Programme
Owen Bowden-Jones and Sarah Welch
Chair: Sharon Cox
Speakers: Nathan Davies, Sarah Jackson, Ailsa Rutter, Sue Mountain
This symposium examines the UK’s Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which aims to create a ‘smokefree generation’ by progressively raising the minimum age of sale for tobacco.
Simulating the smokefree generation policy in England: Impact on health equity and smoking in pregnancy
Nathan Davies
The changing face of nicotine use: generational shifts, older adults, and implications for policy
Sarah Jackson
Maximising the smokefree generation policy rationale to build a mass quitting opportunity: Effective system working with the person who smokes at the heart
Ailsa Rutter
Chair: Rob Calder
Speakers: Carol-Ann Getty, Emmert Roberts, Anya Topiwala, Rainer Spanagel
Prediction of six-month individualised mortality risk in opioid use disorder
Emmert Roberts
Alcohol and brain health: From evidence to impact
Anya Topiwala
The ever-changing landscape of publishing: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Addiction Biology
Rainer Spanagel
Chair: Amanda Roberts
Speakers: Konstantinos Ioannidis, Jeremy Solly, Andres Roman-Urrestarazu
Assessment and measurement of online gambling
Konstantinos Ioannidis
Digital gambling harm ecosystems
Jeremy Solly
Policy mapping for problematic use of the internet
Andres Roman-Urrestarazu
Chair: Lucy Troup
Speakers: Nadine Heckel, Camille Alexis-Garsee, Leon Xiao, Sophie Orton, Caitlin McClure-Thomas
Improving lower-risk cannabis use knowledge and behaviour: Longitudinal evidence from Züri Can
Nadine Heckel
Understanding the drug education needs of students aged 13–15 years in England: A mixed method investigation
Camille Alexis-Garsee
Missing the target: Young adults were wrongfully targeted by gambling ads on social media despite UK and Dutch regulation
Leon Xiao
Does nicotine replacement therapy reduce smoking when pregnant people cannot quit abruptly? A within-person analysis
Sophie Orton
Co-designing and evaluating youth cannabis health literacy materials under public attitude shifts
Caitlin McClure-Thomas
Chair: Melissa Oldham
Speakers: Sarah Fox, Aunee Bhogaita, Stacey Jennings
This symposium will explore the barriers faced by South Asian women, and present new evidence, lived experience insights, and practical tools for improving culturally responsive support.
Izzat, alcohol use, and support seeking
Sarah Fox
Lived Experience Narrative
Aunee Bhogaita
Cultural competency and prevention resources
Stacey Jennings
Chair: Emmert Roberts
Speakers: Joshua Bird, Kirsten Rock, Shuoqi Chen, Caroline Copeland, Matt Hickman
Impact of drug scheduling on detection of bromazolam in the unregulated opioid supply: An interrupted time series analysis
Joshua Bird
Mirtazapine in cocaine-related deaths: Toxicological interaction or differential prescribing and use?
Kirsten Rock
The overlap between prescribed and illicit opioid use in fatal poisonings
Shuoqi Chen
Analysis of methadone-related mortality after COVID-19 service changes in England: Lessons for future opioid substitution treatment delivery
Caroline Copeland
Trends in the burden and cost of injecting-related hospitalisations due to limb- and vascular-related complications in England 2014–2023
Matt Hickman
Facilitators: Emma Smith and Polly Radcliffe
Creative methodologies can engage participants, generate rich data, and amplify lived experience, yet remain underused in UK addiction health research. This interactive workshop, led by Dr Emma Smith and Dr Polly Radcliffe, introduces researchers to the potential of creative approaches in this field.
Facilitators: Andrea Stoltenberg and Mohammad Lalji
Compulsive sexual behaviour overlaps with behavioural addictions, yet many practitioners lack confidence in recognising and treating it, including problematic pornography use. Drawing on experience and research from the NHS-based CUBE Clinic, this interactive workshop, led by Andrea Stoltenberg and Mohammad Lalji will explore assessment, clinical presentations and targeted psychological interventions for people experiencing compulsive sexual behaviour.
Chair: Owen Bowden-Jones
Speaker: Linda Bauld
What’s evidence got to do with it? Providing scientific advice in policy contexts
Linda Bauld
Chair: Basak Tas
Speakers: Faith Matcham, Felix Naughton, Olga Perski
This plenary brings together leading researchers to explore how AI and digital technologies could transform addiction treatment. It will showcase approaches combining psychological theory, data-driven methods and lived experience, while considering challenges around safety, privacy, equity, transparency, engagement and clinical utility.
From prediction to prevention: How AI and digital phenotyping could transform addiction science and care
Faith Matcham
Building AI chatbots for addiction counselling: lessons from smoking cessation
Felix Naughton
Focusing on the person, not the substance: Combining theory- and data-driven methods to build transdiagnostic relapse prevention just-in-time adaptive interventions
Olga Perski
Chair: Kyla Thomas
Speakers: Karen Ersche, Mathias Luderer, Ulrich Müller-Sedgwick
Chair: Louise Sell
Speakers: Stephen Naulls, Ben Kaye, Owen Bowden-Jones
Chair: Inge Kersbergen
Speakers:
Jennifer Newbould, Ellen McGrane, Kaisha Benjamin, Nathan Critchlow
Implementation of the treatment and recovery portfolio of the ‘From Harm to Hope’ drug strategy in England: Results from a process evaluation
Jennifer Newbould
Implementation and early impacts of the housing support grant for people who use alcohol and/or other drugs in England
Jennifer Newbould
The effect of minimum unit pricing on alcohol consumption and alcohol-related health and social outcomes: A systematic review of evaluation studies
Ellen McGrane
Drug and alcohol testing in children’s social services: A mixed-methods exploratory study
Kaisha Benjamin
Exploring the relationship between awareness of alcohol marketing and frequency of drinking among adults in the UK: findings from a two-wave longitudinal survey
Nathan Critchlow
Chair: Gemma Taylor
Speakers: Lee Middleton, Nicola Metrebian, Tricia McQuarrie, Martha Whitfield, Lauren Halsall
Residential harm reduction and overdose outcomes in Glasgow: A retrospective cohort study
Lee Middleton
Improving treatment attendance, engagement, and outcomes for people with dual diagnoses of psychosis and substance use problems: A cluster randomised feasibility study of contingency management and peer support (COMPEERS)
Nicola Metrebian
Implementing contingency management in England: A case study investigation
Tricia McQuarrie
Understanding buprenorphine prescribing hesitancy among rural nurse practitioners: Potential barriers to equitable oud treatment access
Martha Whitfield
How does co-occurring alcohol use disorder impact secondary mental health referral pathways for people with bipolar disorder? An investigation using national electronic healthcare records
Lauren Halsall
Chair: Matt Field
Speakers: Janni Leung, Raquel Nogueira-Arjona, Chenji Gu, Ethan Knight
Co-occurring mental health and substance use problems in people with gaming disorder: Findings from the International Gaming Study
Janni Leung
Interoception as a mechanism linking cannabis use and anomalous experiences: Evidence from longitudinal self-report and experimental task-based assessment
Raquel Nogueira-Arjona
Behavioural economics of gambling harm: Gambling purchase demand and drift-diffusion modelling of value-based decision-making
Chenji Gu
Acute post-quit mood and early relapse to smoking or vaping: a systematic review
Ethan Knight
Chair: Sophie Orton
Speakers: Chelsea Shover-Darling, Audrey Buelo, Shirley Lewis, Mayyada Wazaify, Ross Thomson
Participant and client perspectives on a hypothetical overdose prevention centre in Bristol: Results from qualitative interviews during a local spice overdose crisis
Chelsea Shover-Darling
‘My need for alcohol was greater than food and the basics’: Understanding affordability during the cost-of-living crisis with people who are alcohol dependent and living in deprivation in the UK
Audrey Buelo
Pre-birth assessments in the context of substance use: The experiences of women and social workers
Shirley Lewis
Understanding female substance use in Jordan: A qualitative study of lived experiences, family roles, and treatment challenges
Mayyada Wazaify
Understanding barriers and facilitators to NHS adoption of nicotine replacement therapy-assisted smoking reduction for pregnant women unable to stop smoking
Ross Thomson
Chairs: Tom Freeman, Joan Marsh
Speakers: Xander Robinson, Jack Wilson, Janni Leung, Rachel Lees Throne
