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.

The NCRG createdwww.CollegeGambling.orgas a resource to help colleges and universities address this issue and to offer free resources for students who want to learn more about gambling or get help for a problem. It includes a toolkit for student peer educators, resident advisors and other student leaders to use when talking about gambling disorders with their friends or classmates.

Today, the NCRG distributed avideo packagethat highlights the resources available on CollegeGambling.org. The video features interviews with Karin Dittrick-Nathan, Ph.D., clinical assistant professor at the University of Denver and member of the NCRG’s Task Force on College Gambling Policies, and Christine Reilly, senior research director of the NCRG, about gambling on college campuses and how CollegeGambling.org can be used as a resource. You can view the multimedia news release video below, or visit theCollegeGambling.org’s media page. Please feel free to share the video with college students, parents or university officials so that they can learn more about this website.

The NCRG is also reaching out to university administrators and campus mental health professionals to give them the resources they need to address gambling disorders and responsible gaming on their campus. Student health professionals will receive CollegeGambling.org inflatable basketballs and more information about the free toolkits that are housed on the site. These resources include brochures about college gambling and responsible gambling, fact sheets and posters for student health centers. Additionally, the toolkits on CollegeGambling.org include suggestions for campus officials to integrate gambling education and awareness efforts into existing programs about alcohol, drugs and other risky behaviors.

In March, you’ll see blog posts about the latest research about gambling disorders among college students, interviews with researchers who are doing cutting-edge studies to develop interventions for pathological gambling and more. Stay tuned toGambling Disorders 360˚and the NCRG’sTwitterandFacebookfeeds for the latest information.

Take a moment to view ourvideo news releaseand visit CollegeGambling.org, as well as our March Madness interactive quiz. Do you have questions or comments about CollegeGambling.org or gambling disorders on college campuses? Please let us know in the comments below.

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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.

The NCAA basketball tournament is a great opportunity to highlight the resources available on CollegeGambling.org. Did you know that 75 percent of students gambled in the past year, either legally or illegally? March is a time where students and basketball fans are filling out their brackets and maybe placing a wager on a game or two. For all of us at the NCRG, it seemed appropriate to talk more about the facts and stats that are available on CollegeGambling.org during the time leading up to the Final Four.

For this project, we were fortunate to interview Dr. Karin Dittrick-Nathan, clinical assistant professor at the University of Denver. Dr. Dittrick-Nathan was a member of the Task Force on College Gambling Policies, a group that was organized in 2009 by the NCRG and the Division on Addiction at Cambridge Health Alliance, Harvard Medical School. She is also an active member of the University of Denver’s High-Risk Task Force, a committee that has made great strides to bring the issue of gambling and gambling-related harms to the attention of the university’s administration.

During our first day on campus, we scouted locations to film the interviews so that the next day of shooting would be easy to orchestrate. Then, our video team spent the entire second day shooting interviews. We wanted to cover a wide range of issues with the interviews, from what the latest research shows about the prevalence of gambling among college students to why college students often participate in risky behaviors. We asked Dr. Dittrick-Nathan more about the University of Denver’s initiatives to educate students about gambling and where to get help if students have a gambling problem. We also asked questions that helped both Christine and Dr. Dittrick-Nathan to talk more about the Task Force on College Gambling Policies and the science-based recommendations that led to creating CollegeGambling.org.

While we were in Colorado, we were also excited to meet with Amber Bunch, executive director of the PGCC, and Lois Rice, executive director of the Colorado Gaming Association. The PGCC updated us on a few of its newest initiatives, including their “21 is a Must” scholarship contest. Colorado high school students were invited to create a poster educating youth about the age requirement of gambling and the warning signs of problem gambling. We look forward to finding out who won the contest and how the PGCC will grow this program in the future. Our meeting with Amber and Lois also made me excited to come back to host a treatment provider workshop with the PCGG in the coming months!

It was a quick trip that was packed with great conversation and ideas on how to expand our efforts and partnerships to reach more students, parents, university administrators and clinicians. We’ll keep you posted on all of our activities surrounding this campaign to talk more about CollegeGambling.org during March Madness.

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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.

From Amy:

It’s always quite an experience to meet with new groups of people and talk about the research that the NCRG funds and the programs and resources we offer. The NCRG was fortunate to be a part of the NCAA Missouri Gambling Summit, which is one of the first times the state has gathered athletic directors, student life and student health directors from NCAA Division I, II and III schools from across the state to discuss this issue. The summit was led by the University of Missouri – Columbia’s athletic compliance department. They organized a full day of training on NCAA rules and regulations and highlighted other tools for universities to use in raising awareness of problem gambling on campus. The NCRG was asked to present on the latest research on college gambling, as well asCollegeGambling.organd how this resource can be used on college campuses.

The University of Missouri – Columbia has always been an active member in educating students and faculty about gambling and gambling-related harms on college campuses. They have their own task force to address the issue and even bring speakers on campus to discuss it. Dr. Kristy Wanner was a member of theNCRG’s Task Force on College Gambling Policies and helped to form the school’s own task force.

When groups ask the NCRG to talk about the latest research on gambling disorders and responsible gaming, I leave it to the research experts. Luckily, Dr. Matthew Martens, associate professor in the department of educational, school and counseling psychology at the University of Missouri – Columbia, was available to discuss more about his current studies. Dr. Martens is an NCRG-funded researcher, and his current project examines how effective personalized feedback intervention can be at helping college students realize, and hopefully lessen, their problem-gambling behavior.

Dr. Martens did a great job discussing the latest trends in gambling among college students. He talked about his personalized feedback intervention and explained some of the latest research about gambling among college students. After his talk, I had the chance to talk about CollegeGambling.org and the free toolkits, fact sheets, research, talking points, student programming ideas and more that are housed on the website.

Overall, what I admire most about CollegeGambling.org is that it provides the necessary research and science-based materials to colleges and universities so that they can seamlessly integrate it into their existing programs. After my presentation, participants asked for more information on the resources that are available on the site and ways that they can adapt it for their college campus.

It was an exciting couple of days in Missouri, and we are grateful for the opportunity to talk more about NCRG-funded research and the resources on CollegeGambling.org. Stay tuned for the next travel blog about filming the CollegeGambling.org multimedia news release in Denver, Colo.

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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).

Researchers conducted this experiment by having the study participants view videotapes of actors depicting a scene including a happy, sad or gambling scenario. Following the viewing, the participants described their emotional responses and rated their intensity of feeling. Individuals who were previously diagnosed with pathological gambling reported significantly more intense emotional responses and gambling urges when viewing the gambling scenarios than the control group. Consistent with the authors’ hypothesis, the fMRI found activations in the brain regions involved with processing emotional memories correlated with the subjective reports of the participants.

Previous studies have found ways that the brains of individuals diagnosed with PG are demonstrably different than those of non-PG individuals. This study adds to the literature by showing that there are both objective differences in brain chemistry and subjective differences in the way those with gambling problems experience emotion and motivation in response to emotional stimuli.

Note that this preliminary study’s main limitations include a small sample size and only male participants, and more studies should be done to expand the sample size and include women participants in the research. In addition, using the fMRI makes it difficult to replicate actual gambling settings. Nonetheless, the study is the first to directly examine the relationship between participants’ subjective responses and regional brain activations. By understanding the specific brain regions involved in gambling disorders, scientists will have a roadmap to aid in the development of targeted drugs. This understanding can also help investigators determine how various therapies—from pharmacological to behavioral—can impact recovery from gambling disorders.

References

Balodis, I. M., Lacadie, C. M., & Potenza, M. N. (In press). A Preliminary study of the neural correlates of the intensities of self-reported gambling urges and emotions in men with pathological gambling.Journal of Gambling Studies.DOI: 10.1007/s10899-011-9259-8

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Registration is open for the first session of the2012 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.

It has become conventional wisdom that Internet gambling is an especially risky behavior because of the factors of easy access and social isolation. Are these concerns based on speculation or scientific research? Dr. Nelson will address this question by reporting on the findings from a pioneering study of the actual wagering transactions of 40,000 online gamblers. Her latest findings reflect actual gambling behavior patterns, and the webinar will give participants a deeper look at the characteristics of people who have gambled online.

Participants can earn up to one hour of continuing education credit from ouraccrediting organizations: NAADAC, the National Board for Certified Counselors and the California Board for Behavioral Sciences. The NCRG is also approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The NCRG maintains responsibility for this program and its contents.

Register todayfor the free webinar, and pass along the registration information to interested counselors, social workers, marriage and family therapists and colleagues. Have a question for Dr. Nelson regarding online gambling and gambling disorders? Leave your questions in the comment section below, and the NCRG blog team will report her answers! Also, keep watching for more information on upcoming sessions in the 2012 NCRG Webinar Series.

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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!

NCRG Centers of Excellence in Gambling Research

Established in 2009, the purpose of the NCRG Centers of Excellence in Gambling Research is to (1) advance the understanding of gambling disorders through innovative, multi-disciplinary research investigations; and (2) enhance the dissemination of research findings to the public. The Center of Excellence grants are intended to provide funding for a stable, long-term institutional focus on a complex set of gambling-related problems requiring an innovative, multidisciplinary approach.

Recipients are expected to provide leadership in the field by:

  1. Conducting cutting-edge investigations of gambling-related disorders
  2. Translating research findings for non-academic audiences
  3. Cultivating the next generation of gambling researchers by mentoring young investigators.

Investigative efforts should be broadly based, encompassing a variety of areas, including biological, biomedical, social, behavioral and/or clinical sciences. Applicants may request up to a total of $350,000 in direct costs for a period not to exceed 36 months.

To apply, download thegrant announcementandapplication form. Submit your letter of intent by March 1. To get a more complete sense of the accomplishments of the current NCRG Centers of Excellence, please visit theNCRG Research Centerfor information on both theUniversity of MinnesotaandYale Universitygrants.

Large Grants

The Large Grants program provides up to two years of support for discrete, specified, circumscribed research projects related to gambling disorders. Applicants may request up to $75,000 in direct costs per year for a period not to exceed 24 months. In 2011, the NCRG funded two Large Grants, and you can visit theproject grants pageto learn more about these projects.

To apply, download thegrant announcementandapplication form. Submit your letter of intent by March 1.

For more information on the application process, please visit theNCRG Research Centeror contact Christine Reilly, Senior Research Director, atcreilly@ncrg.org.

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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.

Researchers from the fields of psychology, psychiatry, epidemiology, public health, sociology, economics, neuroscience are encouraged to apply for the different levels of grants that the NCRG is funding in 2012. Applicants can propose studies on a broad range of research that develops and tests psychosocial or pharmacological approaches for prevention, intervention, treatment or relapse prevention of gambling disorders. The NCRG is especially interested in brief interventions targeted at underrepresented populations, such as minorities, young adults and persons with subclinical gambling disorders. Other priorities of the NCRG include the impact of Indian gaming, gambling and minorities, secondary data analysis and technology and gambling.

Below are the grant categories that are accepting applications:

Project Grant Awards

Applicants may seek one-yearExploration($10,000/year) andSeed($25,000/year) Grants to fund pilot data, a new direction on an existing project, secondary analysis of existing data, or small, self-contained research projects. Applications for these grants will be accepted on an ongoing basis throughout 2012.Large Grantsof up to $75,000 in direct costs per year for two years are available for more extensive research projects. Letters of intent for Large Grants are due March 1, 2012, and full applications are due July 2, 2012. .

Career Development Awards

The career development awards includePostdoctoral Fellowships, offering up to $43,000/year for one year and intended for researchers within five years of their terminal degree, andEarly Stage Investigator Grants, offering $30,000/year and intended for investigators within 10 years of their terminal degree. The $40,000 per yearIndependent Scientist award, for investigators who already have independent, peer reviewed research support, will offer support for two years. Applications for all three of these grant categories are due May 1, 2012. In addition,Travel Grantsof $1,500 will be offered to early career researchers presenting a poster or paper related to disordered gambling at scientific conferences in 2012 and 2013. Travel grant applications are accepted throughout the year.

Special Initiative: The NCRG Centers of Excellence

The purpose of theNCRG Centers of Excellence in Gambling Research Grantsprogram is to advance the understanding of gambling disorders through innovative, multidisciplinary research investigations, enhance the dissemination of research findings to the public and mentor the next generation of gambling researchers. The center grants provide $350,000 in direct costs for a three-year period. Applicants whose letters of intent are accepted on March 1, 2012 will be allowed to submit full applications on July 2, 2012.

For more information and to download the announcements and application forms, visit theNCRG’s Research Center. You can also learn more about past and current NCRG-funded research projects by viewing the NCRG-funded research section of the NCRG’s website.

Questions, comments or wonderful research project ideas? Please let us know in the comments section below.

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2011 was a year of growth for the NCRG. We have many accomplishments to celebrate, from the launch of afirst-of-its-kind online resourcefor college students and administrators to aredesigned websiteandnew social media channels. Taking a cue fromDr. Thomas Insel, director of the National Institutes of Mental Health, we decided to make a list of the NCRG’s top 11 accomplishments in 2011.

  1. A Successful Road Tour: In July, the NCRG went to Boston, Mass., to hold key stakeholder events to increase awareness of gambling disorders and responsible gaming, including a treatment provider workshop on the connection between post-traumatic stress disorder and problem gambling and meetings to discussCollegeGambling.org. We also formed a strong partnership with the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling as a result of this trip. The meetings spurred many great ideas for future projects, and we were able to give additional resources to help promote responsible gaming in the state.
  2. The NCRG became more involved in socialmedia:The NCRG launched a Twitter account,@theNCRG, which now has more than 300 followers. It is our hope to use this platform to give the real-time information and latest research on gambling disorders and addictions. We can’t wait to interact more with our Twitter followers, and it’s our goal to live-tweet more events this year.
  3. A Redesigned Website:NCRG.orgreceived some enhancements in November, making it easier to find information about the NCRG Conference on Gambling and Addiction, NCRG-funded research studies and more. Keep checking back to the NCRG’s website as we add new content in the coming year.
  4. The Creation and Launch of CollegeGambling.org: After the Task Force on College Gambling Policies published their science-based recommendations in 2009 about how to address gambling and gambling-related harm on college campuses, the NCRG began to develop an online resource to help in that effort. In March 2011, the NCRG launchedCollegeGambling.orgas a free, easy-to-use online resource for students, university administrators, college mental health professionals and parents. We are very excited to grow this resource as new research and tools become available.
  5. New Resources and Continuing Education for Clinicians – All Available Without Having to Leave the Office: The2011 NCRG Webinar Serieswas popular last year, and sessions covered subjects including discussions about gambling disorders among youth and college students. Dr. Ken Winters from the University of Minnesota simplified the neurobiology behind adolescent brain development in the August 24 session, and the NCRG released the sixth edition ofIncreasing the Odds: A Series Dedicated to Understanding Gambling Disordersin conjunction with this training. We also became an approved continuing education sponsors for the American Psychological Association (APA) and NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals.
  6. Partnership with NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals: The NCRG was fortunate to partner with NAADAC on a few additional projects this year. NAADAC co-sponsored the March 23 webinar session titled “Gambling Disorders: What Addiction Professionals Need to Know,” which was the most popular webinar in 2011. Christine Reilly, senior research director for the NCRG, and Dr. Randy Stinchfield, professor of psychiatry at the University of Minnesota, also led a session at NAADAC’s annual conference in September. There is more to come with this partnership in 2012, so stay tuned.
  7. 2011 NCRG Conference on Gambling and Addiction: Last year, theNCRG Conferencebrought the best conversations and research in the field of gambling disorders and addiction to one event. From Dr. Gary Small, UCLA, to Dr. Scott Teitelbaum, University of Florida College of Medicine, keynote speakers at the NCRG Conference covered the impact of technology on treatment, research and responsible gaming. Dr. Jon Grant, University of Minnesota, and Dr. Marc Potenza, Yale, represented theNCRG Centers of Excellence in Gambling Researchby presenting their latest work in both pre-conference sessions and keynote addresses. For additional conference session summaries, visit the NCRG Conference blog posts onGambling Disorders 360˚.
  8. The NCRG’s First Treatment Provider Workshop Series: To help clinicians better understand the most up-to-date research on gambling disorders and apply those findings to their clinical practice, the NCRG created theTreatment Provider Workshop Series. We held five free workshops this year for more than 225 clinicians across the nation, and we are planning to expand the workshop series to include more cities in 2012.
  9. Increased Funding for Research: In 2011, the NCRG awarded more than $545,000 to support research that will help improve methods of diagnosis, intervention, treatment and prevention of gambling disorders. We look forward to learning about these researchers’ findings, and we will be announcing the 2012 call for applications soon. Please visit theNCRG Research Centeron our website for more information.
  10. Helped Students “Know the Odds”:The NCRG was able to partner with Young Minds Inspired to create and distribute our “Know the Odds” curriculum to middle and high school students in more than 400 schools, reaching more than 94,000 students, faculty and parents. This curriculum also included copies of“Talking with Children about Gambling”for students to take home and share with their parents.
  11. Milestones in Research Publications:We are pleased to announce that NCRG-funded research has resulted in more than 200 peer-reviewed articles published in top-tier academic journals! This is quite an accomplishment, and we are grateful to the researchers, peer-review panels, Scientific Advisory Board and donors for making this possible.

These are only a few of the highlights from 2011, and we are looking ahead at what is to come in 2012. What are some of your top NCRG highlights from last year? Let us know in the comments below

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In the final months of 2011, the NCRG’s Scientific Advisory Board and peer-review panels poured over applications for the Large Grants and Early Stage Investigator Grants to round out the year for NCRG-funded research opportunities. After careful consideration, the Scientific Advisory Board narrowed the candidates down and selected cutting-edge research studies using brain imaging, drug trials, social network analysis and brief interventions. We are pleased to announce the researchers that will receive a piece of $545,298 in NCRG research grant funding to support new projects that will help to improve methods of diagnosis, intervention, treatment and prevention of gambling disorders.

The NCRG’s 2011 grants were awarded for the following research projects:

SEED GRANTS

  • T. Celeste Napier, Ph.D., from Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Ill., was awarded $28,750 to identify the potential for repurposing the atypical antidepressant, mirtazapine, as a pharmacological intervention for reducing risk-behavior and/or preventing a relapse of gambling disorders. The proposed experiments should also indicate if this drug may be useful for relatively brief interventions for persons with subclinical gambling disorders.

LARGE GRANTS

  • Adam Goodie, Ph.D., from the University of Georgia was awarded $172,487. This study will use a social network analysis (SNA) to investigate the role of a gambler’s social network in his or her gambling-related pathology. Dr. Goodie and his colleagues will use the NCRG grant to analyze the impact of network members’ gambling behavior, personality measures and substance use to explain individual participants’ gambling severity. This study will expand upon the pilot data collected as part of an NCRG-funded project that explored the roles of personality and substance use behavioral variables in pathological gambling.
  • John O’Doherty, Ph.D., from the California Institute of Technology was awarded $172,500 to investigate the nature of learning within the brain circuitry involved in response to rewarding and punishing events in patients diagnosed with pathological gambling. The researchers will study patterns of neural activity while pathological gamblers – and a comparison group of recreational gamblers – perform simple tasks in which they can learn to make choices in order to obtain monetary gains and avoid losses. Dr. O’Doherty and his colleagues hope to learn what neurological factors are involved in responses to rewarding and punishing events for people with gambling problems.

SPECIAL INITIATIVES

  • Clayton Neighbors, Ph.D., from the University of Houston was awarded $171,571 to develop and test anonline screening and brief intervention (SBI)aimed at reducing gambling-related problems among college students. The SBI will be included onwww.CollegeGambling.org, the NCRG’s online resource that was developed to help higher-education institutions address gambling disorders and responsible gaming on campus.

We are excited to learn more from these researchers and read the results of their study findings in the future. All of the research proposals were reviewed by independent peer-review panels of distinguished scientists in the field to ensure that only the highest quality research is funded before those reviews were passed to the Scientific Advisory Board for final approvals.

The 2012 Call for Research Applications will be announced in the coming weeks on theNCRG’s Research Center. Make sure to check the NCRG’s website for more information, as well asGambling Disorders 360˚,FacebookandTwitter.

Would you like more information about the research that has received funding from the NCRG? Please leave your name and comments in the section below!

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The National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG) today announced Alan M. Feldman, senior vice president of public affairs for MGM Resorts International, has been named the new chairman of the organization’s board of directors. Feldman replaces Glenn C. Christenson. Christenson, managing director of the investment firm Velstand Investments, LLC, who has served as chairman of the board of directors for three years and will remain on the board. The NCRG board also elected Mark Vander Linden, executive officer of the Office of Gambling Treatment and Prevention at the Iowa Department of Health, to join as a board member.

In an interview with the NCRG blog team, Christenson gave high praise for Feldman. “Alan has long been a strong voice in the gaming industry on issues of responsible gaming and finding effective methods for addressing gambling disorders. He has an unwavering commitment to the NCRG,” Christenson said. “I am delighted to remain on the NCRG board to support Alan’s leadership as the NCRG continues to address these issues through peer-reviewed research and public education.”

Feldman has served on the NCRG board since 2000. Throughout his career, he has taken a leadership role on a wide array of industry issues, with a particular focus in areas concerning responsible gaming. In addition to serving on the NCRG board, he is a board member for the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling and has previously served as a member of the Athletes and Addictions Task Force at Harvard University Medical School, Division on Addictions.

When asked about his new role, Feldman was honored to follow Glenn Christenson in this capacity. “Glenn has done an incredible job of leading the NCRG in creating new initiatives that help to translate the NCRG-funded research findings into practical, real-world applications,” Feldman said. ‘Under his astute leadership, the NCRG has created the NCRG Centers of Excellence in Gambling Research and extraordinary resources such as CollegeGambling.org. I hope to build on this success by expanding our efforts to raise awareness of problem gambling and responsible gaming through the top-notch, peer-reviewed research and public education initiatives that makes the NCRG a leading organization in this field.”

Another new face to the NCRG board is Mark Vander Linden, executive officer of the Office of Gambling Treatment and Prevention at the Iowa Department of Public Health. In this role, he oversees all problem gambling services for the state including treatment, prevention, workforce development, social marketing and evaluation. Vander Linden is also the board president of the Association of Problem Gambling Service Administrators and holds advisory roles with the Midwest Consortium on Problem Gambling and Substance Abuse and the Prairielands Addiction Transfer Technology Center.

“We are excited to have Mark on the NCRG board, as his experience will lend great insight on the public health perspective of problem gambling,” Feldman said. “He has already been a champion for the NCRG in helping us organize treatment provider workshops and speaking at the NCRG Conference of Gambling and Addiction, and we look forward to working with him more in the coming years.”

The NCRG board of directors includes representatives from the gaming industry and the treatment and regulatory communities. In addition to Feldman, Christenson and Vander Linden, the board includes NCRG President William S. Boyd, executive chairman of Boyd Gaming Corporation; NCRG Treasurer and Secretary Judy L. Patterson, senior vice president and executive director of the American Gaming Association; Sue Cox, founding executive director of the Texas Council on Problem and Compulsive Gambling; Kevin Mullally, general counsel and director of government affairs for Gaming Laboratories International; Phil Satre, chairman of International Game Technology; Jennifer Shatley, vice president of responsible gaming policies and compliance for Caesars Entertainment Corporation; and Bruce Shear, president and CEO of Pioneer Behavioral Health. To learn more about the NCRG board of directors, please visit ourwebsite.

Have a question or comment for a member of the NCRG board of directors? Leave it in the comments below!

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