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Staff Profile

Andrew Richardson

Research Associate

  • Telephone: 07747303084
  • Personal Website: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewrichardson10/
  • Address: Population Health Sciences Institute, 4th Floor,
    Faculty of Medical Sciences,
    Newcastle University,
    Baddiley-Clark Building,
    Richardson Road,
    Newcastle upon Tyne
    NE2 4AX
Background

Dr Andrew Richardson PhD, BSc, MSc, PGCE, QTLS, AFHEA


Current Employment 


03/2024 – Ongoing – Research Associate in Gambling Harms at Newcastle University. 

I started this role on the 1st of March 2024 as a research associate to lead the research arm of the Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH) North East Gambling Related Harms Programme. I am also tasked to evaluate the programme to assess if it has helped to better understand the health and well-being outcomes caused by gambling-related harms in the North East. The program is hosted by Middlesbrough Council and will operate across the 12 North East authorities. The program evaluation will be undertaken by researchers from the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration Northeast and North Cumbria (ARC NENC) at Newcastle University, led by Professor Eileen Kaner and Dr Katie Thomson with input from the ADPH North East gambling related harms network. The project will seek to address gambling related harm across primary, secondary and tertiary prevention. 


Since being in post I have produced and or completed the following requests. Created a research prioritisation framework and led a workshop with the regional network to assess what research projects the network would be interested in conducting over the course of the programme. From analysing the scores of the network I was able to create my work stream as a result of the needs assessment. Since compiling these scores I have been working on multiple projects.

 

These are the following projects I am working on as part of my current role (in no particular order) sorted by different themes.

 

Drug and Alcohol Theme

  • Paper One: “Practitioner Perspectives on Addressing Gambling Harms within Substance Misuse Services: A Qualitative Study in the North East of England” has been accepted pending minor revisions in the International Gambling Studies Journal. I presented the findings of this at the Current Advances in Gambling Research (CAGR) in June 2025 and will be presenting on these findings in May 2026 at the Northern Addictions Research Alliance (NARA). This project is the main research project of the regional programme team.


  • Building on from Paper One, myself and my colleagues have developed screening questions for some local substance misuse services and wider local authority teams in the North East to ask questions about gambling as a mini-pilot. Once enough time has passed we will review the data and collect and embed into future work (project ongoing).


  • Paper Two, following on from the aforementioned published paper, the work will explore the additional themes and sub-themes not covered in the paper that focuses on education, training and treatment interventions for gambling-related harms within drug and alcohol services (project ongoing).

 

Interventions and Treatment Theme

  • I am leading a systematic review as part of a team at Newcastle University supporting the work of the ADPH North East Gambling-related Harms programme. The title of this work is called, "Effectiveness of prevention and harm reduction interventions on gambling and gambling-related harm: an updated umbrella systematic review". The work is registered on PROSPERO at https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD420251029580.

 

Mapping and Intelligence Theme

  • Interactive Dashboard Mapping of Land-based Gambling Premises using PowerBI. I have mapped out 7 of the 12 North East Local Authorities which includes off-track betting shops, casinos, adult gaming centres, family entertainment centres, horse racing tracks, greyhound tracks, bingo halls, scratchcard terminals, lottery ticket terminals and fruit machine terminals (Class C and D terminals). In total there are almost 6000 locations in the North East and I have over 3000 over them logged to date.


  • I have created multiple Local Authority (LA) Insight Reports to inform Health Needs Assessments (HNA) (x 7 to date) – here is an example of the data being used for a LA HNA on Gambling-related Harms (Darlington GRH HNA 2025).



  • All three feed into the development of one of our main three programme projects, which is titled, "Cluster Mapping of Land-based Gambling Premises: Commercial Determinants of Health" (ongoing paper).


  • I am also supporting my colleague in co-producing a regional survey to understand North East residents perceptions of gambling and gambling-related harms. This includes the development of the questionnaire, the type of questions being asked, locations of on-the-street interviews, target sample sizes, working with the external research company, drafting multiple online forums and sources to disseminate the online survey. Plan is to launch this in May 2026 (ongoing project).


Local Authority Theme

  • I am part of a team of researchers and local authority staff from Hartlepool Borough Council, working collaboratively to produce a report and research publication into, "Comparing resident and healthcare professional perspectives regarding gambling-related harms and gambling support services". The purpose of this research was to develop an understanding of the views of healthcare professionals working in Hartlepool who may be able to support people at risk of gambling related harms. Alongside, collating the views of residents living within the area regarding their experiences of gambling-related harms and how to improve support and access for treatment. We have collected the data and are finishing off the analysis and have almost completed a full draft of the manuscript (ongoing project - June 2026 full draft and submission).


  • I am leading a Qualitative Research project titled, "Exploring barriers and facilitators to the implementation of gambling-related harm reduction approaches in North East Local Authorities". The project explores local authority employees’ experiences of adopting approaches to reducing gambling-related harms and examines the barriers and facilitators they have encountered. The project will seek to conduct qualitative interviews with local authority officers across relevant departments. Insights will play an important role in exploring the barriers, enablers and opportunities to implementing approaches to reduce gambling harms. This will help inform best practice and recommendations for local authorities' staff, teams and departments within the NE. Furthermore, will support local, regional and national recommendations in addressing gambling-related harms. (ongoing project, data collection ended and analysis begun aim to complete June/July 2026).

 

Children and Young People Theme



  • Currently converting my students dissertation into an academic publication ready for peer-review for the International Gambling Studies journal. The title of the paper is called, "The Paradox of Recognition: Teachers’ Perceptions of Gamblification as an Adolescent Hidden Harm in the United Kingdom“ (ongoing project).


  • Myself and my team are collecting data on questions being asked by North East LA's regarding children and young people gambling rates. We have contributed to the development of the gambling questions in some North East LA's Health Behaviours or School Health Surveys. Examples of these include Sunderland and Darlington LA.


  • Currently developing a slide deck discussing what are loot boxes for the ADPH North East website (ongoing project).


  • Currently writing a short commentary piece for a journal regarding the rising harms associated from gambling which is targeting children and young people (ongoing project).


  • Future project will be looking at the development of an online e-learning module for parents, teachers and carers to be aware of the gamblification of video games (ongoing project). This is one of the main three research projects of the programme team.


Sports Theme


Additional Projects working on or Completed




  • Myself and the programme team we contribute to national calls for evidence from the government. The latest call foe evidence came from the Department of Health and Social Care for the Men's Health strategy. Where they used a lot of our suggested material and evidence surrounding gambling-related harms. Link to this strategy is here: Men's Health a Strategic Vision for England 2025


  • Myself and my colleagues also present at conferences and national calls to represent the regional programme team to help inform other local authorities across England or to inform colleagues on our work progress and best practice. Latest events we have attended included the Northern Gambling Symposium in Leeds City Hall in March 2026 where we ran a workshop on "How to develop a Regional Gambling Health Needs Assessment".


  • I also action and complete any requests sent in from LA leads or VCSE's within the North East regarding gambling-related harms and attend meetings on behalf of the programme or participate in research activities representing the programme as well. This also includes contributing to a bi-monthly newsletter for the regional programme.


Evaluation of Programme

  • I will be taking all the work I have mentioned above to evaluate the regional gambling harms programme and create a report for the ADPH North East and our twelve local authority leads and any linked stakeholders. This is an ongoing project, details to follow soon regarding proposed project protocol and methodology. Estimated start date for project is September 2026 and will end in April 2027.



05/22 – Ongoing - Social Media Manager and Editor – International Journal of Esports. 

This role is on a voluntary basis helping with the Social Media side for the Journal. I am assisting the Chief Editor review and produce the content by drafting posts, preparing posts ready for multiple platforms, whilst generating a larger audience for the authors, editorial board and the IJESPORTS membership base. The sites I manage personally include, LinkedIn and Twitter pages. Please see a sample of my works on LinkedIn and on Twitter. Since I took over social media from May 2022, the LinkedIn page has grown from 436 followers to now 1003 followers (October 2025) which is an increase of 130%. Twitter has increased from 666 (21.77% increase) followers to 811 (over the same time period).


Previous Employment

10/19 – 02/2024 – PhD Student in the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Law. Title: Understanding the Perceptions of Physical Inactivity between Residents and Stakeholders in the Tees Valley. The rise and fall of the industry across Teesside is well documented alongside the issues of precarious work and post-industrial economies. However, what is not well explored is how the history of the area and the timeline set the foundations for the current health issues. These health problems are a concentration effect set by the geography that is based upon multiple variables which have created the environment for health inequalities and stigmas to manifest. This thesis is known as the “Tees Valley Effect” which is centered upon the high levels of sedentary behaviours, physical inactivity, health stigmas and perceptions of risks, obesogenic environments and ineffective active travel networks and policies. The methodology was based on an inductive approach using the grounded theory and mixed methods design to generate a large sample of data. Utilising online questionnaires to both residents and stakeholders during the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns, generated over 1300 responses. These responses highlighted significant quantitative results that show multiple variables impact total physical activity levels. Particularly prominent was the female residents with 64.88% probability presenting with a low level of physical activity. Finally, irrespective of sex, Tees Valley residents are 41 x more likely to have a categorically low physical activity score compared to being highly active. From the qualitative data gathered and analysed using a thematic analyses approach, nine unique themes and 63 sub-themes across both groups were created. These themes covered a broad range of topics which revealed differences between residents’ and stakeholders’ experiences and observations to being physically active.

 

12/22 – 07/23 Senior Harm Reduction Worker, Change Grow Live, Spring House in Northampton. Change Grow Live are a charity dedicated to the belief that we can make a difference to our Service Users lives. Their core values are; "Be open, be compassionate and be bold" and our teams apply these daily offering support and respect in a safe environment, treating each user as an individual and working with them to find the right treatment and care options. The role of Senior Harm Reduction worker supports the team leader and worked to develop, implement, maintain and evaluate prevention promotion and harm reduction strategies. My role involved delivering the harm reduction and needle exchange services at Spring House to our service-users. In addition, I was tasked with running the IPED training to all staff and linked stakeholders and service-users. 

 

6/18 – 6/19 President Activities of Teesside University Student’s Union TUSU 

I was elected to be the President of Activities to represent student issues at Teesside University (TU). This role involved me representing the 22,000 to voice their student opinions and ensure the students are represented. TUSU is a registered charity that provides academic representation, welfare advice, retail outlet and social activities to the students at TU. As President of Activities, I was responsible for International Students, Sports Clubs, Societies, Athletic Union tour, Well Being, Careers and Volunteering. I helped with the university’s sports strategy, sat on the Board of Governors for TU and the Board of Trustees for TUSU. Finally, I also acted as the TUSU representative for all student appeals and grades across all schools. I organised and ran the first ever sports and health careers fair aimed at our school of health students. 

 

QUALIFICATIONS

2019 – 2024 Teesside University 

  • PhD in Social Policy (awaiting Graduation on July 11th 2024)

2021 – 2021 Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA)

  • Chartered Health and Activity Practitioner (MCIMSPA) Pass 

2019 – 2020 Teesside University 

  • Associate Fellow (AFHEA) Pass 

2019 – 2020 Teesside University 

  • Qualified Teacher Learning & Skills (QTLS) Pass

2017-2018 Teesside University 

  • Professional Graduate Certificate in Education: Education and Training (PGCE) (Pass)

2016-2017 Teesside University 

  • MSc Sport and Exercise Science (Merit)

2013-2016 Teesside University 

  • BSc Applied Sport Science (First Class Honors) 

 

Professional Bodies and Memberships

  • 2024-25 Faculty of Public Health (Associate Membership) / Membership number 63980
  • 2024-25 Fuse (Associate Membership)
  • 2024-25 Esports Research Network
  • 2024-25 Virtual Sports Research Network

 

Funding Bids and Contribution to Projects 

  • I am part of a successful research to the WADA as part of their Social Science Research awards for 2025 - 2026. Led by Dr Nicholas Berger (Teesside University) to conduct online surveys and qualitative interviews with athletes, coaches, event organisers, anti-doping practitioners and virtual platform organisations (Starting October 2026 and ending October 2029). Titled: "Are Virtual Sports Vulnerable to Doping? Investigating the perceptions, attitudes and behaviours of athletes, Anti-Doping Organisations and Competition organisers". The total amount is $16,637.00. $4,137.00 (at 100% FEC) going to Newcastle to cover 10% of my time (roughly ½ day per week) for the duration of the project. The scheme is 2026 Social Science Research Grant Program.

 

  • I am part of a successful research bid to the UKRI as part of the Rapid Evidence Reviews into Gambling Harms. Led by Dr Christopher Wilson (Teesside University) to conduct a systematic review (Starting in Jan 2026 to end July 2026). Titled: "Sports engagement as a gateway activity to gambling activity: a systematic review and intersectional analysis of the compound vulnerabilities to gambling harm". The total amount is £45,667.21. £5,844.00 (at 100% FEC) going to Newcastle to cover 10% of my time (roughly ½ day per week) for the duration of the project. The scheme is the UKRI/AHRC Gambling Rapid Evidence Review.

 

  • I contributed to the National Lottery Community Fund Climate Action Programme. The proposal, led by Middlesbrough Environment City in partnership with four other community organizations, was successful and we were awarded around £1.6m over five years to engage young people and the local community in actions to address climate change locally (August 2020). Evidence of my involvement can be provided upon request. 



Research

Research Profile Links

Google Scholar: ‪Dr Andrew Richardson - ‪Google Scholar

ResearchGate: Andrew Richardson (researchgate.net)

Orcid ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7184-5930

 

Publications In Order by Year (first to most recent)

 

2019

 

  • Richardson, A., Dixon, K. and Kean, J., 2019. Superheroes–image and performance enhancing drug (IPED) use within the UK, social media and gym culture. Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine, 64, pp.28-30. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jflm.2019.03.009 

 

  • Richardson, A. and Antonopoulos, G.A., 2019. Anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) users on AAS use: Negative effects, ‘code of silence’, and implications for forensic and medical professionals. Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine, 68, p.101871. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jflm.2019.101871

 

2020

 

  • Richardson, A., Chen, M.A. Comment on: “Sport and Transgender People: A Systematic Review of the Literature Relating to Sport Participation and Competitive Sport Policies”. Sports Medicine (2020). Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-020-01323-7 

 

 

2022

 

 

  • Richardson, A. and Chen, M., 2022. Female Competitive Powerlifters relationship with Body Image: Utilising the Multidimensional Body Image Self Relations Questionnaire (MBSRQ). The Sports Journal, 24. Retrieved from: https://thesportjournal.org/article/tag/body_image/ 

 

2023

 

 

 

2024

 

 

 

 

 

  • Mbabazi, J., MacGregor, F., Breckon, J., Tolchard, B., Watson, D., Hogg, J., Kunonga, E., Nalweyiso, D.I., Teke, J., Dawson, R. and Kagugube, G.W., 2024. Exploring the barriers and facilitators to making healthy physical activity lifestyle choices among UK BAME adults during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review of qualitative study. Cogent Public Health, 11(1), p.2294518. Retrieved from: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/27707571.2023.2294518 

 

  • Tucker, R., Hilton, E.N., McGawley, K., Pollock, N., Millet, G.P., Sandbakk, Ø., Howatson, G., Brown, G.A., Carlson, L.A., Chen, M.A...... 2024. Fair and Safe Eligibility Criteria for Women's Sport. Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports, 34(8), p.e14715. Retrieved from: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/sms.14715  

 

 

 

 

  • Tucker, R., Hilton, E. N., McGawley, K., Pollock, N., Millet, G. P., Sandbakk, Ø., ... & Lundberg, T. R. (2024). Reply to Williams et al.: Fair and Safe Eligibility Criteria for Women's Sport. Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports, 34(11). Retrieved from: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/sms.14754 

 

2025

 

  • Akrigg, K., Cox, L., Turnock, L., Richardson, A., and Piatkowski, T. (2025). If you find me on the floor, stick some sugar in my mouth: The social production (and protection) of insulin risk among image and performance enhancing drug communities. International Journal of Drug and Policy. Retrieved from: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09687637.2025.2481292 

 

 

 

 

2026

 

  • Dyer, B., and Richardson, A. (2026). Dying to be successful? Revisiting the Goldman dilemma in the age of cycling esports. International Journal of Esports (IJESPORTS). International Journal of Esports, 1(1). Retrieved from: https://www.ijesports.org/article/166/html

 

 

Manuscripts pending Publication

 

  • Mathias, S., Hufft, R., Richardson, A., and Haller, Nils....et al.,(2026). Prevalence and perceptions of performance-enhancing substances in esports. Journal of Managing Sport and Leisure

 

  • Richardson, A., Thomson, K., Smith, G....et al., (2026). Practitioner Perspectives on Addressing Gambling Harms within Substance Misuse Services: A Qualitative Study in the North East of England. International Gambling Studies Journal.

 

To date I have amassed 354 citations. For more information see here: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ctQ-bo4AAAAJ&hl=en&authuser=2

 

 

Conference Abstracts/Presentations/Panel Discussions

  • OHID Talk March 2026***


  • Northern Gambling Symposium Talk March 2026**


  • June 16th - 17th 2025 I presented my findings at the “Current Advances in Gambling Research” (CAGR) hosted by the Academic Forum for the Study of Gambling (AFSG) in Glasgow at the University of Glasgow. This is a 3-minute presentation on my project titled, “Understanding Drug and Alcohol Workers Experiences of Gambling Related Harms in treatment settings in the North East”.



 

 

 

Media Appearances/Contributions to Articles/Work Mentioned In (Latest is top of list)


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Special Issue and Editorial Roles

Performance Enhancement & Health (PEH) invites submissions for a special issue on Integrity, Health and Governance Issues in Esports and Virtual Sports where I am one of the guest editors on. To achieve elite sporting performance, some athletes, coaches, sports organizations, and other stakeholders engage in behaviours that may be unethical, unhealthy, or problematic for various reasons. Link to the call for papers: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/performance-enhancement-and-health/about/call-for-papers#integrity-health-and-governance-issues-in-esports-and-virtual-sports

 

Performance Enhancement & Health (PEH) invited submissions for a special issue on the Enhanced Games. I was the sole guest editor for this issue as all the articles published referenced my article titled, “Enhanced Games or Enhancing Harm?”. The special issue generated 4 responses to my piece with an additional article by myself summarising the findings and asking additional questions to the Enhanced Games. Link to issue: Performance Enhancement & Health | Enhanced Games: Strengths, Threats and Opportunities for the new Sporting Event | ScienceDirect.com by Elsevier 

 

Editor Picks

Performance Enhancement and Health Volume 12, Issue 4 - Richardson, A., Kean, J., Fleming., Hudson, J., Kanayama., and Pope, H., 2024. Anabolic Steroid Users’ Attitudes Towards General Practitioners in the United Kingdom. Performance Enhancement and Health. Volume 12, Issue 4. Retrieved from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211266924000501 



Teaching

Current Teaching

 

I have supporting a student from the School of Psychology (department of Psychology) in their final year

dissertation project. They have selected one of my proposed research ideas titled, "Esports and Video Games: Teachers Views on the Gamblification of Gaming". This project commenced in October 2025 and was completed on the 20th of March 2026.

 

My student's dissertation was titled, "The Paradox of Recognition: Teachers’ Perceptions of Gamblification as an

Adolescent Hidden Harm in the United Kingdom". We are planning on submitting this to the International Gambling Studies Journal post marking for peer-review.

 

Condensed Abstract: The present study investigated teachers’ awareness of gamblification, their confidence in

identifying associated harms, and the barriers preventing effective safeguarding response within UK secondary school and college settings. 11 secondary school teachers across England participated in semi-structured interviews analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Three overarching themes were identified. The first, a misrecognition of gambling-like reward architectures in gaming, revealed that the majority of participants were unfamiliar with gamblification prior to the study. The second, contextual vulnerabilities shaping adolescent

engagement, highlighted how younger students, neurodevelopmental profiles, gendered peer dynamics, and 

socioeconomic context interact to create a differential risk. The third, a fragmented and reactive safeguarding

landscape, established that systemic institutional failures, including siloed processes, tick-box training, competing priorities and diffused responsibilities. These findings suggest gamblification persists as a hidden harm through interdependent failures across conceptual, institutional, and legislative levels. Implications are discussed across policy, research, and practice.

 

·      I am also supporting a student from the School of Biomedical, Nutritional and Sport Sciences (department of Sport and Exercise Science) in their dissertation project. They have selected one of my proposed research ideas titled, "The Enhanced Games or Enhancing future Athletes?: University Elite Athletes Perspectives on the "Doped" Olympic Games". I will update once the study has been completed. Commencing October 2025 - end date March/April 2026.

 

 

Previous Teaching and Coaching Experience

 

·      10/2018 – 03/2020 Teesside University Course Creation and Developments – I helped to re design and structure the module (Exercise and Conditioning) on the BSc Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation Degree at Teesside University 2019/2020. I also created the MA Esports 11/2018 at Teesside University and helped to rewrite the BSc Sport and Exercise science degree 2019. Evidence for all can be provided. 

 

·      10/2019 – 03/2020 Teesside University Sports Therapy Lecturer (part of QTLS submission) All students were 1st year students in the post 14 age range (between 18 – 42 years old). The lessons were a combination of theory and practical's embedded across all classes. The subjects I taught included Employability, Periodization and Exercise Selection/Planning, coaching of Upper and Lower Body compound exercises. Semester cut short due to COVID – 19. 

 

·      10/2018 – 06/2019 PGCE Placements - These placements were across an array of ages and educational establishments within the Middlesbrough and Tees Valley region. They included the following: a) Teesside Students Union coaching the Teesside Barbarians Powerlifting Club (43 hours), b) Teesside University Sport and Exercise Science Department (67.5 hours) teaching students for their Level 2 Gym Instructor Award. Finally, c) Recovery Connections (mainly through the Live Well Centre which I discussed above 156.75 hours) working with drug and alcohol rehabilitation patients.



·      03/2018 – 05/2018 Change Grow Live (CGL) - This involved working directly with members of the public either who have had a history of, or who are currently dealing with mental health issues, dual diagnosis, substance abuse, alcoholism and/or criminal offences. Role entailed similar work to my previous gym instructor work at Teesside University, demonstrating how to use the equipment, providing training and nutritional advice in addition to providing motivational support during training sessions. The role also includes the operation and maintenance of the gym building and its equipment. I induct new members into the gym by showing them the facilities operating procedures, how to use the resistance machines, demonstrate health and safety when using cardiovascular machines and free weight exercises. March 26th to April 30th (125 Hours paid work). I did volunteer in a similar role from Jan 2018 – mid March 2018 before being hired at the same company and department (30 hours of volunteering).



Publications