Andrew Richardson
Postdoctoral Research Associate in Gambling Harms
Population Health Sciences Institute, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University
Who is Andrew #
Andrew’s academic background covers multiple topics of sport and exercise science (BSc and MSc), social policy and public health. His PhD thesis was on “Understanding the Perceptions of Physical Inactivity between Residents and Stakeholders in the Tees Valley” (2024). Andrew’s research interests cover a wide variety of topics, and he has published works on issues related to: anti-doping, image and performance enhancing drugs (IPEDs), body image, transgender sport, eSports and physical activity.
My current role as a Research Associate is to work on a research project evaluating health and well-being outcomes caused by gambling-related harms in the North East. Funding from the Gambling Commission to the North East Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH) has been secured to develop, implement, and evaluate a programme of work relating to Gambling Related Harms in the North East.
Andrew is one of the editors at the International Journal of Esports (IJESPORTS) (2022 - ongoing), he has coached and competed internationally for the Ireland Powerlifting team (2014-2016), has worked as a Gym Instructor and Personal trainer (2014 - 2022) and has worked as a Senior Harm Reduction worker helping to run a needle exchange in Northampton (2022 - 2023).
Why the interest in virtual sports? #
With the increased popularity of virtual sports since the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns around the globe, many sports saw the creation of a virtual outlet for their sports. Alternatively, it also saw increased investment into already existing virtual sports for their members to participate in either to stay active or keep their community networks alive. Being an avid gamer his whole life, Andrew has played most popular titles, but his favourites lie in the form of Halo 3, Rome Total War, Doom Eternal, Warhammer Darktide, Call of Duty and Dawn of War 2.
With virtual sports and eSports now pushing for larger events with bigger financial winnings and lucrative prizes. It is now essential that organisations promote and actively counter doping, cheating and hacking that may occur at their events. As a researcher, Andrew is particularly interested in counteracting doping, gambling and cheating in virtual sports and eSports along with the promotion of physical activity at all levels of sports participation.