Annual Conference 2026

The SSA’s Annual Conference is the UK’s foremost gathering of addiction researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and experts by experience. Read about the confirmed speakers and sessions for the 2026 conference, and book your ticket now to ensure your attendance.

1. Keynote speaker

Professor Linda Bauld OBE will deliver the 2026 Society Lecture, ‘What’s evidence got to do with it? Providing scientific advice in policy contexts’:

“Governments around the world draw on scientific advice to inform policy in a range of ways. This includes through the analytical professions within government, providing placements or secondments for academics and other specialists, and building links with experts in research organisations, learned societies, or other relevant bodies. There is an extensive literature examining how evidence informs policy processes. But this is not always useful in understanding what happens in practice. This presentation will reflect on the research-policy interface within the UK, noting the increasing range of opportunities for academics in recent decades. Drawing on examples from addiction science advice but also much more broadly, it will highlight: how working with decision makers is important for research impact; why traditional ‘pathways to impact’ are insufficient and advocacy organisations play a key role; and how we need to build further capacity in the research community to navigate the (often challenging) research-policy interface.”

Professor Bauld is the Bruce and John Usher Chair in Public Health in the Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, and Chief Social Policy Adviser to the Scottish Government. She is Principal Investigator for Behavioural Research UK (BR-UK), Vice Chair of Diabetes UK, and a board member of the Faculty of Public Health, the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, and the Academy of Social Sciences. She also chairs Cancer Research UK’s international cancer prevention advisory group and is a member of the scientific advisory group for the Canadian Institutes for Health Research Institute of Population and Public Health. Former roles include scientific adviser on tobacco control to the UK Government and as cancer prevention adviser for Cancer Research UK.

2. Invited speakers

Celebrating the 30th anniversary of Addiction Biology

To mark three decades of Addiction Biology, Prof Rainer Spanagel will present on ‘The ever-changing landscape of publishing’. Addiction Biology focuses on advancing the understanding of substances and addiction from a neuroscience perspective. Accepted papers typically span behavioural, molecular, genetic, biochemical, neurobiological, and pharmacological fields of animal experimentation and clinical research.

Prize winners

Dr Anya Topiwala won the SSA’s 2026 Impact Prize. She is a clinician scientist who studied medicine at the University of Oxford and subsequently trained in old age psychiatry. She completed a DPhil in Psychiatry, investigating how alcohol affects brain health. Supported by two Wellcome fellowships, including her current work on alcohol-related dementia, she now leads a research group at Oxford’s Big Data Institute – bridging clinical insight and data science. The judging panel commended Anya’s work with the brain injury charity Headway to translate research findings into practical, public-facing advice. The panel also acknowledged her commitment to supporting and developing human capital in the field, for example through mentoring and supervising students and early career researchers, and through co-production with people with lived experience of addiction.

Dr Emmert Roberts was awarded the 2026 Fred Yates Prize for Early Career Researchers. He is a Senior Clinical Lecturer in Addiction Psychiatry at King’s College London and a Consultant Addiction Psychiatrist at the South London and the Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. He is currently a National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Advanced Fellow and a Commonwealth Fund Senior Harkness Fellow, exploring ways to reduce harm due to drug and alcohol use by harnessing administrative data. The judging panel noted that Emmert’s record of collaborations and involvement in national guideline development have shown a clear pathway from research to policy impact, and his public engagement activities, such as podcast appearances, have demonstrated commitment to wider societal benefit. The panel also praised Emmert’s trajectory as an early career researcher, saying that his career to date has been marked by significant methodological innovation and meaningful contributions to addiction research.

3. Symposia organised by members and associates

Addressing complex needs in drug addiction treatment

Addiction treatment populations are highly heterogeneous, and many patients present with complex and interrelated clinical needs that challenge treatment effectiveness and hamper clinical outcomes. Comorbid psychiatric disorders, trauma exposure, and cognitive deficits are particularly common in individuals with substance use disorders and require targeted psychological interventions. This symposium will address these complex needs in addiction treatment and highlight research examining mechanisms that may inform more tailored therapeutic approaches.

Culturally-competent support for South Asian women who use alcohol

In many South Asian cultures, safeguarding one’s reputation within the wider family and community is of central importance, particularly for women. Women’s everyday lives are shaped by the need to uphold izzat (honour), meaning that their social interactions and behaviours are often closely monitored, policed, and self policed. Actions perceived to threaten izzat, such as alcohol use, are strongly discouraged. Despite this, many South Asian women do drink, often at harmful levels and often in secrecy. These dynamics contribute to South Asian women being underrepresented in mainstream drug and alcohol treatment services. For those who do seek help, it is common to be the only South Asian woman in the room, which can impact their confidence and willingness to fully engage with support. Additionally, services often lack the cultural understanding and skills needed to identify, engage with, and respond effectively to the needs of this group of women. As a result, South Asian women experiencing alcohol dependency face multiple, intersecting barriers to care. This symposium will explore these barriers and present new evidence, lived experience insights, and practical tools for improving culturally responsive support.

Digital gambling ecosystems: Measurement, harm, and global policy responses

The rapid expansion of digital gambling ecosystems presents new methodological, clinical, and regulatory challenges for understanding and mitigating gambling-related harm. This symposium will offer perspectives on measurement, harms assessment, and global policy responses to problematic online behaviours, offering an integrated view of how digital environments are reshaping gambling research and public health practice.

Sex, drugs, and the brain: New perspectives on chemsex

Chemsex, broadly defined as the use of psychoactive substances in sexual contexts, has emerged as an important issue within sexual health, addiction services, and LGBTQ+ health. The phenomenon is most commonly associated with the use of drugs such as methamphetamine, mephedrone, and GHB or GBL during prolonged sexual encounters. While chemsex has received increasing clinical and public health attention, the evidence base remains fragmented. Research has often examined isolated elements of the phenomenon such as stimulant use, sexual behaviour, or minority stress, rather than chemsex itself as the intersection of drugs, sexuality, and social context. This symposium will bring together three complementary perspectives to address this gap – aiming to provide a multidisciplinary overview of chemsex and identify priorities for research, treatment development, and service provision.