualisation: The MONARCH study (Map Of Need Aggregated ResearCH study) 2023
• Invited talk: Digital Innovation and Veteran Care - A roundtable discussion 2023
• Invited talk: Presentation to the House of Lords: Research on Military Bereaved Communities 2023
• Organising a conference, workshop, ...: Forces in Mind Trust Research Centre Conference 2023
• Invited talk: Reducing the risk of suicide for those in the care system 2023
• Membership of board: Office for Veteran Affairs (Cabinet Office) (External organisation) 2022
• Invited talk: One is too ManyVeteran Suicide: Understand-Identify-Prevent 2022
• Invited talk: Presentation on the function of the Map of Need Project to the Veterans Advisory Board, Cabinet Office, UK Government 2022

• Christina Dodds Military Women; Our Stories; A Narrative Inquiry of women who have served in the British Armed Forces Start Date: 23/09/2022 End Date: 01/10/2025
• Joanne Brettell Belonging, Identity, and Community: Exploring Intergenerational Life at the Royal Hospital Chelsea. Start Date: 01/10/2025 End Date: 06/08/2026
• Colin Gordon Understanding Veteran Beneficiary Dis-engagement as a Tool for Case Work Practice. Start Date: 22/09/2022 End Date: 22/02/2025
• Tobyn Eagles Developing an aggregative data system for the evaluation of outcomes at The Royal Hospital Chelsea (RHC). Start Date: 01/10/2024
• Andrew McGill Identifying the needs of aged veterans: Creating a digital twin - risk analysis and predictive modelling using multiple data sources from the veteran’s sector. Start Date: 01/05/2026

• Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
• The Northern Hub for Veterans and Military Families Research is a collective of academics, service providers and service users with an interest in improving the health and social wellbeing of veterans and their families across the life-span.