Joining Forces Research Colloquium

Learn about the range of military-related scholarship at UB and network with others. Community members are welcome!

Our group meets monthly three times each semester during the academic year, usually on the last Friday of the month. Participants present past or current research, discuss recent findings or issues, brainstorm potential research and collaborations, and network.

The Joining Forces Research Colloquium will be hosted in person for the Spring 2025 semester, with a virtual option also available.

All presentations will be held from 12:15-1:30 p.m. in Parker Hall on South Campus and virtually on Zoom.

• February 28 - via zoom only: VA Minority Veterans Program, Danielle Juracek, Program Specialist for Office of Health Equity, VAWNY Healthcare system
• March 28 - TBA
• April 25 - TBA 

Fall 2024 

Sept. 27, 2024, Joe Ruszala and Mike Shanley, Dog Tags New York: Transitions and Coming All the Way Home.

Oct. 25th, 2024, Dr. Mehreen Arif, The Role of Risk-Related Behaviors and Mental Health on Alcohol Outcomes Among United States Army Reserve and National Guard (USAR/NG) Soldiers. 

Nov. 15th, 2024, Dr, Michael Robinson, University of Birmingham, National Army Museum Research Fellow: Difficult Homecoming: Shell-Shocked British Army Veterans in Ireland, 1918-39.

2023-2024 

Sept. 29, 2023, Jessica Kulak, PhD, UB Department of Community Health and Health Behavior, and Bonnie Vest, PhD, UB Department of Family Medicine: “Characteristics of Reserve and National Guard Soldiers who use VA Healthcare Services.” 

Oct. 27, 2023, Christopher Ramnauth, Buffalo VA Community Engagement and Partnership Coordinator for Suicide Prevention will present on his program: “Veteran Suicide Prevention: Strengthening Community Engagement and Building Partnerships.”

Nov. 17, 2023, Dayne Nix, Professor, Joint Military Operations, Commander retired, chaplain, professor, Naval War College: “Moral Injury and Healing after the First World War: What G.A. Studdert Kennedy’s Experience of Moral Injury Can Teach Us.”

Feb. 23, 2024 - Facilitated discussion: Occupation-Related, Repeated Low Level Blast Injuries among Service Members and Veterans.

March 29, 2024 - Carolyn Camm, LMSW; Delcey Pulvino, LCSW, CASAC, LPN, Caregiver Support Program.

April 26, 2024 - Paul King, VA Medical Center, Adaptation and pilot test of a brief, transdiagnostic intervention to address chronic neurobehavioral symptoms in veterans.

2022-2023

Sept. 30, 2022, Brendan Bannon, The Odyssey Project: "Odyssey Project: Veterans Photograph the Long Road Home"

Feb. 24, 2023, Divine Quinones, SSG, US Army: “Therapy, Art, and Understanding: Life After Service”

March 31, 2023, Vasiliki Neofotistos, PhD, UB Department of Anthropology: “Reflections on a community engagement project with veterans”

April 28, 2023, Dr. Natalia Kalmykova, CEO, Ukranian Veteran's Foundation (UVF), Ministry of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine: “Veterans Coming Back to the Army: Ukranian Experience Under 

2021 - 2022

Sept. 24, 2021 (via Zoom), Alyssa Vasquez, Director of Community Integration, Veterans One-Stop Center of WNY: “Veterans One-Stop Center: 2021 Updates”

Oct. 29, 2021 (via Zoom), Vasiliki Neofotistos, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology: “Contested Truths: War Veterans in North Macedonia”

Nov. 12, 2021 (via Zoom), Sarah Handley-Cousins, PhD, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of History, and Associate Director, Center for Disability Studies: "The Age of Crime: Disability, Veterans and Crime in Gilded Age America”

Feb. 25, 2022 (via Zoom), Bonnie M. Vest, PhD, Research Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine, University at Buffalo. "Altered states of combat: Veteran trauma and the quest for novel therapeutics in psychedelic substances"

March 25, 2022 (via Zoom), Michael Shurmatz, LMSW, VA WNY Healthcare system. "Moral injury of military service members"

April 29, 2022 (In-person and via Zoom), Robert B. Murrett, Professor of Practice, The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Institute for Security Policy and Law, Syracuse University. “Veterans in the current era: Challenges and ppportunities for 2022 and beyond"

2020- 2021

Sept. 25, 2020 (via Zoom), Braden K. Linn, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, Clinical and Research Institute on Addictions: "Understanding the needs of dishonorably discharged American veterans: A propensity score matched comparison"

Oct. 30, 2020 (via Zoom), Jennifer Fillo, PhD, MPH, Research Assistant Professor, UB Department of Psychiatry and Department of Community Health and Health Behavior: "Military Sexual Trauma Among Army Reserve/National Guard Soldiers: Implications for Substance Use and Romantic Relationship Functioning”

Nov. 13, 2020 (via Zoom), Lee K. Pennington, PhD, Associate Professor, History Department, United States Naval Academy: "Red, White, and Bruised: Japanese Disabled Veterans in the Wake of World War II”

Feb. 26, 2021 (via Zoom), Hon. Robert T. Russell, Jr. and Jack O’Connor: Establishing the Nation’s first Veterans Treatment Court in Buffalo

March 26, 2021 (via Zoom), Lisa Butler, PhD, Associate Professor, School of Social Work and Co-Director Joining Forces-UB; Bonnie Vest, PhD, Research Associate Professor, Family Medicine, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and Co-Director Joining Forces-UB; Dan Ryan, Director, UB Veteran Services; Chanel Powell, Law Student, Advisor, Student Veterans Association: Why and How UB is Working to Increase Military/Veteran Cultural Competence on Campus

April 30, 2021 (via Zoom), Michael Shurmatz, LMSW, VA WNY Healthcare system, Samantha Fletcher, NASW New York State Chapter, Amelia Lochner Malavé, NASW New York State Chapter: NASW NYS Chapter: Veterans Mental Health Training Initiative (VMHTI)

2019-2020 

Sept. 27, 2019, Michael Shurmatz, LMSW, Clinical Counselor, BestSelf Behavioral Health: "The Emergence of Veteran Peer Support”

Oct. 25, 2019, Rachel Hoopsick, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, UB Department of Family Medicine: "Never Deployed, But Still at Risk: Substance Use and Mental Health Problems Among Reserve/Guard Soldiers"

Nov. 15, 2019 (Co-sponsored by the UB Center for Disability Studies), Audra Jennings, PhD, Associate Professor, Dept. of History, Western Kentucky University: "An Emblem of Distinction': The Politics of Disability, Service, and Sacrifice in the United States, 1940-1950"

Feb. 28, 2020, Alyssa Vasquez, PFC Joseph P. Dwyer Program Manager, Veterans One-Stop Center of WNY: "Overview of services and mission of the Veterans One-Stop Center of Western New York and the PFC Dwyer Program”

2018-2019

Sept. 28, 2018, Jessica Kulak, PhD, Assistant Professor, Buffalo State, SUNY: "Substance use and mental health among military spouses and partners"

Oct. 26, 2018, Richard Lamb, PhD, Associate Professor and Director Neurocognition Laboratory, UB Graduate School of Education: "Virtual Reality as a therapeutic tool for exposure"

Nov. 9, 2018, Neil Diamant, PhD, Professor of Asian Law and Society, Dickinson College: "The Expansion of Veteran Benefits in the 20 Century: How, Where, and Why It Happened – Or Didn’t: An International Perspective”

Feb. 22, 2019, Paige Iovine-Wong, MPH/MSW candidate and Joining Forces-UB 2018-19 Intern, University at Buffalo: “A Systematic Review of Intersecting Risk Factors for Intimate Partner Violence and Suicide in Women Veterans”

March 29, 2019, Christopher Atkinson, PhD, JD, The Law Offices of Kenneth Hiller: “Experiences Working with the Veteran Community”

April 26, 2019, Katie Coric, LCSW, VA WNY Suicide Prevention Coordinator & Emergency Services Manager: “VA Western New York Suicide Prevention Program Overview”

2017-2018

Sept. 29, 2017, Thomas P. Chacko, MA, MSW, UB School of Social Work: "Attentional Deployment Predicts Posttraumatic Outcomes among Older Veterans: An Eye-tracking Paradigm”

Oct. 27, 2017, Dr. Jen Fillo, Postdoctoral Fellow, UB Research Institute on Addictions: "Deployment-Related Military Sexual Trauma Predicts Heavy Drinking and Alcohol Problems among Male Reserve and National Guard Soldiers"

Nov. 9, 2017 (Co-sponsored by the UB Center for Disability Studies), Dr. Beth Grinker, Associate Professor, Dept. of History and Sociology of Science, University of Pennsylvania: “The Great War and Modern Veteran Care”

Feb. 23, 2018, Group discussion of two essays: Dr. David Gerber facilitated a group discussion of his 2012 essay, “Post-Modern American Heroism:  Anti-War War Heroes, Survivor Heroes, and the Eclipse of Traditional Warrior Values” and UBSSW doctoral candidate, Brad Linn,facilitated a discussion of Adam Linehan’s 2017 essay, “How the Effort to Combat Veterans' Suicide May Be Making It Worse.”

March 30, 2018, Shirley Stanton, Operation Family Caregiver, Veterans One-stop Center of Western New York (VOC-WNY): “Care for the Caregiver.”

April 27, 2018, Dr. Paul King, Clinical Research Psychologist, Center for Integrated Healthcare, VA Western NY Healthcare System: "Veterans' Preferences and Priorities for Integrated Primary Care: An Opportunity to Expand Transdiagnostic Intervention?”

2016-2017

Sept. 30, 2016, Braden Linn, MCMP, MSW, PhD (cand.), University at Buffalo School of Social Work: "Concurrent PTSD Symptoms and Alcohol Use Problems in Veterans: What Questions Need to be Answered?"

Oct. 28, 2016, Drs. Kelly Patterson and Tom Nochajski, University at Buffalo School of Social Work: "Neighborhood Outcomes of Formally Homeless Veterans Participating in the HUD‐VASH Program."

Nov. 11, 2016 (Co-sponsored by UB’s Center for Disability Studies), Dr. Jean Scandlyn, University of Colorado Denver, Health and Behavioral Sciences and Anthropology, co-author (with Dr. Sarah Hautzinger of Beyond Post-Traumatic Stress: Homefront Struggles with the Wars on Terror): "Moving Toward a Holistic Approach to Active Duty and Veteran Reintegration"

Jan. 27, 2017, Dale Zuchlewski, Executive Director, Homeless Alliance of WNY: "Ending Veteran Homelessness in WNY."

Feb. 24, 2017, Group discussion of New York Times best-selling author, Sebastian Junger’s brief (136 pages) 2016 book: "Tribe – On Homecoming and Belonging."

March 31, 2017, Cathleen M. Morreale, PhD, Curriculum and Evaluation Specialist, Center for Educational Innovation, UB: "MIA - Veteran-Specific Content in SUNY Professional Graduate Degree Programs."

 April 28, 2017, Bonnie M. Vest, PhD, Research Assistant Professor, Primary Care Research Institute, Department of Family Medicine, UB: "Understanding What Family Doctors Need to Treat Veterans and Their Families."

2015-2016

Sept. 25, 2015, Greg Homish, PhD (UB Community Health and Health Behavior): "Findings from Operation: SAFETY (Soldiers and Families Excelling Through the Years)."

Oct. 30, 2015, Adrian Juarez, PhD, (UB School of Nursing): "Veteran LGBTQ overview in a post- Don’t Ask Don’t Tell environment."

Nov. 20, 2015 ~ Co-sponsored by UB’s Center for Disability Studies, Paul Lawrie, PhD (University of Winnipeg, Department of History): "Defective by Definition: Race, Rehabilitation and the Making of the Body Politic in World War One America."

 Jan. 29, 2016, Danise Levine (UB School of Architecture):"Inclusive Housing for Wounded Warriors."

Feb. 26, 2016, Dr. Kerry Donnelly, PhD (VA/ UB Psychiatry Dpt.): "Symptoms and Outcomes Associated with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in OEF/OIF Veterans."

Friday March 25, 2016 (Co-sponsored by UB's Office of Civic Engagement Public Policy), Tom Nochajski, PhD (UBSSW) and Doyle Pruitt, PhD Doyle K. Pruitt, PhD, LCSW-R (Keuka College): "The impact of a community-based adaptive sports program for disabled veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder or a traumatic brain injury.

April 29, 2016, Greg Beehler, PhD and colleagues (VA Center for Integrated Healthcare): "Overview of the VA Center for Integrated Healthcare, Snapshots of selected research works in progress."

2014-2015

Sept. 20, 2014, Lisa D. Butler, PhD (UB's School of Social Work): "Welcome and Introductions to the Joining Forces Research Brownbag!"

Oct. 31, 2014, Lisa Butler, PhD:Facilitated discussion of "Smith & True [2014]. Warring Identities"

Jan. 30, 2015 ~ Co-sponsored by UB's Office of Civic Engagement and Public Policy, Joe Ruszala (& Jewell), Tom Nochajski, PhD (UBSSW), & Braden Linn, MCMP, MSW: "Dog Tags Niagara"

Feb. 27, 2015, David Gerber, PhD (UB History Department, Emeritus): Facilitated discussion of "Disabled Veterans and the Wounds of War" (chapter).

March 27, 2015, Bonnie Vest PhD (Family Medicine, UB): Facilitated discussion of "Citizen, Soldier, or Citizen-Soldier? Negotiating Identity in the US National Guard."

April 24, 2015, Lisa Butler, PhD (UBSSW): Facilitated discussion of Butler et al. (2015) “We don’t complain about little things…”