Professor John Holmes
PhD, MA, BA (Hons) (York)
Population Health, School of Medicine and Population Health
Professor of Alcohol Policy
Director of the 91直播 Addictions Research Group
Lead Director of the Wellcome Doctoral Training Centre in Public Health Economics and Decision Science
Co-Director of the NIHR Policy Research Unit in Addictions.
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+44 114 222 6384
Full contact details
Population Health, School of Medicine and Population Health
G033b
Regent Court (ScHARR)
30 Regent Street
91直播
S1 4DA
- Profile
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I am a Professor of Alcohol Policy and Director of the . SARG is a multidisciplinary team of around 25 researchers and doctoral students who do public health, health economic and health psychology research on alcohol, tobacco and nicotine, gambling, and addiction more generally. As Director, I lead a wide range of research projects, and particularly focus on epidemiological and policy research related to alcohol and public health.
I am also the Lead Director of the Wellcome Doctoral Training Centre in Public Health Economics and Decisions Science (PHEDS) and co-Director of the NIHR Policy Research Unit in Addictions.
My background is in social policy and applied social science. I completed by Bachelors, Masters and PhD at the University of York. My doctoral thesis explored inequalities, risks and opportunities associated with young people's use of the internet in the mid-2000s, with a particular focus on online communication. During and after my PhD, I also undertook research on the determinants of child poverty and development. I joined ScHARR in 2010 as a Research Fellow within SARG and I took over as Director of the group in 2020.
- Qualifications
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BA (hons) in Applied Social Science, University of York
MA in Social Policy, University of York
PhD in Social Policy, University of York
- Research interests
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My research focuses on patterns, trends and inequalities in alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harm, as well as using evaluation methods and mathematical modelling to analyse and appraise alcohol policies. I also contribute to qualitative research studies in related areas.
My recent studies focus on the rise of alcohol-free and low-alcohol drinks, the sharp decline in youth drinking across high-income countries, event-level analysis of drinking practices and contexts, and the evaluation of major alcohol policies including minimum unit pricing in Scotland and reforms to UK alcohol taxation. Much of my past work focuses on the development of the 91直播 Alcohol Policy Model and its use to inform alcohol policy debate in the UK and internationally, particularly around alcohol taxation and minimum unit pricing. I am also interested in analyses of the clustering of health-related behaviours within individuals, analyses of alcohol-related health risks, critical perspective on alcohol and public health, and processes of alcohol policy-making.
- Publications
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Show: Featured publications All publications
Featured publications
Journal articles
All publications
- Edited books
- Journal articles
- Chapters
- Conference proceedings papers
- Reports
- Scholarly editions
- Posters
- Preprints
Edited books
Journal articles
Chapters
Conference proceedings papers
Reports
Scholarly editions
Posters
Preprints
- Research group
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91直播 Addictions Research Group
- Grants
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2024-2028: Policy Research Unit in Addictions. NIHR Policy Research Programme (拢5.0m). Co-Director with Ann McNeill (King's College London).
2024-2027: Reducing alcohol harms during a cost-of-living crisis: Evaluating the impact of alcohol duty reforms across Great Britain. NIHR Public Health Research (拢2.0m). Joint Principal Investigator with Colin Angus (91直播).
2022-2026: Evaluating and responding to the public health impact of no and low alcohol drinks: A multi-method study of a complex intervention in a complex system. NIHR Public Health Research (拢2.2m). Principal Investigator.
2018-2023: Why is youth alcohol consumption falling? A mixed methods investigation of changing drinking cultures across recent generations. Wellcome Investigator Award (拢0.6m). Principal Investigator
2018-2021: Understanding stability and change in British drinking: A multilevel investigation of consumer panel data. ESRC (拢0.5m). Co-Investigator.
2018-2021: Integrated evidence synthesis for joint appraisal of tobacco and alcohol tax interventions for harm reduction in England (SYNTAX). NIHR Public Health Research (拢0.8m). Co-Investigator
2017-2021: Evaluating the impact of minimum unit pricing in Scotland on harmful drinkers. NHS Health Scotland (拢0.6m). Principal Investigator.
2015-2018: The effectiveness of promotional campaigns associated with revised UK drinking guidelines: A prospective evaluation. NIHR Public Health Research (拢0.6m). Principal Investigator.
- Professional activities and memberships
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Senior Editor and Strategy Advisory Group member for Addiction