Gambling Research in USA

Published: Wednesday, May 20, 2009 Online-Casinos.com

Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut and the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities USA have been named by the National Center for Responsible Gaming as the two Centers of Excellence in Gambling Research. A press release stated that the two new facilities "will employ a long-term, institutional approach to conducting innovative and multidisciplinary research and education programs about gambling disorders."

Christine Reilly, Executive Director, for the Institute for Research on Gambling Disorders, announced the funding for the centers from the organization. Commenting on the reasons for the choice of these particular institutions she said, "We sent the proposals to an independent committee that looked at scientific merits of each location's study. The leaders at Yale and the University of Minnesota are two of the most successful researchers in the field, so it wasn't a surprise."

Grants of over $400,000. will be given to both centers over a three year period. Reilly exposed the challenges of gambling related research, "Both of these Centers are working with human subjects. It takes a while to find participants, collect data, and publish data. In general, it's a slow process and we need to be supportive of them." Dr. Marc Potenza, will head the trials at Yale while Dr. Jon Grant will head the research at the University of Minnesota.

The National Center for Responsible Gaming was established in 1996 in Washington, D.C. and has granted over $7 million since it began. Chairman of the NCRG, Glenn Christenson, said when asked how the centers will fit into current research, "In 1996, the NCRG launched the first competitive grants program in the U.S. to fund research into gambling disorders, so the creation of the new Centers of Excellence is consistent with the organization's pioneering legacy of supporting the highest-quality research in this field."

Recent problems in the interpretation of existing research and the fabrication of stats that were non existant have come to the attention of the media and experts in the field of problem gambling. It is hoped that a new and more professional approach to the subject will come to pass with the addition of these facilities.