People at GOAL

Steve Sharman and Amanda Roberts are the Co-founders and Co-Directors of the CAGR conference. CAGR is a multidisciplinary conference that brings together researchers, clinicians, people with lived experience, regulators and others working across the field of gambling research, education, and treatment.

Beginning as a UK-focused, half-day conference in London in 2019, CAGR has evolved into a multi-day international event. In addition to London, the conference has been hosted in Cardiff, Amsterdam, and Glasgow; the most recent CAGR was hosted in Helsinki on May 27-29, 2026, and brought together nearly 200 gambling researchers and experts from all over the world. This year, the programme consisted of nearly 100 oral and poster presentations from presenters representing 21 different countries.

Widening access and encouraging diversity is a foundational operating principle of the CAGR conference. Discounted tickets are offered to students, people with lived experience and the unwaged. In addition, bursaries are offered to researchers from low-to-middle-income countries to cover travel, accommodation, visa costs, and conference fees. In 2026, four researchers participated in the conference through the LMIC bursary scheme.

CAGR 2027 will venture outside Europe for the first time, and will be hosted in Montreal, Canada.

Amanda and Steve are both trustees for the Academic Forum for the Study of Gambling (AFSG). The AFSG is a group of academic researchers dedicated to advancing the research needed to effectively prevent, reduce, and address gambling harm. The purpose of the AFSG is to act as a coordinated body to assert the importance of rigorous, independent research to prevent, reduce, and address gambling harm in the UK.  

Steve is a trustee for the SSA. Within this role, his serves on the main board of trustees, leads the Lived Experience sub-committee, and sits on the Conflict-of-Interest sub-committee. 

Steve is the founder and led the team of creators of the Lived Experience Research Hub (LERH). The LERH is comprised of three parts. First is the Matching Service, where registered researchers can advertise any upcoming research roles that require Lived Experience Expertise. The registered LE experts can view the roles, and contact the lead researcher directly. The LERH also home to the Minimum Standards Framework (MSF); the MSF was produced in collaboration with academics and Lived Experience experts, to create a short guide to working with Lived Experience experts. The LERH also houses the Lived Experience Access Fund (LEAF). The LEAF is a fund dedicated to supporting Lived Experience experts to be part of research projects. Funds can be used for specific upskilling, or to remove barriers to access such as conference attendance fees.

Amanda is an invited member of the Gambling Harms Advisory Group, established by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) within the Department of Health and Social Care. She contributes expertise in gambling harms prevention and mental health, providing independent evidence and advice to support national prevention policy, strategy and delivery in England, including work associated with the statutory gambling levy-funded prevention programme.

Amanda and Steve are invited members of the National UK Research Network for Behavioural Addictions, a cross-institutional network bringing together researchers working on behavioural addictions across the UK and internationally.

Amanda and Steve are full members of the International Think Tank on Gambling Research, Policy and Practice, which brings together academics, clinicians and policymakers to strengthen the translation of gambling research into policy and harm-reduction practice.

Amanda and Steve hold an honorary research position with Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust and the National Gambling Clinic, contributing to clinical research and evaluation, including the development of data capture and evaluation approaches for frontline services.

Prevailing psychological understanding of attachment is largely based on the physical world; in an increasingly digital world of parasocial relationships and relationship mimicking games, Sisi's PhD investigates the evolution of attachment from the physical to the digital world. 

Sisi's PhD is supervised by Steve Sharman.

Annie’s PhD is funded by the University of Lincoln and investigates how gambling-related suicide is identified and recorded within coronial systems, drawing on international comparisons, research with coroners and bereaved families, and analysis of coronial and psychological autopsy data to inform improved recording, prevention and policy. Annie's PhD is supervised by Amanda Roberts, with Steve Sharman also on the supervisory team. 

Claire’s PhD is funded by the University of Lincoln and investigates the risk factors associated with gambling behaviour and gambling-related harm across different populations, including the general public, university students, people using mental health and substance use services, and prisoners. Using mixed methods, the research aims to identify patterns of vulnerability and harm across the gambling continuum to support earlier identification, prevention and more targeted support. Claire's PhD is supervised by Amanda Roberts, with Steve Sharman also on the supervisory team.

Charlotte’s PhD is funded by the University of Lincoln and examines how police can reduce opioid-related harm, with a particular focus on the use of intranasal naloxone (Nyxoid), police officers’ attitudes towards carrying and administering it, and the workplace and attitudinal factors that may affect its implementation. The research also explores public attitudes towards naloxone and aims to inform practical strategies for improving overdose response within policing. Charlotte's PhD is supervised by Amanda Roberts.

The correlation between loot-box engagement and gambling disorder is well-documented, however the underlying psychological mechanisms that are shared are less clear. Leyan's PhD - funded through a scholarship from the Chinese government - uses behavioural measures, eye tracking, and virtual reality to better understand the relationship between gambling-like mechanics, and loot-box engagement. Leyan's PhD is supervised by Steve Sharman. 

Steve and Amanda are Guest Editors for a special issue of the Journal of Gambling Issues linked to the Current Advances in Gambling Research conference, supporting an open-access publication route for research presented at CAGR.