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A team of researchers, including members of the Sheffield Addictions Research Group (SARG), has been honoured with the prestigious Public Health Journal Paper of the Year award.

The Public Health Evidence Reviews & Synthesis Team (PHERST) at the Sheffield Centre for Health and Related Research (SCHARR) has received the award for their impactful study on the relationship between gambling advertising and gambling-related harm. SARG team members Ellen McGrane, Dr Rob Pryce and Professor Matt Field played key roles in the research and writing of the paper.

The award, presented at the Royal Society of Public Health Annual Awards on 28 November 2024, recognises the paper as the most cited in the journal over the past year.

The study is a comprehensive review of evidence on the relationship between gambling advertising and gambling-related harm. Contrary to industry claims that no causal link exists, the research highlights robust experimental, observational and qualitative evidence that exposure to gambling advertising contributes to gambling-related harm, particularly among vulnerable groups such as children and young people.

The study, 'What is the evidence that advertising policies could have an impact on gambling-related harms?', highlights the urgent need to regulate and limit gambling advertising. It has been cited in both the Gambling White Paper published in 2023, and in the final report of the IPPR Commission on Health and Prosperity published in September 2024.

Lead author Ellen McGrane, a Wellcome-funded PhD student and Research Associate in the Sheffield Addictions Research Group, expressed her excitement:

"I was delighted that our work was recognised by this prestigious award. We hope our review helps provide much needed evidence to support action by national government and local councils to reduce the harmful impact of gambling, by regulating and limiting advertising, particularly to children and young people and to other vulnerable groups."

Senior author, Liddy Goyder, Professor of Public Health who accepted the award on behalf of her co-authors, emphasised the study's immediate relevance:

"I was delighted to be able to attend the Royal Society of Public Health Annual Awards Ceremony to accept the award with co-authors from Sheffield and Glasgow. It is a great example of our public health research and evidence synthesis programme producing studies with immediate value to policymakers and public health practitioners."

The author team comprised Ellen McGrane, Professor Liddy Goyder, Mark Clowes, Dr Lindsay Blank, Dr Rob Pryce and Professor Matt Field of the University of Sheffield, Professor Heather Wardle of the University of Glasgow and Carolyn Sharpe of Imperial College London.

This is an edited version of an article which originally appeared on the University of Sheffield website.