CIMVHR Forum 2026
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 2026 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 2026 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 2026, we invite you to visit our booth and attend our workshop, 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 presentation
- Presenter: André Lauzon, PhD, Senior Research Associate, Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families
- Summary: This poster presentation will summarize a study that examined how health system responsiveness affects Canadian Veterans. Key findings indicate that difficult system experiences are linked to depression. However, self-compassion — being kind to oneself — acts as a buffer against depressive symptoms. Self-compassion also promotes positive well-being, making it a key resource for Veteran mental health.
Podium presentations
- Presenter: Ashley Charbonneau, Senior Implementation Specialist, Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families
- Summary: This presentation will share pilot findings from the adaptation and evaluation of a training program on military identity and cultural competency. A Canadian-developed model was operationalized into training in Australia and is now being adapted back to the Canadian context. Co-designed with Veterans, Veteran Families and providers, this program aims to strengthen culturally responsive care.
- Presenter: Tabitha Beynen, Lived Expertise Lead — Veterans, Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families and Guylaine Lamoureux, CD, Canadian Armed Forces veteran
- Summary: This presentation examines how women Veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces describe experiences of transition to post-service life. Findings suggest that conditions of release, identity changes, social support, and access to services and programs shaped transition, while also indicating a need for accessible, women-specific, and easier-to-navigate supports during and after transition.
- Presenter: Emma Lynn, MSc, graduate student — Clinical Psychology, University of Ottawa
- Summary: This presentation will explore how neuroimaging methods can be applied to study moral injury in Veterans and other populations. The presented findings provide preliminary evidence linking identity-based moral injury to disruptions in large-scale brain networks. Importantly, this work highlights potential neural targets for trauma-informed interventions aimed at addressing moral injury symptoms that disproportionately affect sexual and gender minority communities, particularly Veterans and military members.
- Presenter: Robin Dziekan, Network and Partnerships Lead, Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families and Sarah Lefurgey, BSc, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Veteran
- Summary: This presentation will share the results of a thematic analysis on what was heard from Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Veterans and Families during a dialogue series focused on post-service experiences related to mental health and well-being. The dialogue series explored five priority areas identified by the community: mental health services and supports, life after service, moral injury, suicide awareness and prevention, and RCMP culture and community.
- Presenter: Olivia Ardilliez, graduate student — Master of Science in Neuroscience, University of Ottawa
- Summary: This presentation will define the role of the insula in the brain and the regulatory functions that are affected when insular connectivity is altered in individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It will explain the application of EEG-neurofeedback as a therapeutic technique for improving the neuro- and psychopathology of PTSD.
- Presenter: Capt (Ret’d) SueEllen MacGowan, MSc, graduate student, University of Ottawa
- Summary: This presentation will cover findings from a study that tracked participants with PTSD over 20 weeks of EEG-neurofeedback, a brain training technique. It found that EEG-neurofeedback could provide a targeted intervention for people with PTSD by calming their brain connectivity in regions scanning for danger while strengthening connectivity in regions involved in self-related processing.
- Presenter: Adelina Gregory, MSc, Research Associate, Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families
- Summary: This presentation will present findings from a study that assessed the relation between organizational stress, service-related sexual trauma (SRST) and moral injury among women of the Canadian Armed Forces and Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Results suggest that SRST and interpersonal stressors are central to moral injury among women Veterans and support recognition of the value of quantitative approaches to considering the magnitude of associations between organizational stressors and moral injury.
Workshop
- Atlas lead: Meriem Benlamri, Director, Knowledge Mobilization, Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families
- Summary: This session will be hosted by knowledge translation/mobilization experts from Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families, Chronic Pain Centre of Excellence, MacDonald Franklin OSI Research Centre, and Perley Health with experience advancing evidence into policy, practice and system-level change. They will share insights, challenges and lessons learned from designing for impact. Attendees will be equipped with knowledge translation/mobilization tools to move research beyond publication into policy, practice and community. Through guided exercises and collaborative discussion, participants will clarify impact goals, identify priority audiences, map influence pathways and explore evaluation approaches. Real-world scenarios will be used to examine how research is understood and used by Veterans, Families, clinicians, policy makers and other knowledge users. Participants will leave with tools, insights and strategies to strengthen the visibility, relevance and impact of their work.
Explore past events
