People

IRGO is and will be a global platform for a group of internationally renowned researchers and highly experienced representatives from the gaming sector who bring different skills, experience and insights to the table, together with dependable products and methods.

Founders

Dr Richard T.A. Wood Ph.D, C. Psychol Dr Richard Wood is a Chartered Psychologist at the International Gaming Research Unit (IGRU) at Nottingham Trent University. Dr Wood has been studying gaming behaviour for over 12 years during which time he also worked as a Post Doctoral Research Fellow at The International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High-Risk Behaviours at McGill University in Montreal. As a consequence of his research, Dr Wood has published numerous gambling related articles, has presented his findings at conferences and seminars around the world, and undertaken many responsible gaming consultations for both the gaming industry and regulatory sectors. His research focuses on both the individual causes of problem gambling, as well as the structural characteristics of games that can influence the gambling behaviour of vulnerable players.

Mark D Griffiths Ph.D, C. Psychol Dr. Mark Griffiths is a Chartered Psychologist and Europe’s only Professor of Gambling Studies (Nottingham Trent University). He is Director of the International Gaming Research Unit and has won many awards for his work including the John Rosecrance Research Prize (1994), International Excellence Award For Gambling Research (2003), Joseph Lister Prize (2004), Lifetime Achievement Award For Contributions To The Field Of Youth Gambling (2006) and the US National Council on Problem Gambling Research Award (2009). He has published over 230 refereed research papers in journals such as the British Medical Journal, British Journal of Psychology, British Journal of Social Psychology, British Journal of Clinical Psychology, Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, British Journal of Sports Medicine, Personality and Individual Differences, Archives of Sexual Behavior, Journal of Adolescence, Addictive Behaviors, Addiction, Addiction Research, CyberPsychology and Behavior, Journal of Psychology, International Gambling Studies and Journal of Gambling Studies. He has also published a number of books, over 60 book chapters and has over 800 other non-refereed publications. He has published more papers and articles on gaming than any other academic in the UK. He has served as a member on a number of national and international committees (e.g. European Association for the Study of Gambling, Society for the Study of Gambling, Gamblers Anonymous General Services Board, National Council on Gambling etc.) and was former National Chair of Gamcare (1997-2003). He also does some freelance journalism (120+ articles published) and has also appeared on over 2000 radio/television programmes.

Thomas Nilsson C. Psychol Thomas Nilsson is certified psychologist and founder of Spelinstitutet in Sweden. He has worked with the issue of problem gambling for the last 20 years during which time he helped initiate self help groups in Sweden as well as a national helpline for gamblers, and he has trained numerous counsellors across Sweden. Together with Professor Emeritus Sten Rönnberg's team he undertook the prevalence study for the Swedish Government between 1997 and 2000. He produced an Internet based education programme for the Swedish Public Health Institute, and an online self help manual for problem gamblers. Since the mid -90's Thomas has trained gaming industry staff from the Nordic countries, and developed educational training materials for all of the retailers and VLT owners in Sweden. He is founder and board board member for SNSUS and former chair of EASG.

Petra Forsström CEO Over 15 years of experience from management positions in selling, marketing and CSR within the gaming sector. Petra has taken on a diversity of strategic and operational assignments. Ranging from highly strategic change management to operational delivery. Known as the architect of Svenska Spels Responsible Gaming work. Awarded 2007 for Europe’s most Responsible website by EGBA. Awarded "Best overall RG Program" and "Best Retailer training program" by WLA 2008. Principal of the steering commity for ”Playscan” through development of the product, 2007-2008. Developed a new enviromental policy for Svenska Spel, seen as one of Swedens most ambitious. Developed the new standard for RG, as a Member of the CSR commity, European Lotteries.

Network

Dr Paul Delfabbro Ph.D. Dr. Delfabbro is an associate professor in the School of Psychology at the University of Adelaide. He has researched gambling since the early 1990s, and has authored around 80 reports and articles and other publications in the areas of applied social research relating to gambling, and other areas of social policy. He has been a frequent advisor to State and Federal Government Departments in Australia and has completed numerous consultancy projects over the last 6 years on projects relating to regulation, harm minimisation, problem gambling prevalence, geographical analysis, and the psychology of gambling.	Dr Jonathan Parke Ph.D. Jonathan Parke is a senior researcher with the International Gaming Research Unit at Nottingham Trent University where he has worked on a variety of research projects focusing on internet gambling, poker behaviour, social responsibility and electronic gaming machines. His PhD research focused on developing an in-depth understanding of the structural characteristics of slot machines and how they influence slot machine gambling. Jonathan teaches classes on the psychology of gambling at both Nottingham Trent University, and at Salford University, Manchester. Jonathan acts in a consultant capacity on the psychology of gambling for various sectors of the gambling industry and to regulators.
Jakob Jonsson C. Psychol Jakob Jonsson is certified psychologist and has worked with the issue of problem gambling since 1992. Together with Professor Emeritus Sten Rönnberg's team he undertook the prevalence study for the Swedish Government between 1997 and 2000. He was responsible for writing the in-depth study that followed comparing problem gamblers with matched controls. Jakob was one of the architects behind an Internet based education programme for the Swedish Public Health Institute. He has evaluated poker at Svenska Spel as part of a governmental evaluation in Sweden. Jakob is a member of SWELOGS, a longitudinal gambling research project run by the Swedish Public Health Institute. He is also a board member of EASG.	Claes Tellman CEO Claes Tellman has an extensive background within the gambling business. He has held positions as Senior vice president Corporate Communications at Svenska Spel for 7 years and as the CEO of Casino Cosmopol in Sweden for 2,5 years. Claes has been in charge of creating and developing Svenska Spels responsible gaming strategies and responsible for the implementation of responsible gaming at Casino Cosmopol.
Göran Wessberg Göran Wessberg joined the lottery business 20 years ago and has had management poisitions for Svenska Spel where he e.g. initiated gaming research and CSR strategies. He has also been resonsibler for the WLA Academy, moderated and lectured at numeropus seminars and congresses world-wide and has established a big network of gaming researches globally. He has also been active in the upstart of the WLA CSR policies and edited many publications for WLA and the Swedish lottery. In 2005 he was appointed professor at the lottery faculty at Peking university.