Gambling Disorders 360°

The NCRG’s Annual Education Summit is Traveling to Miami to Meet with Business, Academic and Public Health Leaders

by: NCRG Staff | Apr 25, 2012

The NCRG is on the road again, and we’re heading to Miami, Fla., for the 2012 Annual Education Summit! Each year, the NCRG travels to a new city to hold a series of events that gives the NCRG the opportunity to meet with clinicians, legislators, public health officials, business leaders, government officials, academics and gaming industry members. These meetings allow the NCRG to discuss the latest research on gambling disorders and responsible gaming and share the most up-to-date resources and tools that can help attendees in their community leadership positions.

The NCRG is pleased to announce that we will be visiting Miami, Fla., from April 30 to May 2. If you are located in South Florida, please feel free to register for any of our Summit events by contacting Amy Martin (amartin [at] ncrg [dot] org, 202-552-2689). All of the events are free for participants, and clinicians can also receive continuing education credits by attending the treatment provider workshop on May 2.

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The NCRG’s Impact on the Field of Research: 10,000 Citations and Counting

by: NCRG Staff | Mar 21, 2012

How does one measure the impact of research on a field of study and its implications on health care? The NCRG recently completed an analysis of its research grants to understand how the organization is helping to foster a better understanding of gambling disorders and responsible gaming. Publication in a peer-reviewed journal is one way to assess the quality of the research and measure impact on the field. Not only did the count of publications from NCRG-funded research surpass 200 articles, but an analysis using Google Scholar revealed that these publications have been cited more than 10,000 times in the scientific literature.

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Take the CollegeGambling.org Interactive Quiz and Test Your Knowledge of College Basketball and College Gambling

by: NCRG Staff | Mar 18, 2012

Did your favorite college men’s and women’s basketball teams make it through the first few rounds of the NCAA tournament? It’s that time of year when people around the nation are cheering for their favorite college hoops teams and may be placing bets on the games. Visit our March Madness interactive quiz on CollegeGambling.org while you’re watching the games to learn more about gambling and gambling issues on college campuses.

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NCRG Releases New Video and Resources to Educate about College Gambling

by: NCRG Staff | Mar 13, 2012

What do college basketball and college gambling have in common? March is a good time to learn about both. As the NCAA basketball tournament approaches, college students and basketball fans across the country are filling out their brackets, and some may even place a wager on the games. During March Madness, the NCRG is launching a public awareness initiative to encourage college administrators, campus health professionals, students and parents to learn more about college gambling and gambling-related harms. The campaign also helps to educate students about how to make responsible decisions about gambling.

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NCRG on the Road: Taping the CollegeGambling.org March Madness video

by: NCRG Staff | Mar 8, 2012

The NCRG on the Road blog series includes posts from NCRG staff members as they travel to continue the organization’s mission of funding the highest-quality research on gambling disorders and increasing public education opportunities. This post is from Amy Martin, the NCRG’s communications and outreach manager, about her recent trip to Denver, Colo.

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to fly to the Rocky Mountains to tape footage for the NCRG’s video news release for our campaign that will highlight CollegeGambling.org during the upcoming NCAA basketball tournament. Christine Reilly, senior research director for the NCRG, and Holly Wetzel, vice president of communications for the American Gaming Association, joined me on this trip. We were at the University of Denver for a few days to shoot the video and talk with members of the Task Force on College Gambling Policies, Problem Gambling Coalition of Colorado (PGCC) and the Colorado Gaming Association.

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NCRG on the Road: Presenting at the NCAA Missouri Gambling Summit

by: NCRG Staff | Mar 6, 2012

As part of the NCRG’s continuing effort to educate stakeholders about gambling disorders and responsible gaming, members of the NCRG staff will be traveling across the nation to conduct treatment provider workshops, speak at national conferences and meet with new groups to discuss the research and resources that the NCRG has to offer. Amy Martin, communications and outreach manager for the NCRG, will be blogging about her experiences on the road as she helps reach out to new audiences for the NCRG. Amy recently traveled to Columbia, Mo., to co-present at the NCAA Missouri Gambling Summit with Dr. Matthew Martens of the University of Missouri – Columbia.

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Looking at Gambling Urges with Brain Imaging

by: NCRG Staff | Feb 22, 2012

The urge to gamble can be a powerful force among individuals with a gambling disorder and often precipitates relapse among those who are trying to reduce or quit gambling. Researchers are aware of these urges due to studies using self-reported data, but the field of research needs to have more objective data regarding the biological factors at play. There is now evidence of the neurobiological underpinnings of urges thanks to an innovative brain imaging study from the NCRG Center for Excellence in Gambling Research at Yale University. The study used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to examine the responses to sad, happy and gambling scenarios among 10 men with pathological gambling (PG) and a control group of 11 men without gambling problems (Balodis, I.M., Lacadie, C.M., & Potenza, M.N., 2011).

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The 2012 NCRG Webinar Series Begins with a Look at Online Gambling

by: NCRG Staff | Feb 22, 2012

Registration is open for the first session of the 2012 NCRG Webinar Series, the NCRG’s free year-round educational program designed to help individuals better understand and address critical issues related to gambling disorders and responsible gaming – without having to leave their own home or office. The session, titled “Science vs. Myth: Research on Internet Gambling,” will be held on March 6 from 2 – 3 p.m. EST. Dr. Sarah E. Nelson, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, will lead this in-depth look at her latest research on gambling disorders and online gambling using analysis of actual betting transactions from Internet gamblers.

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NCRG-funding Application Deadline: Letters of Intent for Large Grants and NCRG Centers of Excellence are Due March 1

by: NCRG Staff | Feb 21, 2012

The March 1, 2012 deadline to submit letters of intent to apply to become an NCRG Center of Excellence in Gambling Research and to apply for Large Grants from the NCRG is right around the corner. The NCRG has allocated more than $1.5 million to fund research that advances our understanding about gambling disorders in 2012, and deadlines for two of those opportunities are quickly approaching. Make sure you submit your letter of intent for these two funding opportunities soon!

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NCRG Announces Availability of $1.5 Million in Research Grants

by: NCRG Staff | Jan 31, 2012

The National Center for Responsible Gaming is pleased to announce it has allocated more than $1.5 million for grants in support of research on prevention and treatment of gambling disorders in 2012. This is the largest amount of research dollars allocated for project grants in the organization’s 15-year history. The grants, ranging from $1,500 to $402,500, will be awarded on a competitive basis.

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