Gabriela Misca

Dr. Gabriela Misca serves as Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Worcester's School of Health and Wellbeing, Department of Psychology and Mental Health. She concurrently acts as visiting researcher at King's Centre for Military Health Research, King's College London, and collaborates internationally with Griffith University and Relationships Australia on longitudinal family studies.

Her academic credentials include BSc, MSc, and PhD in Psychology from Newcastle University, complemented by professional designations: Chartered Psychologist (CPsychol), Chartered Scientist (CSci), Fellow of the British Psychological Society (AFBPsS), and Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).

Her research critically examines military and veteran family dynamics, investigating how military careers and trauma impact parenting and child development. She pioneers studies on emergent family structures including intercountry adoption, global surrogacy, and LGBTQ parenting, emphasizing evidence-based interventions for vulnerable families. Her work consistently bridges academic research with real-world policy applications.

Analysis of her recent publications reveals dominant themes in military family resilience and policy impact, particularly through the "Living in our shoes" review. Parallel streams address alternative family formations and pandemic-related family stressors, exemplified by the multinational "Families Un-Locked" study examining long-term relational adaptations.

Her scientific recognition includes:

• Fulbright Scholar Award (2015-16) for cross-cultural military family research in Boston
• "Living in our shoes" Special Award for FiMpacT 2021 honoring policy influence

Dr. Misca actively supervises PhD candidates in military family dynamics, adoption studies, and LGBTQ parenting, with recent projects analyzing service children's development and Romanian adoption narratives. Her research directly informs government policy, notably shaping the UK Ministry of Defence's 2020 recommendations for armed forces families. Current grants support the Australia-UK "Families Un-Locked" pandemic impact study and King's College collaborations on trauma-informed veteran family interventions.

She leads the "Strengthening Families: By Your Side" military family program and co-directs the King's Centre for Military Health Research initiatives, developing clinical frameworks for families coping with visible and non-visible service-related trauma during military-civilian transitions.