Tessera

NIHR EEPRU@nihr-eepru.bsky.social · last mo.

This is really interesting work and has some important implications for anyone who cares about the impact of new treatments and interventions on health inequalities. Whether current NHS spending is reducing inequality is crucial to estimating what happens when we divert some of that to new drugs.

Does NHS spending actually reduce health inequalities? 🏥📈 A new commentary compares two key studies, Anaya-Montes et al. (2025) & Martin et al. (2022), to unpack why they reach different conclusions on how funding impacts deprived vs. high-mortality areas. 🔗 Read more: bit.ly/4f0TwN4

Colin Angus@victimofmaths.bsky.social · last mo.

ICYMI, here's the most striking finding from our new paper on reformulation in the British off-trade alcohol market: This graph shows the proportion of beer sales which are below 3.5% ABV. The dashed line shows the date that duty rates for 2.8-3.4% beer was cut. 1/4 of beer sold in 2025 was <3.5%!

A line chart with 3 separate lines showing the proportion of beer sales coming from products below 3.5% ABV (excluding no/low alcohol products) measured in terms of: 1) the volume of beer, 2) the volume of alcohol and 3) the amount of money spent. All three measures are very low (less than 3% of the market) and falling between 2018 and mid-2023 when taxes were cut on 2.8-3.4% beer. Immediately after this change the volume of lower-strength beer jumps to 10-15% and then continues to rise, eaching 15-20% for alcohol volume and sales value and almost 25% for product volume.

New paper klaxon: Our analysis of reformulation (when alcohol producers change the strength of their products) in the British alcohol market 2018-2025 has just been published in @apsad-dar.bsky.social. I think some of our findings are pretty striking... doi.org/10.1111/dar....

An image of the head of the journal article: How have alcohol producers changed the alcohol content of their products? A descriptive analysis of reformulation in the off-trade alcohol market in Great Britain, 2018-2025

Drinking Studies Network (DSN)@drinkingstudies.bsky.social · last mo.

'How Have Alcohol Producers Changed the Alcohol Content of Their Products? A Descriptive Analysis of Reformulation in the Off-Trade Alcohol Market in Great Britain, 2018–2025' | @victimofmaths.bsky.social et al, Drug and Alcohol Review onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

How Have Alcohol Producers Changed the Alcohol Content of Their Products? A Descriptive Analysis of Reformulation in the Off‐Trade Alcohol Market in Great Britain, 2018–2025

Introduction In August 2023, the United Kingdom introduced alcohol taxation reforms designed to encourage alcohol producers to lower the alcoholic strength of their products. This study aims to quan...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

APSAD DAR @apsad-dar.bsky.social · last mo.

🆕 How Have Alcohol Producers Changed the Alcohol Content of Their Products? A Descriptive Analysis of Reformulation in the Off-Trade Alcohol Market in Great Britain, 2018–2025 Colin Angus, Luke B. Wilson, Sarah Jackson, ..., Jamie Brown, John Holmes https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.70197

Emily✨@emilyoram.bsky.social · last mo.

Giroud x Colin 🐛🍫🇫🇷

Addiction journal@addictionjournal.bsky.social · last mo.

This is an important piece of work - looking at how alcohol prices in Australia's Northern Territory responded to the repeal of Minimum Unit Pricing last year. Unsurprisingly, they found an immediate increase in the availability of cheap alcohol.

Evaluating the immediate impacts of the repeal of the Northern Territory minimum unit price on off-premises alcohol pricing: Findings from an observational study of online alcohol retailers

Institute of Alcohol Studies@ias.org.uk · last mo.

This is a really interesting blog about a curious phenomenon - the rise of high-strength (10%+) pre-mixed cocktails. In absolute terms the price per unit of alcohol on these isn't particularly low, but we might worry about their appeal to younger drinkers.

BuzzBallz. 99p shots. High-ABV canned cocktails marketed to Gen Z. In our latest blog, IAS researcher Emma Thompson examines what the death of 'premiumisation' really means – and why the industry's 'responsible drinking' narrative just got a lot harder to defend. www.ias.org.uk/2026/06/24/t...

Institute of Alcohol Studies @ias.org.uk · 2mo ago

No and low alcohol drinks aren't the population-level fix for alcohol harm that headlines suggest. In our latest blog, Oscar Rousham shows that most buyers already drink at low risk - but for a smaller group of regular heavy drinkers, they could help. www.ias.org.uk/2026/06/18/n...

No/lo drinks and alcohol harm reduction: a targeted tool, not a population-level solution - Institute of Alcohol Studies

New research on no/lo drinks finds most buyers are low-risk, infrequent triers - not the heavy drinkers most likely to benefit from harm reduction. Only a small subgroup of regular, higher-risk purcha...

ias.org.uk

European Research Council (ERC)@erc.europa.eu · 2mo ago

Year after year, life expectancy rose. Until it didn’t ⏳ ERC grantee Jennifer Dowd @ox.ac.uk investigates the social, economic, and biological forces shaping mortality trends today. 🔗 Read the full story here: buff.ly/BH8l63N #LifeExpectancy #PopulationHealth #FrontierResearch

Also in Lithuania - many cool birds 🦉 Yellow wagtail (with a blue head - ours have yellow heads) White Stork preening on a roof Aquatic warbler singing his little heart out Cranes with a little baby crane

A yellow wagtail sitting in a tree, looking very yellow (although with a slatey blue head, the ones we predominantly get in the UK have yellow heads)

A massive white stork sitting on top of a roof preening itself

An aquatic warbler, a little brown and white bird, perched on top of a reed doing some good warbling

Cranes! A pair of big grey dudes with a cute fluffy baby

I spent last week in Kaunas in Lithuania at an alcohol policy conference. It was my first visit to Lithuania, and it was marvellous. A beautiful city, great food and an abundant supply of delicious cakes.

A big old church. Very Eastern European looking with lots of domes

The roof terrace of a very austere, but quite cool modernist church, with a big square spire

A nice old building on the town square with turrets. Could be from anywhere in Central Europe, pretty much

The fancy interior of a Catholic Church, with a beautifully decorated ceiling, fancy columns, etc etc

Institute of Alcohol Studies @ias.org.uk · 2mo ago

It's almost World Cup time (for better or worse), so I've got an excuse to update this silly application of a lexis surface to the England men's football squads for every major tournament ever. R code here: github.com/VictimOfMath...

A chart with time on the x-axis and player age on the y-axis. It shows the players included in every World Cup and Euros squad as dots, positioned vertically by their age. Players included in multiple squads are joined by diagonal lines, which are darker for players appearing in the most squads.

In our latest blog, researcher Lucy Burke finds that people who drink alcohol to "fit in" are more likely to try no and low alternatives - but those who drink to cope or for intoxication? Not so much. Drinking motives may shape who no/lo policies actually reach. www.ias.org.uk/2026/06/09/w...

What is the point of a pint without alcohol? How drinking motives can help our understanding of who is consuming no/lo drinks - Institute of Alcohol Studies

Drinking motives help explain why people drink alcohol - so how do these motives interact with consuming zero alcohol products?

ias.org.uk

SARG - SCHARR @sarg-scharr.bsky.social · 2mo ago

📢 We’re recruiting a Research Assistant to join SARG on a @wellcometrust.bsky.social -funded project led by @ambercopeland.bsky.social exploring how contextual factors influence alcohol consumption. 📍 Full-time (hybrid), Sheffield ⏳ Apply by 29 June tinyurl.com/sarg-ra #AcademicSky #PublicHealth

Graphic advertising a Research Assistant vacancy with the Sheffield Addictions Research Group (SARG) at the University of Sheffield. The blue graphic features a photograph of Dr Amber Copeland labelled “Project Lead” and “Wellcome Research Fellow”. Large text reads “We Are Hiring – Research Assistant” with a short description of a Wellcome-funded project exploring how contextual factors influence alcohol consumption. Three role highlights are listed: supporting a smartphone-based behavioural study, managing participant recruitment and study delivery, and preparing and analysing complex datasets. The graphic states that the role is a full-time hybrid Grade 6 position for two years, with applications closing on 29 June 2026 and a link to apply.

Andrea Howard@drandreahoward.bsky.social · 2mo ago

This (and the other points in the thread) are generally good advice. BUT I think people often get overly prescriptive with this sort of guidance and ignore the fact that a good presentation requires a combination of good slides *and* a good presenter. I HAVE THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS...

Keep text to a minimum. All slide text should directly connect to a statement/point you’re saying out loud. Each slide should focus on a single task/idea/point. Don’t cram too many steps into one slide. (6/11)

Institute of Alcohol Studies@ias.org.uk · 2mo ago

This is such a weird headline to the article, the text of which makes no mention of any 'tax raid' (because there hasn't been one). The changes to the duty system in 2023 mean that there are now tax *cuts* for producers who reformulate to below 3.5%.

Sales of lower-strength beers have surged since the 2023 alcohol duty reforms, as brewers reformulate to hit the 3.4% ABV threshold. A reminder that well-designed pricing incentives can nudge the market in a healthier direction. www.telegraph.co.uk/business/202...

Amber Copeland@ambercopeland.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Come and join this cool project. You get to work with @ambercopeland.bsky.social and be part of our lovely team of excellent humans.

📢 JOB OPPORTUNITY: We are recruiting a Research Assistant to join our Wellcome-funded project, 'A novel interdisciplinary approach to understanding how contextual factors influence alcohol consumption'. jobsite.sheffield.ac.uk/job/Research...

SARG - SCHARR @sarg-scharr.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Interested in a fully funded PhD in gambling harms? The @ukri.org Gambling Harms Research UK Evidence Centre is recruiting six four-year PhD studentships across @glasgow.ac.uk, @sheffielduni.bsky.social and @swanseauni.bsky.social. More at tinyurl.com/ghrukphd #PhD #AcademicSky #PublicHealth

Promotional graphic for fully funded UKRI PhD studentships in gambling harms research from the Gambling Harms Research UK Evidence Centre. Large text reads: “Fully funded UKRI PhD studentships in gambling harms research.” Supporting text says: “Join leading researchers to shape the future of gambling harms evidence, policy and prevention.” Includes a study desk image, GHRUK and UKRI logos, and the web address tinyurl.com/ghrukphd.

Adam Rutherford@adamrutherford.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Urusei Yatsura Mogwai (x2) The National Fugazi Godspeed You! Black Emperor (x3) ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead (x2) Lucy Dacus Pixies Deftones (x2) Kathryn Joseph

Introduce yourself with 10 bands you’ve seen live Björk x4 Radiohead x9 Springsteen x8 Night in Athens Wolf Alice x3 Underworld Dylan Belle and Sebastian Sharon Van Etten 65daysofstatic

SARG - SCHARR @sarg-scharr.bsky.social · 3mo ago

I've been a bit quieter on here lately - busy beavering away on all sorts of interesting projects that I can't share just yet, but here's some visual snippets of a few of the fun things I've been up to that I'll hopefully get to post about soon.

SARG Research Fellow @abi-stevely.bsky.social was recently interviewed on the @nihrsphr.bsky.social 'Researchers in the making' podcast to discuss research into no/lo drinks, youth drinking trends, and their own academic career pathway. Listen at open.spotify.com/episode/3BA9... #PublicHealth

The image shows Abi Stevely and the quote "Maybe the growing availability of these products and their massive increase in sales will have longer term effects around changing people's relationship with alcohol." It also shows the NIHR SPHR, University of Sheffield and Sheffield Addictions Research Group logos.

Mia Jankowicz @miajankowicz.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Delighted and daunted in equal measure to be joining @millmedia.bsky.social as a staff writer as they branch out to a new city. Launching in June, The Exchange will provide quality writing, features and investigations covering Leeds and West Yorkshire. Any local tips? Reach out!

SARG - SCHARR @sarg-scharr.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Went to the seaside and saw some birbs today 🦉 Flappy gannet, grumpy razorbill, curious puffin, guillemot shaking it's booty. Photo credit on those last two to my daughter.

A gannet - a big white bird with a yellow head and black wingtips - perched at the top of a cliff flapping its massive wings threatening to take off

A razorbill - a cute little black and white seabird - chilling in the sun at the top of a cliff

A puffin looking adorable, tilting its head quizzically at the camera

A guillemot - another cute black and white seabird - shaking itself down post-preen

We're delighted to be taking a lead role in the new Gambling Harms Research UK (GHR-UK) Evidence Centre, the UK's largest independent gambling harms research initiative, supported by @ukri.org. Find out more on the SARG website: sarg-sheffield.ac.uk/news-media/s... #GamblingResearch

SARG researchers lead UK's biggest effort to tackle gambling harms - Sheffield Addictions Research Group

A major new national effort to tackle gambling harms and shape future policy, prevention and treatment across the UK is being led by researchers from the Sheffield Addictions Research Group.

sarg-sheffield.ac.uk