Digital Symposium Presenters

Henrietta Bowden-Jones, phd

Professor Henrietta Bowden-Jones OBE is a medical doctor and neuroscience researcher working as a consultant psychiatrist in addictions. She is currently Vice President of the Royal Society of Medicine. A regular advisor to the UK government on matters relating to gambling disorder, gaming disorder and mental health, she was appointed NHS England National Clinical Advisor on Gambling Harms in September 2022. As well as pursuing a clinical career, she has a Doctorate in Medicine ( MD) in Neuroscience from Imperial College and is an Honorary Professor at UCL in the Faculty of Brain Science.

Sharon Collard
 

Professor Sharon Collard is the Research Director at the University of Bristol’s Personal Finance Research Centre. Her research explores the intersections between vulnerability and personal finance, including tracking the financial impact of COVID-19 on UK households and a program of work on gambling harms that has, to date, looked at the role of financial services in reducing gambling-related financial harms; thee links between gambling and problem debt; and the family dynamics of harmful gambling. Sharon is also Co-Director of the new Bristol Hub for Gambling Harms Research, which aims to build capacity in multidisciplinary gambling harms research.

Alan Feldman

Alan Feldman is one of the world’s leading experts on responsible gaming. As Distinguished Fellow in Responsible Gaming for UNLV’s International Gaming Institute, Feldman develops programs and policies to advance related knowledge and capabilities within the industry and regulatory community. A frequent speaker on responsible gaming at conferences, universities and media events around the world, Feldman serves as Chair of the National Center for Responsible Gaming and the Nevada Advisory Committee on Problem Gambling. He also serves as a member of the Gambling Research Advisory Committee for the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.

Ben Ford

Ben Ford is a Research Associate at the Bristol Hub for Gambling Harms research. His previous research used psychological and cognitive neuroscience methods to understand contextual influences on social cognition.

Kasra Ghaharian, PhD

Dr. Kasra Ghaharian is a Senior Research Fellow at the UNLV International Gaming Institute. He completed his M.S. and Ph.D. at UNLV. His research centers around data science applications in hospitality and gambling, where he has studied topics including casino floor optimization, payments modernization, responsible gambling, and behavioral analytics.

Regina LaBelle, JD

Regina LaBelle, JD, directs the Addiction and Public Policy Initiative at Georgetown University Law Center’s O’Neill Institute. She also leads and teaches in the Master of Science in Addiction Policy and Practice program at Georgetown University’s Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. Regina served in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) in both the Biden and Obama Administrations, most recently serving as Acting Director of the ONDCP. Before joining the federal government, Regina was Legal Counsel to Seattle’s mayor. Regina received her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center and her undergraduate degree from Boston College.

Bonnie Lee, PhD

Bonnie Lee, Ph.D., is a Health Sciences (Addictions Counselling) professor at the University of Lethbridge, Alberta. She is a registered Marriage and Family Therapist and a Registered Social Worker in Alberta and Ontario. A highly-rated speaker and trainer with the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy Institutes for Advanced Clinical Education, Dr. Lee has been a featured speaker and keynote for various universities and organizations. She is the Principal Investigator of two decades of research that developed the theory and efficacy of Congruence Couple Therapy in a stand-alone model for addiction and co-occurring mental health concerns.

Jamey Lister, PhD

Jamey Lister, Ph.D., MSW, is an assistant professor at Rutgers University School of Social Work and an affiliate of the Center for Gambling Studies at Rutgers University. Dr. Lister received NCPG’s Durand Jacobs Dissertation Award in 2014. He has served on the Treatment Track Committee for NCPG’s annual conference and on the Michigan Association on Problem Gambling board. Dr. Lister leads gambling services research funded by the Kindbridge Research Institute and is Co-Director of the SAMHSA Rural Opioid Technical Assistance Regional Center (ROTA-R) covering New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands.

Kenneth Litwak, ICGC-II, IGDC

Ken Litwak is a Licensed Clinical Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LCADC) with additional certifications in gambling (ICGC-II), trauma (CCTP), and psychological first aid (DRCC). Ken was the first person awarded the International Gaming Disorder Certificate (IGDC). Ken is pursuing a Ph.D. in Psychology from Northcentral University in California. Ken has presented workshops and trainings at various events and conferences nationally and in his home state of New Jersey. Ken is a U.S. Navy Veteran. Ken is the Executive Director for Gambling, Education, and Community Relations for John Brooks Recovery Center in Pleasantville, Mays Landing, and Atlantic City, NJ.

Amanda McCormick, PhD

Dr. Amanda McCormick is an Associate Professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of the Fraser Valley in British Columbia, Canada, and a Research Associate with the Centre for Public Safety and Criminal Justice Research. Her research interests include intimate partner violence, policing, public safety issues, at-risk youth, and problem gambling. Dr. McCormick has been a lead or co-investigator on over 30 research projects, including three longitudinal studies of British Columbia’s Voluntary Self-Exclusion Program, and has authored or co-authored more than 60 peer-reviewed publications and technical research reports.

Lia Nower, PhD, JD, ICGC-II, BACC

Dr. Lia Nower is Professor and Director of the Center for Gambling Studies at Rutgers University. She is also Director of the Addiction Counselor Training Certificate Program, a member of the Rutgers Addiction Research Center (RARC) leadership team and a research affiliate with the Sydney University Gambling Treatment Unit in the Brain and Mind Centre. Her research focuses on etiology, treatment, policy initiatives around harm reduction and responsible gambling, and big data analyses of online gambling and sports wagering. She serves as a Senior Editor for Addiction and Assistant Editor of International Gambling Studies. Dr. Nower is also the 2022 recipient of the Lifetime Research Award from the National Council on Problem Gambling in Washington D.C.

Liz Riley, PhD

Dr Liz Riley is the Research and Evaluation Manager at Betknowmore UK, a charity that supports men and women experiencing gambling harms. At Betknowmore UK, Liz has lead research projects examining the support needs of women. She has worked in partnership with various academic and other stakeholders on gambling harms screening questions, crime and gambling, and gambling in diverse communities. Before joining Betknowmore UK, Liz worked at University College London, where she taught and conducted research internationally. She has also worked in paid and voluntary roles in several charities in the UK and elsewhere.

Gillian Russell

Ms. Russell is an Assistant Research Professor at Penn State Abington working on the Interactive Gaming study, an annual assessment of the impacts of online gambling legalization in Pennsylvania. In addition she has a MSc in Psychology from the University of Lethbridge. She is currently completing a PhD in Evolution and Behaviour from the University of Lethbridge with her dissertation work examining the longitudinal impacts of implicit memory associations on gambling behaviours.

Jamie Wheaton, PhD

Jamie is a researcher from the Bristol Hub for Gambling Harms Research at the University of Bristol. Jamie’s recent research centers around developing a public health approach to gambling behavior, with outputs designed to facilitate an interdisciplinary approach to gambling harms. Jamie’s other research also evaluates gambling from the viewpoint of socio-economic inequalities, digital transformation, and social sustainability.