Our Team

Learn about the members of the Addictive Behaviours Lab

Dr. David C. Hodgins

David received his BA (Hons) from Carleton University and completed his MA and PhD in clinical psychology at Queen's University. Currently, he is a professor at the University of Calgary in the Department of Psychology, with an adjunct appointment with the Faculty of Medicine. He also has his own clinical private practice and is an Institute Node Coordinator for the University, through the Alberta Gambling Research Institute (AGRI). David's main interests and works lie in addictive behaviours, with a focus on alcohol and gambling addiction, and comorbid psychiatric disorders. He has a strong interest in self-help and minimal or brief intervention programs for recovering addicts. As well, he finds an interest in the cause and prevention of addiction relapse.
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Bradley Brazeau

Brad is a fourth-year PhD candidate in the clinical psychology program. He completed his BSc (Hons) in psychology at the University of Saskatchewan in 2019 and his MSc in clinical psychology at the University of Calgary in 2021. Brad’s research interests include transdiagnostic models of addiction and technology-mediated real-time interventions.
Ashley Ethier

Ashley is a second year PhD student in the clinical psychology program at the University of Calgary.
Nolan Gooding

Nolan is a second-year doctoral student in the University of Calgary’s Clinical Psychology program. He completed both his Bachelor of Science (Hon’s) and his Master of Science in Psychology at the University of Lethbridge. Nolan’s doctoral research aims to evaluate the psychometric properties of a novel instrument for measuring gambling-related harm and model the correlates of gambling-related harm through different, but complementary statistical techniques. He is also interested in the effectiveness of public health guidelines for gambling and other risky behaviours.

Amber Heyd

Amber is currently working on CRISM. She received her BN from Mount Royal University and completed an MSc in Health Promotion at University of Alberta School of Public Health. Her research interests include the social epidemiology of substance use and exploring new ways of knowledge mobilization to impact policy, improve health equity and bridge the research-clinical practice gap.
Lisa Henkel

Lisa is a project coordinator currently working on the Cross-National, Motivational Interviewing, SHARP-G, Ctrl-Alt-Play, and Help on demand projects. She received her BSc (Hons.) from the University of Calgary. Lisa's research interests include empirical study design, the convergence of gambling and video gaming, and self-directed treatment for addictive behaviours.

2024 - 2025 Honours Students

Shams Al-Turfi (she/her)

Shams is a fourth-year psychology student (BSc) with research interests in the relationship between dementia and stroke, as well as addiction interventions and prevention. She is currently completing an honours thesis on the Canadian Low-Risk Gambling Guidelines (LRGG) under the supervision of Dr. David Hodgins and PhD Student, Nolan Gooding.
Anas Alnoorachi

Anas is currently an undergraduate student who is in his final year of a BSc (Hons) in Psychology. His research interests are in mental health and how it relates to substance misuse and behavioral addictions. He's currently completing his thesis on Comorbidity where he's examining whether mental health variables moderate associations between the Substance Use Risk Profile Scale and substance/behavioral addictions. He also has previous research experience being a coder for the GOSH study.

Jenin Ahmad (she/her)

Jenin is currently in her 5^th year of an Honours BSc in Psychology under the supervision of Dr. Andrew Szeto and PhD candidate Brittney Lindsey. In the Addictive Behaviours Lab, Jenin is currently working on the Lower-Risk Gambling Guidelines evaluation project. She has previous experience as a coder on the GOSH project. Her research interests include EDI issues in psychology, addictions, and climate change's impacts on mental health.
Brin Agnotti

Brin is a currently working on the Help on Demand and Ctrl-Alt-Play projects. She received her BA in Psychology from the University of Calgary in November 2023 and is beginning a MSc in Psychology at SWPS University and the University of Limerick. Her research interested include addictions, eating disorders, and qualitative methodologies.
Ryan Nguyen

Ryan is currently completing Honours BSc in Psychology under the supervision of Dr. Andrew Kim. His honours will investigate gambling among video gamers, esports spectators, and esports athletes. Ryan is also working on interviewing participants for the Cross- National project, rating games for the SHARP-G project, and was a coder for the GOSH MI project. His interests include ESports and associated video game research.
Maria Tourani

Maria received her BSc with Honours from the University of Calgary in April 2023. Currently Maria is working on grant proposals, the MI project and a scoping review looking at the use of technology in problem gambling treatment.

Email Lisa at ablab@ucalgary.ca for information on availability.

Graduate Students

Please check the department website for information on applying to the Clinical Psychology Graduate Program.
Honours Students

Please check the department website for information on applying to the Honours Program.
Research Assistants

We are not currently hiring research assistants. Please check the department’s Monday Memo for opportunities as they arise.
Volunteers

Our volunteer waitlist is currently full. As new projects develop this will be updated. Please email ablab@ucalgary.ca for more information about pursing 499.
Psychology 499

Under the supervision of Dr. Hodgins, current students can acquire valuable research experience completing a Psychology 499 course.