The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) is taking a step forward in the realm of gambling research with the inauguration of its dedicated Centre for Gambling Research.
Helmed by Sokratis Dinos, Director of Health, and Mari Toomse-Smith, Director of Health and Biomedical Surveys at NatCen, this initiative builds upon NatCen's already-established reputation for gambling research.
The centre will operate at the nexus of industry regulators, treatment providers and public stakeholders to inform and shape gambling policies.
Throughout this process, the team at the centre aim to investigate the prevalence of gambling and contribute to public understanding of behaviours and risk profiles associated with gambling harm.
NatCen already has a history in this field, marked by milestones such as delivering the British Gambling Prevalence Survey for the Gambling Commission in 2000.
Sokratis Dinos, Director of Health at NatCen, stated: “We have been continuously diversifying our policy and methodological expertise into gambling, across related behaviours, harms and stigma and we’re pleased to now be launching this new dedicated Centre of Gambling Research."
Guy Goodwin, Chief Executive at NatCen, added: “The launch of the Centre for Gambling Research will bring together NatCen’s collective knowledge and expertise.
“NatCen has a team of researchers with experience working with mixed-methods expertise in gambling treatment gaps, gambling prevalence, attitudes to gambling and gambling harms and evaluation of gambling interventions.
“Our researchers are also experts with experience of researching stigma in relation to gambling and more across a range of research methods. This is an important policy area that we continue to work to understand better.”
