Experimental medicine to define mechanisms of gambling disorder: stage one
Experimental medicine to define mechanisms of gambling disorder: stage one supports academic teams testing causal mechanisms in humans to inform gambling disorder prevention, treatment and policy.
Funder: UK Research and Innovation
Due Dates: April 14, 2027, 4:00pm UK time (Stage one) | September 1, 2027 (Invited stage two)
Funding Amounts: £10 million total fund; up to £3 million full economic cost per project, funded at 80%, for up to three years
Summary: Supports academically led human experiments testing causal mechanisms of gambling disorder to inform prevention, treatment and policy.
Key Information: Research must be independent of gambling industry associations and include meaningful patient and public involvement.
Description
Led by the Medical Research Council (MRC), with AHRC, BBSRC, ESRC and UKRI, this opportunity funds experimental medicine studies in humans. Projects must test a mechanistic hypothesis about how gambling products, environments and interventions interact with biological, cognitive or psychosocial processes. The aim is to explain gambling disorder development, progression, persistence, relapse, recovery and treatment response, identifying modifiable targets for future prevention and treatment.
Studies must experimentally manipulate the proposed mechanism rather than identify correlations alone, with measurable clinical, behavioural, cognitive or neurobiological outcomes. Priorities include treatment mechanisms, product features and advertising, and subgroups suited to tailored interventions. Subdiagnostic gambling harms and addictive behaviours are eligible when clearly relevant to gambling disorder. Projects need a path to impact in identification, treatment, prevention or policy, and awardees must collaborate with the Gambling Harms Research UK Centre.
