- Professor John HolmesDirector
John is Professor in Alcohol Policy and Director of the Sheffield Addictions Research Group in SCHARR.
His research focuses on alcohol epidemiology and the analysis of alcohol policy options, with particular interested in patterns, trends and inequalities in alcohol consumption or alcohol-related harm and in using mathematical modelling to address alcohol policy questions.
- Professor Alan BrennanLead ModellerProfessor Alan BrennanLead Modeller
Alan Brennan is Professor of Health Economics and Decision Modelling in SCHARR.
He leads a large group of around 35 academic staff, undertaking methodological and applied research and consultancy using mathematical modelling in health and healthcare.
- Julie JohnsonResearch Group ManagerJulie JohnsonResearch Group Manager
Julie works with the SARG team on strategy, research development and team management.
Administrator
- Anne GreavesResearch AdministratorAnne GreavesResearch Administrator
Anne provides administrative support to the SARG team and looks after the SARG website.
Researchers
- Colin AngusSenior Research FellowColin AngusSenior Research Fellow
Colin a Senior Research Fellow in the Sheffield Alcohol Research Group within ScHARR. His work focuses on the design, development and adaptation of complex health economic models and their use to appraise key policy questions in the field of alcohol research.
- Dr Charlotte BuckleyResearch FellowDr Charlotte BuckleyResearch Fellow
Charlotte is a modeller, currently working on the CASCADE project
- Dr Amber CopelandResearch AssociateDr Amber CopelandResearch Associate
Amber is a Research Associate based in the Department of Psychology.
She is currently applying computational models of value-based decision-making (VBDM) to investigate the potential mechanisms that underlie behaviour change and recovery from addiction.
- Dr Laura FentonResearch AssociateDr Laura FentonResearch Associate
Laura joined the Sheffield Alcohol Research Group in 2021, and is currently working as the lead qualitative research associate on Youth Drinking in Decline (Y-DiD), a Wellcome Trust funded mixed methods project which examines changes in youth drinking cultures over recent decades.
Before joining ScHARR, she worked at the University of Manchester on the ESRC funded Girlhood and Later Life project.
- Professor Matt FieldProfessor of PsychologyProfessor Matt FieldProfessor of Psychology
Matt conducts research into the psychological mechanisms that underlie alcohol problems and other addictions. He is particularly interested in the roles of decision-making and impulse control in addiction, recovery, and behaviour change more broadly.
- Dr Duncan GillespieSenior Research FellowDr Duncan GillespieSenior Research Fellow
Based in the Section of Health Economic Decision Making, Duncan supports decision-making to improve population health and reduce inequalities.
- Ryan Kai Le ChenResearch AssistantRyan Kai Le ChenResearch Assistant
Ryan joined SARG in September 2022 as a Research Assistant in quantitative methods.
- Dr Inge KersbergenLecturerDr Inge KersbergenLecturer
Inge is a Lecturer funded by the Society for the Study of Addiction Griffith Edwards Academic Fellowship scheme.
Her research interests are social and environmental influences on health behaviour (primarily alcohol consumption). I am also interested in weight stigma and its effects on health.
- Grace LeemingResearch AssistantGrace LeemingResearch Assistant
Grace joined SARG in September 2022 as a Research Assistant in quantitative methods.
- Dr Damon MorrisResearch AssociateDr Damon MorrisResearch Associate
Damon is a Research Associate based in ScHARR.
He is currently involved in research using economic modelling and econometric analysis to assist the development of the Sheffield Tobacco and Alcohol Policy Model (STAPM) and understand the impacts of alcohol and tobacco consumption on the wider economy and work outcomes.
- Dr Parvati Perman-HoweResearch AssociateDr Parvati Perman-HoweResearch Associate
Parvati joined the University of Sheffield in 2023 as a Research Associate within the Sheffield Alcohol Research Group (SARG). She works on two projects that look at the effect of alcohol minimum unit pricing (MUP) on harmful drinkers, and the public health impact of no- and low-alcohol drinks.
Her interests include harm prevention from alcohol, tobacco and mental illness; reducing health inequalities; and public involvement in research.
- Dr Robert PryceResearch FellowDr Robert PryceResearch Fellow
Rob is a Research Associate, based in ScHARR.
He is mostly interested in the economics of alcohol, although I have a broad interest in the economics of addiction and addictive behaviours including smoking, drug use, and gambling.
- Professor Robin PurshouseProfessor of Decision SciencesProfessor Robin PurshouseProfessor of Decision Sciences
Robin is a modeller with a background in engineering.
Robin was a principal architect of the Sheffield Alcohol Policy Model, alongside Alan Brennan, RachidRafia, and Petra Meier.
He is PI on the CASCADE project and a senior manager on the SIPHER project.
- Dr Abi StevelyResearch FellowDr Abi StevelyResearch Fellow
Abi is a Research Fellow funded by the NIHR SPHR Post-doctoral Launching Fellowships scheme. They are also working on a project evaluating the public health impact of no- and low-alcohol drinks. Abi's research focuses on alcohol epidemiology, public health policy evaluation, and reducing health inequalities.
- Dr Luke WilsonResearch AssociateDr Luke WilsonResearch Associate
Luke is a Research Associate with research interests in: the economics and modelling of alcohol consumption and alcohol taxation; Microeconomics and public policy; research in labour, education, health and personnel economics and Applied Microeconometrics and behavioural economics.
He currently works on the SYNTAX project: Integrated evidence synthesis for joint appraisal of tobacco and alcohol tax interventions for harm reduction in the UK.
- Zoe ClarkeNIHR SPHR Pre-doctoral FellowZoe ClarkeNIHR SPHR Pre-doctoral Fellow
Zoe joined the School of Medicine and Population Health in 2023 as a NIHR School of Public Health Pre-doctoral Fellow.
She previously worked for Public Health England (PHE) and later the Office of Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) on the topics of alcohol and gambling. She was a key member of the research team for the PHE evidence review on gambling-related harm and her final role was as the national evidence and delivery lead for gambling.
Prior to this, she worked in public health practice at a local level in Scotland and delivered frontline services, primarily for drug and alcohol issues and sexual health.
PhD students
- Lucy BurkePhD StudentLucy BurkePhD Student
Lucy is a PhD student in the Wellcome Trust Doctoral Training Centre in Public Health and Economic Decision Science.
Lucy's PhD aims to explore the impact of increased availability of no and low alcohol products on adults with different sociodemographic characteristics. She is also investigating whether there are regional variations in no and low alcohol consumption and whether this appears to be influenced by local drinking culture. If differences exist, Lucy plans to model the health economic implications.
- Anna ButtersPhD StudentAnna ButtersPhD StudentMy PhD research is investigating how heavy drinkers make enduring changes to their drinking after taking part in Dry January. It's a mixed methods project focussing on the social and psychological changes which underpin long-term reduction in alcohol consumption following temporary abstinence.I'm based in the psychology department and Matt, Inge and John are my supervisors with Alcohol Change UK also involved.
- Sophie Feldman-BrightPhD studentSophie Feldman-BrightPhD student
Sophie is is a PhD student in the Wellcome Trust Doctoral Training Centre in Public Health and Economic Decision Science.
Her PhD is looking at methods for incorporating intersectionality theory (which focuses on how social identities or positions − such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class − overlap and interact) into a microsimulation model of alcohol control policies in the US.
- Shangshang GuPhD studentShangshang GuPhD student
Shangshang is a PhD student in the Wellcome Trust Doctoral Training Centre in Public Health and Economic Decision Science, focusing on developing an agent-based model to examine how social network formation processes shape drinking behaviour and alcohol-related harms.
- Maddy HenneyPhD studentMaddy HenneyPhD student
Maddy is a PhD student within Sheffield Alcohol Research Group and also a postgraduate student on the Health Economics and Decision Modelling MSc.
- Ellen McGranePhD StudentEllen McGranePhD Student
My PhD will look at television advertising of gambling during sporting events. Specifically, I will be looking at the potential mechanisms of policy that restricts television advertising of gambling during football sporting events, and their subsequent impact on individual gambling behaviour
- Esther MoorePhD studentEsther MoorePhD student
Esther is a PhD student in the Wellcome Trust Doctoral Training Centre in Public Health and Economic Decision Science.
Her PhD is focused on the development of a public health economic model which can be used to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of potential public health policies and interventions which aim to reduce gambling-related harms.
Completed PhD Students
- Jennifer BoydCompleted PhD StudentJennifer BoydCompleted PhD Student
Jen is a PhD student in the Wellcome Trust Doctoral Training Centre in Public Health, Economics and Decision Science.
Her PhD titled "Understanding the role of inequality in creating and sustaining the alcohol harm paradox" combines theory and computer simulation techniques to understand inequitable alcohol-related harm outcomes between socioeconomic groups. The modelling work will attempt to incorporate structural level factors and individual level processes as specified in theories of health inequality to understand the causal mechanisms of this complex phenomenon.
- Naomi GibbsCompleted PhD StudentNaomi GibbsCompleted PhD Student
Naomi was a PhD student in the Wellcome Trust Doctoral Training Centre in Public Health and Economic Decision Science. Her PhD focused on decision modelling to support and inform alcohol policy decisions in lower and middle income countries (LMICs).
Naomi passed her PhD viva in Summer 2022
- Suzie RoscoeCompleted PhD StudentSuzie RoscoeCompleted PhD Student
Title of PhD: How do commissioners of drug and alcohol treatment services assure recovery is achievable whilst facing continued disinvestment?
The aim of the study is to identify the impact that disinvestment has had on commissioning of substance misuse services and on the outcomes of people affected by substance misuse.
Suzie passed her PhD viva in September 2021
- Olivia SextonCompleted PhD StudentOlivia SextonCompleted PhD Student
Title of PhD: Drinking events – what are the best ways to collect data on how people drink?
- Serena VicarioCompleted PhD StudentSerena VicarioCompleted PhD Student
Serena passed her PhD viva in Summer 2020