Five Eyes Mental Health Research and Innovation Collaborative Annual Meetings
Created in response to an invitation to brief the Five Eyes Ministers of Veterans Affairs on mental health issues, the Five Eyes Mental Health Research and Innovation Collaboration (Five Eyes MHRIC) was founded by CIMVHR and the Phoenix Australia Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health. The Five Eyes MHRIC is a vital international consortium focused on advancing mental health research and developing policies to improve the lives of military personnel, Veterans and their families. The group brings together experts from the Five Eyes nations—Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States—to provide high-level, evidence-based guidance on mental health priorities, best practices and emerging issues. This collaboration addresses key challenges, such as suicide prevention and mental health support, to ensure that military and Veteran communities across these countries receive the best care and support possible.
As a co-founder of the Five Eyes MHRIC with Phoenix Australia, CIMVHR holds a source of pride in having a seat at the table and bringing together leaders and experts from the Five Eyes Nations. Our active participation and attendance at the meeting in Los Angeles (2023) and Boston (2024) underscores CIMVHR's leadership in military, family and Veteran mental health research at an international level. This leadership role is a testament to our commitment to advancing mental health research and developing policies and practices that enhance the lives of the populations we serve.
November 4-5, 2023 - Los Angeles, California
The Five Eyes MHRIC hosted their annual in-person meeting, a collaborative platform for open discussions and presentations on Mental Health Research, in Los Angeles, California on November 4 and 5, 2023. The meeting included discussions diverse topics such as; Female Veterans, Moral Injury, COVID-19, Families, Anger, Treatment Innovations, and Suicide. The group was joined virtually by a special guest from The European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP), Dr. Iryna Frankova, who updated the Five Eyes MHRIC on the current situation in Ukiraine from the frontline.
The meeting fostered many roundtable discussions on trending issues in mental health research. The most significant outcome of this meeting was the development of several smaller working groups, demonstrating the spirit of collaboration, to work on research papers focusing on Female Veterans, Ukraine and Moral Injury. These outcomes are not just a result of the meeting but a testament to the collective efforts and dedication of all the participants.
CIMVHR would like to recognize the dedication and commitment of Professor David Forbes, who recently retired from Phoenix Australia. Professor Forbes founded the Five Eyes MHRIC with CIMVHR's Dr. David Pedlar. The two of them had the mindset that collaboration works best. With that, they brought together some of the brightest minds from the Five Eyes nations to work on advancing research issues that will impact military personnel, Veterans and their families. We wish David all the best on his future endeavors and look forward to our paths crossing again soon.
September 20-21, 2024 - Boston, Massachusetts
In 2024, the annual meeting moved to September in Boston, Massachusetts. The meeting was led by CIMVHR's Dr. David Pedlar and Phoenix Australia's Nicole Sadler, who recently took over as one of the chairs for the group. The meeting started with a roundtable update from each country to speak about their country's research priorities.
Over the day and a half, the group discussed topics such as suicide, female military and Veteran populations, measurement-based care, psychedelics and related drug treatments, and Ukraine. The group welcomed two guest speakers on the Sunday to further their scope of understanding the issues and needs of Ukraine and female military and veteran populations.
Dr. Robert van Voren is a professor of Soviet and Post Soviet Studies at Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, Lithuania, and at Ilia State University in Tbilisi, Georgia. He is also the Director of the Andrei Sakharov Research Centre on Democratic Development in Kaunas and Chief Executive of the international foundation Human Rights in Mental Health-Federation Global Initiative on Psychiatry. Dr. van Voren informed the Five Eyes group on his work with developing the Veteran Mental Health Center of Excellence (VMHCE) in Kyiv, Ukraine which was established in 2024 as a state-of-the-art knowledge and training hub for veteran mental health in Ukraine. It is a joint initiative of Taras Shevchenko National University, in collaboration with international partners: the Federation Global Initiative on Psychiatry and the King's Centre for Military Health Research (KCMHR) at King's College London. The Center's academic base allows it to support and guide all governmental and non-governmental institutions across Ukraine.
Dr. Brian N. Smith, Deputy Director at the National Center for PTSD Women's Health Sciences Division and an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine, Updated the group on The National Center for PTSD Women's Health Sciences Division: A Focus on Women Veterans' Challenges and Needs after Military Service
During the reporting period, the Five Eyes MHRIC published two articles that have plain language summaries to accompany them:
- Suicide in Military and Veteran Populations: A View Across the Five Eyes Nation, and
- Problematic anger in military and veteran populations with and without PTSD: The elephant in the room
Learn more about these articles at the International Research Collaborations section, and about the Five Eyes MHRIC group at fiveeyesmhric.org