Education: BA, Psychology and Economics, University of New South Wales (UNSW) 1972; MA, Sydney University 1977; Dip. Psychol., Sydney University 1982; PhD, UNSW 1988

Career: Alex Blaszczynski has been Professor of Clinical Psychology in the School of Psychology, University of Sydney since 2001 and is Head of the Department of Medical Psychology at Westmead Hospital. He is also Conjoint Professor at the UNSW School of Psychiatry. He began his scientific career spending three years as a research assistant at The Prince Henry Hospital, Sydney, under Assistant Professor Neil McConaghy from 1972. In 1975 he became Psychologist in Behaviour Therapy Program in the Psychiatric Unit of The Prince Henry Hospital/The Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick 1975 until 1981, then he was Clinical Psychologist between 1981 and 1984, and finally Senior Clinical Psychologist in the Specialised Behaviour Therapy Program from 1984 until 1989. Later that year he held a conjoint appointment as Senior Clinical Psychologist in the Departments of Clinical Psychology & Psychiatry at Westmead Hospital until 1990. In 1990, Dr Blaszczynski became Senior Clinical Psychologist and Research Coordinator for the South Western Sydney Area Health Service (SWSAHS, now the Sydney South West Area Health Service, SSWAHS) and was Area Advisor-in-Psychology for the SWSAHS between 1991 and 1995. During this time, Dr Blaszczynski was Director of the Impulse Control Disorders Research Clinic in the Psychiatry Research and Teaching Unit at the School of Psychiatry, UNSW until 2001 and was promoted to Associate Professor and Deputy Director of the Psychiatry Research and Teaching Unit. From 1998 until 2001 Professor Blaszczynski was Acting Head (December–June) and later Acting Director of the Psychiatry Research and Teaching at UNSW. Alex Blaszczynski has been a member of the Australian Psychological Society since 1977, the American Psychological Society since 1991, the International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High Risk Behaviours, McGill University since 2000, the Australian Association for Cognitive Behaviour Therapy since 2001, and is a member of the International Advisory Board of the Electronic Journal of Gambling Issues since 2003. He is editor of International Gambling Studies (see url below).

Honours and awards: United States of America National Council on Problem Gambling Board of Directors’ Award 1995, Honor Committee’s member, Pathological Gambling Section of the Latin American Psychiatric Association for his contribution to the study of the impact of gambling 2000

Publications include: Neil McConaghy: A Tribute to the Man and his Science (co-author) 1997, Overcoming Compulsive Gambling 1998, The Road Ahead (co-author) 1998, Overcoming Compulsive Gambling (Greek translation) 2003; four book chapters, 19 monographs and reports, three treatment manuals, four book reviews, more than 90 conference presentations, and more than 70 articles in peer-reviewed journals

Contact details: Address: Room 308, Griffith Taylor Building, School of Psychology, Mungo MacCallum Building (A17), The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia; Tel: +61 (0)2 9036-7227; Fax: +61 (0)2 9036-5223; Email: alexb@psych.usyd.edu.au ; Website: http://www.psych.usyd.edu.au/staff/alexb/ ; Website: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/14459795.asp/ .