PhD research
Our current PhD projects are listed below. We are always keen to host visiting students and researchers, and welcome enquiries from prospective PhD students looking for supervision. If you'd like to talk about your research ideas, contact us at sarg@sheffield.ac.uk.
Lucy Burke
PhD Title: Does why we drink matter? Exploring the role of alcohol drinking motives in the consumption of alcohol-free and low-alcohol (no/lo) drinks across the sociodemographic spectrum and its impact on health outcomes.
Funder: Wellcome
Year started: 2021
I am a PhD student on the Wellcome Public Health and Economic Decision Science (PHEDS) doctoral programme. Prior to commencing my PhD in 2021, I worked as a Research Fellow in Social Policy Research Unit at the University of York.
I am interested in researching alcohol policy from a behavioural science perspective.
My research has evolved in response to the UK government's decision to promote the use of no- and low-alcohol drinks (no/lo) as a public health strategy. I am particularly interested in the reasons why people drink alcohol, and whether this is important when considering who is drinking no/lo.
I am using my own data and existing datasets from adults in Great Britain to explore whether:
- alcohol drinking motives mediate sociodemographic differences in no/lo consumption
- whether the reasons people drink alcohol influences willingness to pay for no/lo and substitution effects
- incorporating alcohol drinking motives into an economic alcohol policy model influences estimates of the impact of no/lo on public health
Outputs:
- Burke, L., Kersbergen, I. and Angus, C. 'Does drinking to cope with depression mediate socioeconomic patterns of the consumption of alcohol-free and low-alcohol (no/lo) drinks?' Poster presentation at Society for Study of Addiction's Annual Conference, Newcastle, 13-14 November 2024.
- Burke, L. 'What's the point of a beer if it doesn't have alcohol in it? Investigating associations between drinking motives and no- and low-alcohol consumption in Great Britain.' Poster presentation at the University of Sheffield's School of Population Health and Medicine, Postgraduate Conference, Sheffield, June 27, 2024.
- 'Does why we drink matter? Investigating associations between drinking motives and no- and low-alcohol consumption in Great Britain.' Kettil Bruun Society Annual Conference, Perth, Australia, 27-31 May 2024.
- Burke, L. 'What's the point of a beer if it doesn't have any alcohol in it?' Pint of Science Festival, Sheffield, 15 May 2024.
- Burke, L., Kersbergen, I. and Angus, C. 'Does why we drink matter? Exploring the mediating effect of drinking motives between socio-demographic characteristics and consumption of no- and low-alcohol (no/lo) drinks.' Society for Study of Addiction, PhD Symposium, Newcastle, 8 November 2023.
Anna Butters
PhD Title: How do heavy drinkers make enduring changes to their drinking behaviour after taking part in 'Dry January?'
Funder: ESRC and Alcohol Change UK
Year started: 2020
My PhD research uses mixed methods to investigate the psychological and social factors underpinning changes in alcohol consumption following participation in Dry January. My broader research interests include behaviour change, alcohol use and meta-research.
I am based in the School of Psychology where I am also a Research Associate working on a Distributed Peer Review experiment as part of the Research on Research Institute.
Outputs:
- Temporary abstinence challenges: What do we need to know?
- 'Understanding reductions in alcohol consumption following participation in Dry January.' Presentation at the UK Society for Behavioural Medicine Annual Scientific Meeting, Glasgow, 13-14 March 2024.
- 'Progress not perfection: Understanding how Dry January participants negotiate the potential for 'failure.' Poster presentation at the Society for the Study of Addiction (SSA) Annual Conference, November 2023. Prize winner for best overall student poster.
Anne Doyle
PhD Title: Geographical characteristics and area-based socioeconomic status variations in alcohol use and related harms
Funder: Health Research Board, Ireland
Year started: 2023
I currently work in the Health Research Board in Dublin, Ireland as a Research Officer, responsible for alcohol research. My work involves collating alcohol-related data to ensure the Department of Health is provided with evidence of alcohol-related harm in Ireland.
Outputs:
Sophie Bright
PhD Title: Applying an intersectional perspective to public health alcohol modelling
Funder: Wellcome
Year started: 2021
I am a PhD student in the Wellcome Trust Doctoral Training Centre in Public Health Economics and Decision Science, interested in the modelling of intersectional health inequalities.
Intersectionality emphasises that social positions, such as race, gender, and class, are not held in isolation, and brings attention to the interlocking systems of oppression and discrimination at the macro level (such as racism, sexism, and classism) which drive inequalities.
My PhD is focused on applying intersectionality theory to alcohol inequities in the USA, with the aim of better understanding, modelling and addressing these inequalities.
Ellen McGrane
PhD Title: Television advertising of gambling in sports
Funder: Wellcome
Year started: 2020
My PhD explores the impact of gambling advertising during live sports on gambling behaviour in men. It also investigates the impact of voluntary advertising bans on the presence of gambling advertising on television.
My background is in economics and health economics. I have a broad interest in quantitative econometric methods and analysis of policy. I work part time as a Research Associate in Alcohol and Public Health alongside my PhD.
Outputs:
- How did the 'whistle-to-whistle' ban affect gambling advertising on TV? A live football matching study
- What is the evidence that advertising policies could have an impact on gambling-related harms? A systematic umbrella review of the literature
- Gambling adverts in live TV coverage of the Qatar 2022 FIFA Men's World Cup
- 'No evidence of harm' implies no evidence of safety: Framing the lack of causal evidence in gambling advertising research
Esther Moore
PhD Title: Developing a public health economic model of gambling to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of policies which aim to prevent gambling harms in England and Scotland
Funder: Wellcome and the University of Sheffield
Year started: 2021
My project is focused on developing the first public health economic model of gambling. This includes conceptual modelling to develop the structure of the model, analysing large UK datasets such as the Health Survey for England, the Scottish Health Survey, and the Gambling Survey for Great Britain, as well as primary data collection on exposure to gambling advertisements. The aim is to use the model to estimate the potential impact of a ban on gambling advertisements on TV.
I graduated with a Master of Pharmacy degree from Durham University. After registering
as a pharmacist, I completed an MSc in Public Health and Health Services Research at Newcastle University.
Outputs:
- Squires H, Kelly MP, Gilbert N, Sniehotta F, Purshouse RC, Garcia L, Breeze P, Brennan A, Gardner B, Bright S, Fischer A, Heppenstall A, Wetton JD, Hernandez-Alava M, Boyd J, Buckley C, Vlaev I, Smith R, Abbas A, Gibb R, Henney M, Moore E, Chater AM (2024) The PHEM-B toolbox of methods for incorporating the influences on Behaviour into Public Health Economic Models BMC Public Health DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-20225-1
- Moore E, Pryce R, Squires H, Goyder E (2024) The association between health-related quality of life and problem gambling severity: a cross-sectional analysis of the Health Survey for England BMC Public Health DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-17816-3
- Wilson LB, Pryce R, Moore EC, Burke L, Breeze P (2023) Does cutting down on your food consumption lead to a net improvement in nutritional intake? A panel data approach using data from the UK Biobank BMC Public Health DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-17217-y
- Moore EC, Tolley CL, Bates DW, Slight SP (2020) A systematic review of the impact of health information technology on nurses' time Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jamia/ocz231
Oscar Rousham
PhD Title: Who drinks alcohol-free and low-alcohol beverages and how is this influenced by the
commercial determinants of health?
Funder: Wellcome
Year started: 2023
My PhD aims to:
- Identify who is drinking low-alcohol and alcohol-free drinks and how this influences their consumption of alcoholic drinks.
- Explore how this is shaped by the commercial determinants of health, including industry decisions regarding the price, availability and marketing of alcohol-free and low-alcohol drinks.
Prior to starting my PhD I completed a BA degree in Archaeology and Anthropology at the
University of Cambridge and a Masters in Population Health Sciences, specialising in
epidemiology, also at the University of Cambridge.
Outputs:
- Rousham O, Quirk H, Goyder E et al (2024) The long-term effect of the coronavirus pandemic on parkrun participation: an interrupted time series analysis BMC Public Health DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-20420-0
Fenella Stafford
PhD Title: A qualitative investigation of the connections between changes in women's alcohol consumption and their participation in heavy drinking professions
Funder: University of Sheffield and Institute of Alcohol Studies
Year started: 2024
This is a qualitative study which will involve conducting interviews with women in three professions. I will also carry out a literature review looking at why professional women are drinking more (is it work place drinking culture, working in male dominated professions, stress of dual roles, stress of emotional labour, cultural script, mental health, or enjoyment/times for themselves). I will also look at why they don't drink as much as men (theory of convergence) and why gender differences in drinking still persist.
I have a BA from the University of Leeds and an MA from the University of Sheffield. I am a trained social worker and worked in this field for five years, before becoming a pub landlady for six years.
Laura Trigg
PhD Title: Methods for integrating multiple equity concerns in a distributional cost-effectiveness analysis: a case study on screening and brief interventions for risky alcohol consumption
Funder: Wellcome
Year started: 2023
My research involves understanding people's preferences in equity of healthcare allocation, specifically on preferences for concentrating or dispersing resources. I will apply this to an alcohol specific context by incorporating this into a model on screening and brief interventions for risky alcohol consumption.
I am an economist by background, having done Economics at Lancaster before doing the Health Economics and Decision Modelling masters at Sheffield. Between degrees, I have worked in Health Technology Assessment.