Speakers | Research | University of Bristol

Welcome Keynote

Brianne Doura-Schawohl - Gambling Policy Expert, USA
Brianne Doura-Schawohl is founder and CEO of Doura-Schawohl Consulting LLC, a boutique global government relation specialising in problem and responsible gambling policy. She most recently served as Vice President of US Policy and Strategic Development for EPIC Risk Management, a global harm prevention consultancy, conducting work in over 24 countries. Prior to her role at EPIC, Brianne served as Legislative Director for the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG). Her experience includes over a decade of leadership in advocacy, public policy, government affairs, and communications. Brianne has a history of achievements in State and United States Congressional legislative work, including a diverse portfolio of complex problem gambling policy issues. This is invaluable in her ability to make a difference on behalf of people with gambling problems globally. Brianne holds a BA in Political Science from the University of Mary Washington.

Sports and Gambling Keynote

Simon Chadwick - Founder, The Future Sport Forum
Simon Chadwick has a background in marketing, commercial strategy, and government policy, and has published in journals including the Sloan Management Review, the Journal of Advertising Research and European Sport Management Quarterly. He works with a wide range of stakeholders in sport including clubs (such as Manchester United), governing bodies (such as UEFA) and sponsors (such as Coca Cola). Chadwick has secured more than £3 million in research funding from the likes of the European Union, the Qatar National Research Fund and Mastercard. In undertaking research and delivering related outcomes, the professor is a strong advocate of impact and public engagement. He routinely writes for global media outlets (e.g. the Wall Street Journal and CNN) and has worked with numerous organisations. His most recent appointment was Professor of Sport and Geopolitical Economy at Skema Business School, France.

Sports and Gambling Panel Discussion Session

Living with Gambling Harms Facilitator

Ali Vowles - Ex-BBC Reporter and Presenter
Ali Vowles is a multi-disciplinary freelance journalist and presenter who has worked for the BBC on TV and radio for over thirty years. She is a skilled interviewer with a warmth, friendliness and authority that brings out the best in people. There is nothing Ali likes more than getting to the heart of a story and asking the questions that everyone wants the answers to.

Living with Gambling Harms Speakers

Julie Martin - BetKnowMore UK
Hi, I am what you would call an affected other. I've never been a gambler myself, but in my 25-year marriage, my husband gambled heavily over multiple years on and off. Sadly, at the age of 51, I lost my husband, and our children lost their father to a gambling related suicide in Nov 2021. I have worked in the gambling harm charity sector for 4 years now (currently with BetKnowMore), bringing peer support and awareness of gambling harms to those who gamble or are affected by another’s gambling. I talk about my lived experience with honesty and passion to try and prevent this hidden addiction ruining more families lives in the future.
Matt Losing - Ara Recovery For All
I'm currently working as the Armed Forces Gambling Support Network lead in Wales and South West England where I deliver Armed Forces tailored gambling harms awareness training (Battling the Odds). Whilst facilitating sessions I am sometimes asked "What training did you have to be able to do this role?" my answer - 10 years of service in The Royal Navy coupled with many years of struggling with my own harmful relationship with gambling and a further 7 years of recovery. I now channel my life experiences as a veteran, a recovering harmful gambler and as a Husband, Son, Brother and friend of those affected by my illness to raise awareness and help break the stigma attached to Gambling Related Harms and contribute to Ara's ultimate aim of providing hope and better lives.

Cryptocurrency, Illegal Gambling and Gambling-like Activities Keynote

Sanya Burgess - Investigative Journalist
Sanya Burgess is the Investigations Correspondent at i. She is an award-winning journalist whose work has included investigations exposing the rise of illegal crypto casinos in the UK and the bad practises of streamers promoting these sites. Sanya also revealed the large-scale sale of crypto casino accounts on social media which enables gamblers from countries like the UK, where it is harder to create a profile, to easily begin gambling on these banned sites. She has given evidence to the APPG on Gambling Related Harms and the Gambling Commission regarding her crypto casino work. Sanya has a specialism in OSINT (open source intelligence) reporting, using these skills to cover digital spaces but also conflict zones, climate change and verification work. She was previously at Sky News.

Cryptocurrency, Illegal Gambling and Gambling-like Activities Panel Discussion Session

Philip Newall - University of Bristol
Dr Philip Newall is a lecturer at the University of Bristol's School of Psychological Science and has 20 years of experience in the topic of gambling. Their primary research interest is gambling psychology, where they have done research on various applied/policy issues and also done more theoretical work on the determinants of gambling-related harm.
Elena Petrovskaya - University of Lincoln
Elena is a researcher in video game microtransactions and gambling, currently working as a research associate at the University of Lincoln. Her interests lie in understanding the mechanisms of gambling and gaming industries to tap into user psychology, and the harms this may cause. Her work has been used by governments and consumer protection authorities, such as the UK Competition & Markets Authority and the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets, and covered by popular media, such as WIRED and New Scientist. She has also worked in partnership with charities such as the Scottish Gambling Hub and the NHS Centre for Gaming Disorders.
Simon Ellis - HMRC
Simon Ellis is an Operational Leader in HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service, working in Organised Crime Operations, which brings together civil and criminal teams focused on disrupting, frustrating and seeking to prosecute highly capable fraudsters targeting HMRC interests. Simon works across government and with law enforcement partners worldwide on cases that range from reducing the harm from excise threats to targeting those attempting to steal funds from the public purse. OC Operations focuses on the most serious and egregious attacks against HMRC and its customers with a view to delivering significant and long-lasting impact.

International and Interdisciplinary Perspectives Panel Discussion Session

Ben Haden - Gambling Commission, International Association of Gaming Regulators
Ben works in the UK as a director at the Gambling Commission. He has responsibility for a portfolio which ensures that the Commission appreciates, uses and develops the strongest possible evidence base. His team produces the Commission’s official statistics and delivers a varied research programme to support policy making and advice to government. He is also President of the International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR) and a trustee of a multi-academy trust covering a range of schools in the UK.
Andrea Czakó - University of Gibraltar
Andrea Czakó is a researcher and research manager at the Centre of Excellence in Responsible Gaming at the University of Gibraltar and a member of the Addiction Research Group at ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary. She completed her PhD in social psychology in 2017 at ELTE Eötvös Loránd University. Her research interest covers addictive behaviours, especially online gambling and other screen-related behaviours.
Selma Iilonga - University of Namibia
Dr Selma Iilonga is a Senior Librarian for Scholarly Communication and a lecturer for Health Research Methods at the University of Namibia (UNAM). Dr Iilonga is currently pursuing a Postgraduates Diploma in Public Health with the University of the Western Cape in South Africa. She has authored several academic publications and presented research papers at local, regional, and international conferences. She is currently the Principal Investigator for a project exploring the diffusion of gambling information impact on consumer’s behaviours and designing a mitigating model to address harmful gambling in Namibia, funded by the Bristol Hub for Gambling Harms Research. Dr Iilonga is passionate about Research Methodology, Public Health Information, policy/legislation, Knowledge Management, Information availability and accessibility, Impact of Data and Information, Indigenous Health Information, Information and Digital Literacies, socioeconomic development, and Information Design.
Kate Bedford - University of Birmingham
Professor Bedford is an interdisciplinary scholar with a background in law and political economy. Her 2013 ESRC-funded research examined the comparative regulation of bingo. This led to a number of academic and non-academic outputs, including a public debate about bingo regulation in the UK, and a major policy report exploring Brazil, the UK, the EU, and Canada. The academic book resulting from the research – on the law and political economy of gambling - won the 2020 Hart Socio-Legal Studies Association book prize and the 2020 International Political Economy book prize of the British International Studies Association. Kate has recently published academic research on the moral economy of gambling in the pandemic, and on the broader implications of affordability checks for online gambling. With Dr Joht Singh Chandan, she is leading the NIHR-funded grant project ‘Developing an Equitable Public Health Approach to Reducing Gambling Harms’.