Sherry H. Stewart: Researcher of Gambling and Addiction in Canada
Sherry H. Stewart is a Canadian academic and one of the leading addiction researchers in North America, with a career built on sustained, peer-reviewed contribution to the science of gambling disorder, anxiety, and substance use. Her work has shifted how practitioners, policymakers, and platforms understand the psychological mechanisms behind addictive behaviour, including how gambling problems develop, escalate, and differ between men and women.
She holds a joint professorial appointment in the Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, an appointment that spans the boundary between clinical psychiatry and experimental psychology. She is also Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Gambling Issues, the primary Canadian peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated to gambling research, published by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).
General Profile
| Parameter | Information |
|---|---|
| Full name | Sherry H. Stewart |
| Position | Professor, Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology |
| Research Chair | Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Addiction and Mental Health |
| Institution | Dalhousie University |
| Editorial role | Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Gambling Issues (published by CAMH) |
| Fellowship | Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (FRSC) |
| Main specialisation | Gambling disorder, anxiety and substance use, gender differences in addiction |
| Country | Canada |
| Based in | Halifax, Nova Scotia |
| Funding sources | Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Canada Research Chairs program |
Institutional Base and Recognition
Dalhousie University is one of Canada’s oldest and most research-intensive universities, and the dual departmental appointment Stewart holds there is unusual in itself – it signals that her work genuinely spans clinical psychiatry and experimental psychology rather than sitting within one discipline. Her research group has trained a significant number of postdoctoral fellows and graduate students who have gone on to academic and clinical positions across Canada, extending her influence into the next generation of Canadian addiction scientists.
| Recognition | Significance |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 Canada Research Chair | Reserved for researchers acknowledged by international peers as leaders in their field; awarded for seven-year, once-renewable terms |
| Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada | The highest honour the Canadian academic community bestows across all disciplines, achieved through election by existing Fellows |
| Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Gambling Issues | Positions her at the centre of how gambling research is produced, evaluated, and disseminated in Canada |
Key Research Areas
Sherry H. Stewart’s research program covers the most important topics in addiction science as it relates to gambling:
| Area | Focus |
|---|---|
| Gambling and gambling disorder | Risk and protective factors, psychological mechanisms of escalation, assessment tools, treatment approaches |
| Anxiety disorders and substance use | Self-medication pathways where anxiety drives substance and gambling use as coping mechanisms |
| Gender differences in addiction | How sex and gender shape vulnerability, use patterns, comorbidity, and treatment response |
| Comorbidity | Co-occurrence of multiple addictive behaviours and mental health conditions, and implications for integrated treatment |
The Gender Dimension of Her Work
A defining contribution of Stewart’s research is her sustained focus on gender differences in gambling behaviour – an area that was genuinely underserved when she began working in it, with foundational screening tools and treatment protocols built predominantly on male samples. Her work has documented that women more frequently gamble to escape negative emotional states rather than for excitement or winning, and that women typically begin gambling later in life than men but progress from recreational to problematic gambling more rapidly once that transition begins – a pattern researchers call the “telescoping effect.”
These findings carry direct practical implications for how online casinos design responsible gambling tools, frame screening questions, and target player communications. Platforms that take this research seriously deliver more effective responsible gambling provision than those that treat all players as a single demographic.
Research Independence
Stewart’s research program is funded through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Canada Research Chairs program – federal sources operating under rigorous transparency and accountability requirements. Her work is not funded by the gambling industry, a meaningful distinction in a research field where industry-funded studies have sometimes produced findings that do not replicate under independent examination.
Relevance to Online Casinos and Responsible Gambling
- Evidence-based responsible gambling content and harm-minimisation policy;
- Player education materials grounded in peer-reviewed addiction science;
- Editorially independent analysis of gambling tools, terms, and player protections;
- Gender-informed approaches to recognising and communicating about gambling risk.
At North Casino, Stewart contributes to responsible gambling content, player education materials, and the platform’s overall approach to player welfare from a position of genuine subject matter expertise. Her contributions are editorially independent – she writes what the evidence supports rather than what any commercial interest might prefer. Her full academic profile, complete publication list, and current research activities are publicly available through Dalhousie University at dal.ca.
