Harvard Addictions Expert To Speak On Gambling At University Of Illinois-chicago Seminar

May 1, 2000

BOSTON—A nationally recognized expert on pathological gambling will be the featured speaker at an upcoming seminar on gambling addictions to be held at the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC) Medical Center. Dr. Howard J. Shaffer, director of the Division on Addictions at Harvard Medical School, will address several key issues on gambling addiction at the May 4 program sponsored by the National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG), including the prevalence of pathological and problem gambling, its relation to other addictions and potential health risks facing casino employees.

Shaffer is the lead author of a groundbreaking 1997 study on the prevalence of disordered gambling in the United States. In the NCRG-funded study, Shaffer reported that approximately 1.29 percent of the adult population are pathological gamblers and that there is a higher rate of the problem among youth and college-age populations.

In addition to Schaffer’s presentation, the seminar will focus on new research trends in gambling disorders and their possible impact on prevention and treatment strategies. Dr. Charles Warren of the University of Illinois-Chicago also will discuss his current research project on problem gambling.

‘Understanding Gambling and Its Potential Health Consequences’ will be held Thursday, May 4, from 9 a.m. until noon at the UIC Medical Center’s Eye and Ear Infirmary. It is free and open to the public and the media. Health care providers in the addictive disorders field, academic researchers and gaming industry personnel in particular are encouraged to attend.

The National Center for Responsible Gaming is the only source of funding dedicated exclusively to peer-reviewed research on gambling disorders. In addition to the NCRG, the UIC School of Public Health, the Gambling Addiction Center at UIC, the Illinois Council on Compulsive and Problem Gambling and the Illinois Casino Gaming Association are cosponsors of the program.

For more information or to register for the seminar, call 816-453-9964 or 978-535-6767.