Great to read this from the @lhgp.bsky.social team! And a shout out to SARG researchers @charlierosehead.bsky.social and Esther Chanakira for their excellent contributions to the Conference 🙌 #PreventionResearch2026 #PublicHealth
SARG's Ellen McGrane recently spoke with @afsguk.bsky.social about her research into gambling advertising during live sports. The interview explores the whistle-to-whistle ban, self-regulation, and the challenges of data collection and natural experiments in gambling research. #AddictionResearch
The latest paper to be published from our project 'Reforming alcohol taxes in a cost-of-living crisis' was led by @drsarahejackson.bsky.social with @jamiebrown.bsky.social @jholmessheff.bsky.social & @victimofmaths.bsky.social. Find out more about the project here: bit.ly/3OGifN3 #PublicHealth
"A promotional graphic for the Sheffield Addictions Research Group (SARG). The top features a blue header: 'STAR Project Newsletter, February 2026'. The background shows a diverse team working collaboratively around a table with sticky notes and maps. A semi-transparent blue text box in the corner states: 'The STAR Project aims to understand how local authorities can effectively incorporate youth voices in the development of policies related to the new national tobacco and vaping legislation.'"
Read the latest newsletter from our STAR Project which is all about incorporating young people's voices into local tobacco and vape policy making: bit.ly/3N2jHc0 Includes insights from our work with young people, info on stakeholder workshops & links to related research and reports #PublicHealth
Are you attending the Prevention Research Conference next week? Look out for SARG researchers @charlierosehead.bsky.social and Esther Chanakira who will be presenting advanced modelling work from the @lhgp.bsky.social @phiuk.bsky.social programme. Read more on the SARG website 👇 #PublicHealth
📢New SARG paper! Led by Esther Moore this study assessed the association between gambling frequency and risk of harm before applying the findings to a hypothetical policy model designed to illustrate how reducing gambling frequency could lower the risk of harm at a population level.
At our SARG monthly meeting, we take a deeper dive into work going on across the team. Today @damonm1989.bsky.social presented the methodology and data behind his recent work showing that reducing spending on harmful products could provide a significant boost to the UK economy. #PublicHealth
We had a great meeting between our STAR Project research team and local authority partners yesterday. If you'd like to stay up to date with project progress sign up for our email newsletter below - the next issue will be landing in inboxes soon! #PublicHealth #YouthVoice
Great to see SARG Research Associate @ppermanhowe.bsky.social out and about talking about her forthcoming research into mid-strength alcohol drinks! You can find more about her plans here 👇 #AlcoholResearch #AlcoholPolicy #PublicHealth
New @sarg-scharr.bsky.social study busts a big alcohol industry myth.
Claims that reducing alcohol consumption “hurts the economy” ignore a key fact: people don’t burn the money they don’t spend on alcohol - they spend it elsewhere.
Using UK... 🧵
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
New SARG research published in @addictionjournal.bsky.social this week led by @damonm1989.bsky.social has found that public health policies which reduce spending on harmful products can actually provide a significant boost to UK jobs and the wider economy. #PublicHealth #HealthEconomics #UKEconomy
The SPIRE project was funded by the @nihr.bsky.social and the full peer-reviewed findings and detailed list of modelling requirements can be viewed on NIHR Open Research: doi.org/10.3310/nihr...
What should a UK vaping policy model look like? In this new SARG blog post Professor Hazel Squires shares findings from the SPIRE project which aimed to identify the requirements for a UK vaping policy model, map out existing data, and identify what additional data are needed. #PublicHealth
Blog from our intern, Sachin, who worked on our project last summer. We are engaging Sheffield residents on corporate influence and the commercial determinants of health. Read below 👇
sphr.nihr.ac.uk/news-and-eve...
SARG Director @jholmessheff.bsky.social spoke to @thegrocer.bsky.social about the need to formulate a public health response to the rise of alcohol-free and low-alcohol drinks 👇 #PublicHealth #AlcoholPolicy #NoLo
🎉 We are delighted to announce that SARG’s @ppermanhowe.bsky.social has secured an NIHR Career Development Award to investigate the public health impact of mid-strength drinks. Read our news story to find out what her 12-month project will involve 👇 @fohsheffield.bsky.social @nihrsphr.bsky.social
Tune into BBC Radio 4 right now to hear @jholmessheff.bsky.social speaking about alcohol-free and low-alcohol drinks on The Food Programme www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
The latest paper from our No/Lo Project explores how public health should respond to the growing market for alcohol-free and low-alcohol drinks.
Lots of new SARG papers have been published in the last few weeks - this one, led by @jholmessheff.bsky.social, looks at the public health impacts of increasing the minimum unit price for alcohol in Scotland. #PublicHealth #AlcoholPolicy
How did the #AutumnBudget2025 impact alcohol, tobacco, vaping and gambling? In this new blog post SARG experts @victimofmaths.bsky.social, @drduncgillespie.bsky.social and Ellen McGrane analyse the key policy decisions and their potential impacts on public health sarg-sheffield.ac.uk/blog/autumn-...
***New job advert**
Research Associate in Public Health and Labour Economic Modelling
at the University of Sheffield
on policies involving interventions affecting both health and work outcomes and the interactions between them.
It is a brilliant team
jobsite.sheffield.ac.uk/job/Research...
This new paper synthesises explanations for why gambling harm is unequal across communities. Led by Katie Powell and with SARG's @soc-researcher.bsky.social, @abi-stevely.bsky.social and @zoelclarke.bsky.social. #GamblingHarm #AddictionResearch #PublicHealth
📢 New on the SARG Blog! Ellen McGrane discusses an @nihr-pruaddictions.bsky.social project exploring how to integrate alcohol dependence into policy modelling. The team worked with policymakers and people with lived experience to develop a roadmap for more equitable models. #AlcoholPolicy
OHID have just updated their Fingertips/Local Alcohol Profiles data with 2024 alcohol mortality figures.
fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/loca...
Good to see things heading in a positive direction for a change.
More details in my thread from a couple of months ago:
bsky.app/profile/vict...
✨ SARG Internship opportunity ✨ We're currently looking for a part-time Quantitative Research Intern to undertake a three-month research project mapping the type of advice that alcohol treatment and recovery services give to clients on the use of alcohol-free and low-alcohol drinks. Find out more 👇
We've got a new paper out in @addictionjournal.bsky.social led by @drsarahejackson.bsky.social looking at trends in cost as a motivating factor for people looking to reduce their alcohol consumption.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
A line chart showing cash-terms (i.e. unadjusted for inflation) alcohol duty rates by type of alcohol since 1979. These have increased steadily over time, particularly between 2008-2013 under the 'duty escalator', except for under the previous coalition/Conservative government when they fell or remained at the same levels for almost a decade.
The same graph, but after adjusting for inflation. This tells a very different story with the lines all trending down over time, except for the duty escalator period, when they rose briefly. Overall alcohol duty rates are much lower now in real terms than they have been at almost any point in the previous 40-odd years.
A few thoughts on alcohol duty ahead of the budget (and an excuse to update some old graphs).
These two show the important of accounting for inflation - in cash terms alcohol duty rates are higher than ever before, but in real terms they are at historically low levels.
SARG Director @jholmessheff.bsky.social was part of an expert panel that supported the development of 'A Healthier Future: A long-term vision to tackle alcohol harm in the UK', a significant new report published by the Institute of Alcohol Studies @ias.org.uk this week. @fohsheffield.bsky.social
Our new paper discusses the challenge of how clinicians and other treatment providers should respond to the use of alcohol-free and low-alcohol (no/lo) products by patients with, or at risk of developing, severe alcohol-related health problems including AUD and ARLD. #PublicHealth #AlcoholHarm
The latest publication from our evaluation of the QUIT hospital-based tobacco dependence treatment service is now available. It investigates patient flows from hospital to community stop smoking services and subsequent quitting outcomes. Find out more about this work at quit.sites.sheffield.ac.uk
