CIMVHR Forum 2025
Every year, the Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research (CIMVHR) hosts an annual international forum that brings together hundreds of researchers, policy makers, service providers, peer support organizations and intermediary organizations to present the latest research focused on military and Veteran health and mental health.
The Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families will be participating in CIMVHR Forum 2025 with the goal of strengthening our networks and exploring potential collaborations both nationally and internationally. At the same time, we aim to share information and raise awareness about our research in the Veteran and Family mental health and well-being space.
A key focus for us at CIMVHR Forum 2025 will be to continue advocating for the practice of bringing the lived experiences of Veterans and their Families forward in conversations about issues that affect them. One of the ways we are doing this is by offering a limited number of travel grants to Veterans and Veteran Family members in our network.
If you are attending CIMVHR Forum 2025, we invite you to visit our booth and attend our symposium, podium and poster presentations to learn more about how, together, we are bridging the gap between research and practice to create positive change for Veterans and Families across Canada.
To access the full schedule of events, including locations, visit the CIMVHR Forum website.
Poster presentations
- Presenter: William Van Veen, PhD student — Social Sciences Psychology, Carleton University
- Summary: This poster presentation will summarize a longitudinal analysis over time of 38,502 Canadians (3,125 Veterans) in comparison to non-Veterans, which found that Veterans experience social integration, life satisfaction and depression in distinct ways compared to civilians. This highlights the complexity in tailoring Veteran support services.
- Presenter: Christine Okigbo, PhD student — Clinical Psychology, Concordia University
- Summary: This poster presentation will summarize a study on the association between service-related sexual trauma (SRST) and body appreciation in a sample of women Veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces and Royal Canadian Mounted Police, with preliminary findings indicating that experiencing SRST can lead to negative body appreciation in woman Veterans.
- Presenter: Emma Tassinari, MSc, PhD student — Graduate program in Neuroscience, University of Western Ontario
- Summary: This poster presentation will summarize a systematic review investigating existing literature on neurofeedback for the treatment of psychiatric populations to examine cognitive strategy use — specifically whether investigators provided strategy instruction, and if participant strategy use was evaluated and if so, which were most effective. Preliminary findings indicated that very limited studies incorporate strategy use into their research and future work should systematically examine whether specific strategies contribute to successful neurofeedback regulation and improved clinical outcomes to optimize treatment interventions.
- Presenter: Olivia Ardilliez, graduate student — Master of Science in Neuroscience, University of Ottawa
- Summary: This poster presentation reviews the effects of indirect trauma exposure on the Family unit of individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and highlights the criticality of understanding the broader effects of secondary traumatic stress (STS) within the Family unit.
- Presenter: Prabdeep Panesar, MSc, PhD student — Research and Clinical Training Progam, McMaster University
- Summary: This poster presentation will summarize a synthesizing the experiences of gender identity development among transgender and gender diverse military members and Veterans, in order to understand the role of social support and the impact on mental health.
Podium presentations
- Presenter: Leo Goudal, MPH, Research and Policy Analyst, Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families
- Summary: This presentation will explain how peer support guidelines for Veterans, military, public safety personnel, and their Families were developed and highlight the current literature and expert consensus of best practices for peer support focusing on Veterans, military, public safety personnel, and their Families.
- Presenter: Kate Hill MacEachern, PhD, Senior Research Associate, Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families, and Sandra Pilote, CD, MN, Canadian Armed Forces Veteran
- Summary: This presentation will discuss results from a study examining the association between service-related sexual trauma and moral injury for women Veterans. This study found that service-related sexual trauma was associated with moral injury and that institutional betrayal played a role in that association.
- Presenter: Andrew Nicholson, PhD, Vice President, Research, Director, Clinical Research, Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families, and Assistant Professor, School of Psychology, University of Ottawa
- Summary: This presentation will resume findings of a study which used machine learning to predict posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment outcomes. Changes in symptoms during therapy — not initial symptom levels — best predicted recovery. Tracking these changes may help personalize care and improve outcomes for people with severe PTSD.
- Presenter: Adelina Gregory, MSc, Research Associate, Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families
- Summary: This presentation will resume early findings of a study on post-service well-being in women Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Veterans. Results focus on describing occupational stress during service, mental health, service use and barriers to care.
- Presenter: Capt (Ret’d) SueEllen MacGowan, MSc, graduate student, University of Ottawa
- Summary: This presentation will resume findings of a study exploring how brain-based neurofeedback helps people with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), including Veterans and first responders. Results suggest that neurofeedback may help “reset” the brain networks affected by trauma, offering promising new treatment for those living with PTSD.
- Presenter: Emily Levitt, PhD, Psychologist in Supervised Practice, Youth Wellness Centre, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton
- Summary: This presentation will resume findings from a study examining a new measure of moral injury in Canadian sexual and gender minorities. Results are expected to confirm the measure’s accuracy, contributing to research and clinical understanding of moral injury.
- Presenter: Deborah, Norris, PhD, Professor, Department of Family Studies and Gerontology, Mount Saint Vincent University
- Summary: This presentation will resume findings from a study exploring the ways in which growing up in a Canadian military Family shapes resilience in adult life. Participants described the role of social capital in meeting the demands of military service. These findings highlight the importance of community in promoting the well-being and identity of Canada’s military children.
- Presenter: Emma Lynn, MSc, graduate student — Clinical Psychology, University of Ottawa
- Summary: This presentation will resume findings from an imaging study on the neurobiology of minority stress which found that exposure to minority stress may lead to altered functioning within the brain and that these changes are associated with mental health symptoms. These findings underscore the importance of examining the neurobiological impact of minority stress and moral injury in sexual and gender minority populations.
Symposium
- Symposium topic: Shaping the future of aging Veterans’ research in Canada and beyond
- Organized by: Aging Veterans Community of Practice
- Atlas presenter: André Lauzon, PhD, Senior Research Associate, Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families
- Presentation summary: This presentation will resume findings from a study which looked at factors that help aging Canadian Veterans feel mentally well. It found that being flexible in how you think and handle challenges only improves well-being if it also makes you feel more hopeful. Feeling hopeful is the key link between staying flexible and feeling good in later life.
