British Columbia appoints new head of gambling research

Michael de Jong, finance minister and minister responsible for gambling in the Canadian province of British Columbia, announced Tuesday that the University of B.C has chosen Luke Clark from the UK’s University of Cambridge as the first director of the Centre for Gambling Research.

The centre was established last February with a $2-million grant from the B.C. Lottery Corp. and the provincial government.

Considered a global expert in the psychology of gambling, Clark has studied the thought processes that take place while gambling, and how near-misses increase the desire to keep playing.

Appointed as a faculty member at the University of Cambridge in 2007, Clark has worked closely with the U.K.’s National Problem Gambling Clinic since 2010.

He starts in his post at UBC in July.

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