It is with enormous sadness that we have to announce the death of our beloved colleague, supervisor, friend, and mentor Professor Nicola T. Fear CBE, after a short illness.
Nicola was Professor of Military Epidemiology and Director of the King’s Centre for Military Health Research. She was also co-director of the Centre for Evidence for the Armed Forces Community and Research Co-Chair of the Service Children’s Progression Alliance (SCiP) Impact Centre. She joined King’s College London in 2004 from the Ministry of Defence, having started her career as a cancer epidemiologist. With KCMHR she established herself as an international authority in serving personnel, veteran and military family health and wellbeing, for which she was awarded the CBE in 2025. In 2025, she was also recognised as the first International Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research (CIMVHR) Fellow.
Nicola loved her work with a passion. She had a never-ending amount of kindness, patience and encouragement and an eagle eye for numbers and robust research. She supported many of us at KCMHR and beyond, through our careers as early career researchers and PhD students, making a huge contribution to the wider research community nationally as well as internationally. She also collaborated closely with many charitable organisations and policy teams to ensure that the work of KCMHR had real-life impact for military personnel, veterans, and their families.
Professor Sir Simon Wessely writes
“Nicola has been cruelly taken from us when she was absolutely at her peak. Our priority now is ensuring her friends and colleagues are supported through this and her outstanding legacy is continued”.
Our thoughts are with her husband, Dan and two children, Mary and Max, and her brother Ally.
