The following is an excerpt from the story “Cottler Leads Scientific Advisory Board into New Era,” which originally was published in the spring 2010 edition of Responsible Gaming Quarterly.
When Dr. Linda B. Cottler was first asked to serve as chair of the Institute for Research on Gambling Disorders’ Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), she made one point exceedingly clear – “I didn’t want to do this job unless there was something I could really contribute,” she said. Cottler, a professor of epidemiology in psychiatry at the Washington University School of Medicine, is one of the country’s foremost epidemiological scientists and is widely respected throughout the addictions research community for her contributions to the field.
Less than a year since the Institute’s inception, Cottler and her fellow SAB members already have made a significant impact on the field of research on gambling disorders. In February, guided by the SAB, the Institute announced the restructuring of its Project Grants program, which will include doubling the number of grants available through that program (see cover story).