Research professor of epidemiology Rachel Volberg has been invited to serve on “The Lancet Public Health” Commission on Gambling for an 18-month term running through the summer of 2022. She joins an international, multidisciplinary group aiming for transformational change in policy and political action.

“The Lancet Public Health” announced the launch of the journal’s inaugural Commission on Gambling in its January 2021 issue, citing the need for “scientific inquiry and response to an urgent, neglected, understudied, and worsening public health predicament.” Regulators and legislators have struggled to keep pace with the rapid development of the commercial gambling industry, they note, adding that “Online gambling and its marketing remain poorly regulated in many nations and the risks posed by expanding commercial gambling, and specifically online gambling, are high, especially due to the lack of support mechanisms for those most impacted by gambling harms.”