History

Prior to the establishment of the ICRG in 1996, the field of gambling research was undeveloped and lacked a substantial number of peer-reviewed studies on gambling disorder. From its beginning, the ICRG was committed to reversing this trend, becoming the first serious funding source in the area of gambling disorder research. The ICRG introduced a commitment to rigorous scientific standards into the field, including an insistence that, to be taken seriously, all research had to be peer-reviewed. As a result of this commitment, ICRG-funded studies have yielded more than 400 scholarly articles published in highly competitive, peer-reviewed scientific journals.

With approximately one-third of the total amount of research on gambling disorder published between 1999 and 2003, much of what we know about gambling disorders today has been learned only in the past few years. This is due, in part, to the availability of funding from the ICRG, as well as from other sources. The ICRG is proud to have played a role in this dramatic increase of knowledge about the potential health consequences of gambling.

To learn more about the many accomplishments in the ICRG's history, visit the ICRG Milestones page. For a listing of donors who helped to establish the ICRG, visit the Original Donors page.