IMRY awarded UKRI grant to research gambling harms

News

Posted on Wednesday 11 March 2026

The Institute of Mental Health Research at York (IMRY) has been awarded a £150,000 Gambling Harms Research and Innovation Partnership grant from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

The project, led by IMRY Director Professor Scott Cairney, will explore the role of sleep disturbances in gambling-related harm.

Insomnia has been identified by the UK government as a gambling-related harm, yet little is known about how sleep problems develop alongside harmful gambling behaviours, or how improving sleep might support recovery. The UKRI partnership will address this gap by launching BETTER (Behaviour, Environment and Technology in Tiredness and Excessive Risk), the first research initiative dedicated to understanding and addressing the role of sleep in gambling-related harm.

BETTER will focus on Yorkshire, the Humber and the North East of England—regions that experience some of the highest rates of gambling harm in the UK. Working in partnership with local authorities, charities, NHS services, and people with lived experience of gambling harm and sleep problems, the project will identify research priorities for future studies that respond directly to community needs.

Professor Cairney’s team brings together expertise in sleep and behavioural science, gambling harms and recovery, mental health and addiction, and public health and social exclusion. The project includes seven co-investigators: Professor Amanda Perry, Professor Alex Wade and Dr Su Golder from the University of York; Dr Dan Lewer from Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Dr Sarah Daniel from Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust; Dr James Close from the University of Plymouth; and Mark Conway from the Gambling Lived Experience Network.

The project is supported by a wide range of partners, including sleep and gambling harms charities, regional health and care organisations, and local government. These partnerships will help ensure that the evidence generated through BETTER is directly connected to service development and parliamentary policy discussions.

Professor Cairney said:
“Insomnia affects more than 16% of the global population, and gambling is increasingly accessible through smartphones and online platforms. Understanding how sleep and gambling interact is therefore an urgent research priority. BETTER will position the UK at the forefront of research on sleep and gambling, generating new knowledge and partnerships that can deliver tangible benefits for individuals, communities and society.”