Sharon Cox

Promotional graphic for the “Building Capability in Behavioural Research Conference 2026.” The top half has a teal background with white text reading: “Building Capability in Behavioural Research Conference 2026,” “June 30 2026,” and “Teaching and Learning Building, University of Birmingham (Excellent transport links).” A circular badge on the right states “Abstract deadline 26 February,” and another circle reads: “Be part of the UK behavioural research community – where government, academia, business, public and voluntary sectors unite.” The lower half shows a photo of diverse professionals seated in a conference audience, smiling and applauding. At the bottom are the logos for Behavioural Research UK and Centre—UB (Understanding Human Behaviour).

Last Call for Abstracts!

Today is your final chance to submit your abstract for consideration at the Building Capability in Behavioural Research Conference.

⏰ Submissions close at the end of today — get yours in before the deadline!

uobevents.eventsair.com/bcbr2026/

Middle-aged women from deprived backgrounds struggle to quit smoking Middle-aged women from more deprived backgrounds in Great Britain are significantly more likely to smoke and face greater challenges when trying to quit, according to a new study from researchers at U...

Middle-aged women from more deprived backgrounds in Great Britain are much more likely to smoke and face greater challenges when trying to quit, finds a new study led by Professor Sarah Jackson @drsarahejackson.bsky.social with Dr Sharon Cox @sharoncox.bsky.social @ucliehc.bsky.social

I really enjoyed writing this! How common are feelings of guilt remorse after drinking and what groups are more likely to feel them?

Quelle surprise - women more likely to feel guilty despite drinking less than men. Older adults far less guilt. I explain maybe why 👇🏼

Are there differences in gradual versus abrupt smoking cessation quit attempts and success by social grade? A population study in England Smoking rates remain higher among individuals from less advantaged social grades, who tend to be less successful when they try to quit. Abrupt quittin…

Check out a new publication that TARG member @clairevgarnett.bsky.social contributed to, led by @sharoncox.bsky.social on exploring differences in gradual versus abrupt smoking cessation quit attempts and success by social grade: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The changing face of nicotine use in England: Age-specific annual trends, 2014 to 2024 buff.ly/5dsMlAa @drsarahejackson.bsky.social @lionshahab.bsky.social @tattanbirch.bsky.social @sharoncox.bsky.social @jamiebrown.bsky.social

Feelings of Guilt and Remorse After Alcohol Consumption Among People Who Drink at Increasing and Higher-Risk Levels

@sharoncox.bsky.social, @melissaoldham.bsky.social, @tattanbirch.bsky.social, ... @clairevgarnett.bsky.social, @drsarahejackson.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1111/dar....

📣 Introducing new funding schemes from the SSA and Office for Life Sciences tinyurl.com/mrxwrh8k | Applications for PhD studentships and fellowships open on 3 November

A blue and white slide with the text 'Research Showcase'. Facilitated by Susan Michie, BR-UK Co-Director, Dr Sharon Cox, BR-UK Deputy Director & EDII Co-Lead, Professor Linda Bauld, BR-UK Co-Director. In this webinar, our research team will present the key findings from our Demonstration Projects. These projects research focused on how we used existing/expanded frameworks and data to generate rapid new findings.

🌟 Discover how behavioural insights drive policy improvements in health, sustainability, and safety! Join the BR-UK Research Showcase webinar to explore key findings from 5 cross-disciplinary projects. Don’t miss out!
us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Exclusive | Trump Administration Cancels Annual Hunger Survey The government has been measuring food insecurity since the mid-1990s but now says the report has become “overly politicized.”

30 years of tracking hunger in America—gone. The Trump admin says it’s ‘politicized.’ ✨

If you don’t count it, it doesn’t exist, right? shorturl.at/s6aDU #ablueSky #MedSky #NewsSky #NurseSky

Always optimising! You?

A blue and white slide with the text 'Research Showcase'. Facilitated by Susan Michie, BR-UK Co-Director, Dr Sharon Cox, BR-UK Deputy Director & EDII Co-Lead, Professor Linda Bauld, BR-UK Co-Director. In this webinar, our research team will present the key findings from our Demonstration Projects. These projects research focused on how we used existing/expanded frameworks and data to generate rapid new findings.

📢 Join us for our October webinar, the BR-UK Research Showcase! Gain insight into findings from each of the five BR-UK projects, followed by a Q&A session and discussion. Register now: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Associations between non‐daily smoking and motivation to stop smoking: A population study in England 2021–2024 Background and aims An increasing proportion of adults in England who smoke cigarettes do not smoke every day and may see quitting smoking as less important than those who smoke daily. This study ai...

New in @addictionjournal.bsky.social , we find adults who smoke cigarettes non-daily tend to be more motivated to quit smoking than those who smoke every day, especially among older and less advantaged people.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

A woman sitting with her hands crossed at a table covered in papers and a laptop.

🚀 Our Accelerator Proposals are still open for applications! Perfect for early career researchers seeking funding, secure up to £50,000 for innovative research projects.🌟
Take your ideas to the next level,apply by the 12th August.
Find out more via the link below #FundingOpportunity
bit.ly/4lF7jKJ

Social Determinants of Health and Risk for Long COVID in the U.S. RECOVER-Adult Cohort | Annals of Internal Medicine Background: Social determinants of health (SDoH) contribute to disparities in SARS-CoV-2 infection, but their associations with long COVID are unknown. Objective: To determine associations between SDo...

🧬 Long COVID and inequality

A major US study finds that social determinants of health (like poverty, food insecurity, and medical discrimination) double or triple the risk of long COVID.

🔗 doi.org/10.7326/ANNA...

#SciComm #LongCOVID #HealthEquity 🧪

The SRNT-E 2025 conference programme is now online! 🎉

See what we've got lined up here: srnt-e.org/conference/2...

Looking forward to seeing many of you in Romania!

Among people who use heroin, tobacco smoking and illegal drugs cause a similar number of premature deaths buff.ly/tIC0Fqp @danlewer.bsky.social @tattanbirch.bsky.social @sharoncox.bsky.social

We did some life table modelling among people who use heroin. Tobacco smoking causes as many premature deaths in this group as illegal drugs. Yet public health policies overlook smoking: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... New research with @sharoncox.bsky.social @tattanbirch.bsky.social

Commissioning Fund | Behavioural Research UK (BR-UK) | Usher Institute Information about the Fund and how to apply

📊 Project Proposals Open! Up to £300,000 for behavioural research projects on AI, knowledge integration, & explaining variation in effective interventions. EOIs due July 31st. 🌟 #ResearchFunding #BRUK

BR-UK Commissioning Fund To Launch | Behavioural Research UK (BR-UK) | Usher Institute BR-UK’S Commissioning Fund will open to applications on July 1st, 2025.

🔍 Are you an early career behavioural researcher? Our Accelerator proposals offer up to £50,000 for innovative projects! 💡 Perfect for kickstarting your research journey. Applications open July 1st—closing August 12th, 2025. Get ready to apply! #ECR #Innovation #BRUKFunding

'lockdowns had unequal impacts. But the epidemic itself did too, even in the absence of lockdown.... Among people of working age in Sweden, those in the lowest income tertile were five times more likely to die from COVID-19 than those in the highest.'

Why I decided to run the UK’s first drug consumption van | Peter Krykant I cannot stand back and allow governments to be complicit in allowing people to die, says drugs policy campaigner Peter Krykant

Desperately sad to learn of the death of Peter Krykant, an indomitable campaigner who brought Scotland's drugs deaths crisis into the light and kept it there, and without whom The Thistle, the UK's first legal drugs consumption room, would not exist
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Hidden populations in household surveys on smoking prevalence with Emma Beard | Addiction Audio The podcast from the journal Addiction

New Addiction Audio: Emma Beard talks to Tsen Vei Lim about her research. Podcast: buff.ly/wsvnUda Article: buff.ly/UcLuk67

New pre-print - the first empirical study of the 2024 summer riots, case studies of Bristol, Stoke, & Tamworth detailing the sequence of events, who was involved, and targets

Funded by @ukri.org

www.qeios.com/read/17ASAP

Policies that target the packaging, appearance, and marketing of e-cigarettes appear much more popular among vapers than those targeting price or the types of devices and flavours that can be sold.

Such a lot of work went into this, bravo to the team and please do join the webinar if you can, each of them great speakers and have important insights and learning from these events 👇🏼

Level of support for proposed vaping policies: an online survey of UK vapers, 2024 The UK government has proposed a range of policies to reduce youth vaping. This study aimed to understand levels of support for the various policies a…

Our new paper examines level of support for proposed vaping policies via an online survey of UK vapers age 16+.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... @jamiebrown.bsky.social @lionshahab.bsky.social @ucl-targ.bsky.social @sharoncox.bsky.social

How much does the absence of the ‘hidden population’ from United Kingdom household surveys underestimate smoking prevalence? buff.ly/cCYCYMC Emma Beard @lionshahab.bsky.social @jamiebrown.bsky.social @sharoncox.bsky.social

Go to this, Sarah is a seriously brilliant communicator of smoking and vaping research

Lunch Hour Lecture | Recent trends in smoking and vaping in England The talk will include an overview of changes in the prevalence and patterns of smoking and vaping...

Interested in smoking and vaping? I will be giving a UCL Lunch Hour Lecture covering lots of our recent research findings in this area.

The lecture will take place online on 29 May, 1-2pm. It’s free and all are welcome to attend. You can register here: www.ucl.ac.uk/events/event...

Modeling the Impact of Vaping: What We Need to Know and Which Methods to Use

Commentary by Lion Shahab

academic.oup.com/ntr/article/... @lionshahab.bsky.social