Sheffield Addictions
Research Group

Public health and health economic research on alcohol, tobacco, gambling and addiction.

The Sheffield Addictions Research Group (SARG) is based in the Sheffield Centre for Health and Related Research at the University of Sheffield. Our innovative research, spanning from modelling the effects of policy interventions to understanding complex human behaviour, has directly shaped legislation and public health strategies in the UK and internationally.

Research areas

line drawing of a bottle and glass

Alcohol

We are an international centre of excellence for public health research on alcohol. Since 2008 our alcohol research has played a key role in current policy and public debate.

Alcohol research >
line drawing of a cigarette

Tobacco

We are continually expanding our portfolio of tobacco research, with a commitment to conducting policy-relevant research that can inform evidence-based interventions.

Tobacco research >
line drawing of a hand holding several banknotes

Gambling

We are actively engaged in emerging areas of gambling research, seeking to understand and address the complex issues surrounding addiction and public health.

Gambling research >

Featured projects

Reforming alcohol taxes in a cost-of-living crisis

Evaluating the impact of reforms to the UK alcohol tax system, increases to alcohol tax rates, and the current cost-of-living crisis on alcohol consumption, associated harms and health inequalities.

READ MORE

Evaluating and responding to the public health impact of no and low alcohol drinks

The 'No/Lo Project' investigates whether non-alcoholic or low-alcohol drinks can improve people's health. These drinks are beers, ciders, wines, spirits that are alcohol-free or contain a little alcohol.

READ MORE

SPIRE

'Scoping of Policy Impacts for Regulating E-cigarettes (SPIRE): a data and decision analytic model mapping project' aims to learn what type of research about vapes would be most useful for policy making, what data already exists to go into this type of analysis and what new data are needed.

READ MORE

Local Health and Global Profits

Working alongside local governments, local populations, public health practitioners and civil society groups, this project aims to understand the building blocks, including commercial factors, impacting on communities' health.

READ MORE

Latest news

New on the blog

University of Sheffield sign that says No Smoking No Vaping

Creating a Smokefree Generation: The role of universities in supporting the Tobacco and Vapes Bill

ByDuncan Gillespie

In this blog post Duncan Gillespie discusses the UK Government's Smokefree Generation policy, highlights Sheffield's student-led research and advocates for a national university network to share best practices for creating smoke-free environments.

Latest journal papers

Current and future trends in the consumption, sale and purchasing of alcohol-free and low-alcohol products in Great Britain, 2014 to 2023

Wilson LB, Stevely AK, Kersbergen I, McGrane E, Moore EC, Pryce RE, Brown J, Holmes J (2025)
Addiction

A systematic review of adolescent alcohol-related harm trends in high-income countries with declines in adolescent consumption

Vieira E, Taylor N, Stevely A, Pennay A, Raninen J, Holmes J, Vashishtha R, Livingston M (2025)
Addiction

Solitary Drinkers in Great Britain: How Do Their Sociodemographic Characteristics, Consumption Patterns, and Drinking Occasions Differ From Those Who Drink With Others?

Wilson LB, Bain M, Hernández-Alava M, Holmes J, Pryce R, Sasso A, Stevely AK, Warde A,
Meier PS (2025)
Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs

Research collaborations

NIHR School for Public Health Research logo
NIHR Policy Research Unit in Addictions logo
NIHR Public Health Intervention Responsive Studies Team logo
Population Health Improvement UK logo
White Rose Social Sciences DTP logo
Wellcome logo
SPECTRUM logo
UKPRP logo
SIPHER Consortium logo