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In this episode, Dr Annika Theodoulou speaks to Dr Yang-Chieh Brian Chen, a psychiatric resident at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, US. The interview covers Brian’s research article on all-cause and cause-specific mortality in gambling disorder using evidence from a nation-wide matched and sibling cohort study in Taiwan.A background on gambling disorder [01:09]All-cause and cause-specific mortality in gambling disorder [02:59]Why Brian focused on the relationship between gambling disorder and quality of life and suicidal ideation [04:11]The value of looking at accidental death and natural causes [06:00]The difference between results in European populations compared to the Taiwanese population [07:38]The study design that Brian used for the study [08:58]The importance of controlling for demographic and clinical factors [11:21]A summary of the mortality risk associated with gambling disorder [12:26]How we can generalize the findings [13:24]Brian’s take home messages [15:01]The implications of the findings for clinicians [17:14]A singular message on gambling disorder for the listeners [17:47]About Annika Theodoulou: Annika is a Research Fellow at the National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction at Flinders University, South Australia. Her work focuses on health behaviours, including smoking cessation and weight management, with an emphasis on evidence synthesis. She completed a Doctor of Philosophy in Primary Health Care at the University of Oxford, where her research examined socioeconomic inequalities in smoking cessation behaviours and outcomes using quantitative and qualitative methods. Her doctoral research was funded by the Society for the Study of Addiction (SSA) and The Rotary Foundation. Annika is an Associate Editor of Nicotine & Tobacco Research and holds a Bachelor of Health Sciences and a Master of Clinical Science from the University of Adelaide.About Yang-Chieh Brian Chen: Brian is currently a psychiatry resident in the psychiatry residency program at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. He graduated from China Medical University in Taichung, Taiwan, and completed two years of postgraduate training at Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital. He has worked with his research mentor, psychiatrist Dr. Chih-Wei Hsu, on several projects focused on database research. He is devoted to research in psychiatry with the goal of making advancements toward improved treatment options in mental health. His current research interests include interventional psychiatry and neurocircuitry. Original article: All-cause and cause-specific mortality in gambling disorder: Evidence from a nation-wide matched and sibling cohort study in Taiwan https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70397The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal.The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.Music by Jack Shakespeare.

In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Dr Abi Stevely, a Research Fellow at the Sheffield Addictions Research Group in the UK. The interview covers Abi’s article on the price of alcohol-free and low-alcohol drinks compared to regular-strength drinks using sales data in Great Britain.The term ‘No/lo’ refers to alcohol free (No) and low alcohol (Lo) drinks. What are alcohol-free and low alcohol drinks? [01:00]The use of ‘no/lo’ to refer to alcohol-free and low alcohol drinks [01:38]The main consumers of alcohol-free and low alcohol products in the UK [02:02]The motivation to explore the costs of alcohol-free and low alcohol drinks [02:55]How alcohol-free and low alcohol products are situated in the addiction space [04:40]The methods of the study [06:44]Are alcohol-free and low alcohol drinks more expensive than regular strength drinks across the whole off-trade market? [09:38]Are alcohol-free and low alcohol drinks more expensive than regular strength drinks across comparable products? [10:45]Are price differences associated with pack size and container type and size? [11:52]How Abi would expect the conclusions to change if on-trade sales were included [13:05]Perceptions of the price of alcohol-free and low alcohol drinks in pubs and bars [15:47]The comparison of alcohol-free and low alcohol drinks to soft drinks rather than an alternative to alcohol [17:11]The implications of Abi’s findings for alcohol price policy in the UK [18:00]The take home messages [19:11]About Elle Wadsworth: Elle is an academic fellow with the Society for the Study of Addiction. She is based at the University of Bath with the Addiction and Mental Health Group and her research interests include drug policy, cannabis legalisation, and public health. Elle holds a voluntary role at The Loop, a non-profit service provider of drug checking in the UK. About Abi Stevely: Abi is a Research Fellow in the Sheffield Addictions Research Group, where they have worked since 2020. Much of their work to date has focused on evaluating major policy interventions including minimum unit pricing in Scotland. They have also worked on understanding the impact of COVID-19 on drinking behaviour. Abi is currently working on projects evaluating the public health impact of the UK alcohol duty reforms in 2024, the uprating of minimum unit pricing in Scotland to £0.65, and the growing alcohol-free and low-alcohol drinks market.Declarations of interest: None Original article: Are alcohol-free and low-alcohol drinks more expensive than regular-strength drinks? A descriptive analysis of sales data from Great Britain, 2024 https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70568The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal.The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.

In this episode, Dr Tsen Vei Lim talks to Dr Martine Skumlien and Professor Valentina Lorenzetti. Martine is a research fellow at King’s College London in the UK and Valentina is a professor at the Australian Catholic University in Australia. The interview covers Martine and Valentina’s research article on brain reward function in young people with cannabis use disorder.The idea that the brain reward system is affected in people with cannabis use disorder [01:28]How our understanding of the neuroscience behind cannabis use disorder affects how we treat cannabis use disorder [03:46]The novel contribution of Martine and Valentina’s study [06:06]How Martine and Valentina investigated the brain reward system in cannabis use disorder [08:18]The key findings from the study [09:24]How we think about the neuroscience of cannabis use disorder [12:33]How do we make sense of the findings alongside the current evidence base [14:33]How the findings sit in the theory of addiction as a brain disease [19:50]The wider implications on future treatment of cannabis use disorder [21:55]About Tsen Vei Lim: Tsen Vei is an academic fellow supported by the Society for the Study of Addiction, currently based at the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge. His research integrates computational modelling, experimental psychology, and neuroimaging to understand the neuropsychological basis of addictive behaviours. He holds a PhD in Psychiatry from the University of Cambridge (UK) and a BSc in Psychology from the University of Bath (UK). About Martine Skumlien: Martine is a Research Fellow at the King’s College London Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre. Her work focuses on cannabis harm reduction, policy, and impact on the brain. She was previously a research associate in the National Institutes for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Policy Research Unit in Addictions where she conducted research to inform policy within the drug and addictions field, and at the University of Bath where she carried out mixed-methods research into drug checking and detection of novel psychoactive substances. She earned her PhD from the University of Cambridge, investigating how cannabis use influences motivation and reward processing in the brain.About Valentina Lorenzetti: Valentina is a professor, founding Lead of the Neuroscience of Addiction & Mental Health Program, and co-founding Deputy Director of the Healthy Brain and Mind Research Centre at the Australian Catholic University in Melbourne Australia. She also serves as Senior Editor of the journal Addiction. Valentina has dedicated her career to understanding the neurobiology behind how people move into, and out of, addiction and entrenched mental health problems, across Australia, the UK, and Brazil, with a consistent focus on identifying with precision the core neurocircuitry affected and translating that understanding into effective intervention. Valentina’s program combines advanced multimodal neuroimaging, neuromodulation tools, global multi-site cohorts, and novel interventions such as cannabidiol, craving management strategies, and neurofeedback. Tsen Vei, Martine and Valentina have no conflicts of interest to declare.Original article: Brain reward function in young people with cannabis use disorder: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70492 The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal.The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.Music provided by Jack Shakespeare.

In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Patrick Kelly, a doctoral candidate at Brown University School of Public Health in the US. The interview covers Patrick’s article on clinicians' and people who use drugs' perspectives on artificial intelligence in addiction medicine.What is artificial intelligence and how has artificial intelligence been used in the field of addiction so far [01:18]The importance of knowing the perspectives of clinicians and people who use drugs with regards to artificial intelligence [03:39]What aspects of addiction medicine make it difficult to build artificial intelligence tools [05:34]The setting and sample of Patrick’s study [07:46]Patrick’s first theme drawn out from interviews with clinicians [08:57]Patrick’s second theme drawn out from interviews with clinicians [10:19]Patrick’s third theme drawn out from interviews with clinicians [11:30]Patrick’s fourth theme drawn out from interviews with people who use drugs [12:33]Patrick’s fifth and final theme drawn out from interviews with people who use drugs [13:31]How Patrick would like the findings to contribute to the field [15:11]Being cautiously optimistic about artificial intelligence in addiction medicine [17:39]The next steps [19:35]About Elle Wadsworth: Elle is an academic fellow with the Society for the Study of Addiction. She is based at the University of Bath with the Addiction and Mental Health Group and her research interests include drug policy, cannabis legalisation, and public health. Elle holds a voluntary role at The Loop, a non-profit service provider of drug checking in the UK.About Patrick Kelly: Patrick is an addiction scientist, National Institutes of Health (NIH) pre-doctoral fellow, and a PhD Candidate at the Brown University School of Public Health. His research program focuses on measuring multilevel stigma and unregulated drug supply changes using qualitative methods and artificial intelligence tools applied to real-world datasets to design and implement interventions that reduce addiction-related morbidity and mortality.Elle and Patrick have no declarations of interest.Original article: Clinicians' and people who use drugs' perspectives on artificial intelligence in addiction medicine https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70586The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal.The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.