About Us
Global Leader On Behavioural Science In Tobacco Harm Reduction And ENDS Regulation
CSUR opened in 1994 linked initially to the University of Glasgow where its foundational director held the post of Professor of Substance Use Research. In 2011 CSUR became a wholly independent research centre focussing on a wider range of substance use issues and developing a large programme of behaviourally focussed regulatory science research assessing the impact of ENDS on tobacco related health harm. The team within CSUR comprises post-doctoral researchers in behavioural science, experts in marketing, cyber security, and media. The research team within CSUR have experience in working alongside regulatory authorities including FDA to ensure that the studies executed can meet the needs of regulatory and public health bodies. CSUR also has direct experience of working with some of the major global panel companies including IPSOS MORI Qualtrics to broaden the coverage of its studies. CSUR as an organization is focussed on furthering the goals of tobacco related harm reduction and assessing the public health impact of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems. The goal of CSUR’s staff is to ensure that those working within these industries have access to high quality behavioural research that can further their owns goals of reducing the harms associated with the use of combustible tobacco products.
Years Experience
Executive Team
Neil Mckeganey
B.A. Hons., M.Sc., Ph.D. FRSA
Neil, formerly Professor of Substance Use Research at the University of Glasgow, opened CSUR in 1997 specialising in behavioural research in the addictions. In 2011, along with Professor Marina Barnard, McKeganey led the development of CSUR as a wholly independent research company. McKeganey has advised the U.K. and Scottish government’s on aspects of drug policy and provision and has provided consultancy support to the World Health Organisation, the United Nations, and the U.S. Department of Justice. McKeganey has presented his research findings at a wide range of international meetings including being invited to the U.S. White House to summarise his work on substance use and young people. Since 2017, Neil McKeganey and Dr Christopher Russell have collaborated in developing CSUR extensive programme of regulatory science research focussing on tobacco harm reduction and electronic nicotine delivery system. In 2012 Neil McKeganey was awarded the Nils Bejerot prize for his contribution to international drug policy and practice. Neil McKeganey is the author of over 200 peer reviewed academic papers and has edited and authored six books. Neil McKeganey is ranked within the top 2% of academic researchers on the global Research Gate platform and ranked as “outstanding” on the Google Scholar H- index.
Neil Mckeganey
Director
Marina Barnard
B.A., Ph.D
Marina was formerly a Professorial Research fellow at the University of Glasgow, is Co-Director of CSUR. In 2011 Barnard oversaw the development of CSUR as a wholly independent research company. Barnard’s principle area of academic expertise is on the impact of substance use on the family where she has written widely, including the acclaimed research monograph ‘Drug Use and the Family’ (2007). Barnard has advised the U.K. and Scottish Governments’ on aspects of drugs policy and practice, particularly on the deleterious impact of drug misuse on children and families. Responsible for all matters relating to finance, staff welfare, and the day to day running of CSUR, Barnard is also overseeing the move of the research centre to new premises in April 2021.
Marina Barnard
Director
Gabriel Barnard
B.A. Hons
Gabe joined CSUR in 2018. Winner of an internationally acclaimed “Clio” award” for his work on marketing and advertising Gabriel was initially responsible for exploring new ways of marketing and communicating CSUR research findings beyond the limited conventions of academic reporting. Over time Gabriel’s responsibilities have expanded to liaising with external funders in reporting the centre’s research programme and in developing new areas of the centres research programme. As Head of New Business Gabriel has been responsible for The Big Vape Survey assessing the relative impact of top selling ENDS products on adult smoker’s behaviour. Gabriel also has responsibility for developing a compendium of CSUR’s past research instruments/research questions to reduce the time taken to design, execute and report new studies.
Gabe Barnard
Co-Director
Head of research
Dr Xiaona Liu
Ph.D. Principal Scientist
Dr. Xiaona Liu is an epidemiologist and Principal Scientist at the Centre for Substance Use Research. Previously, she led Clinical and Behavioural Sciences at SMOORE, where she spearheaded regulatory science development for PMTA. Dr. Liu earned her PhD in Public Health and Epidemiology from Erasmus University Medical Centre (Erasmus MC, The Netherlands) in 2015 and her MSc in Social Medicine from the School of Public Health at Peking University in 2011. After completing her doctorate, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Erasmus MC, focusing on designing and evaluating preventive interventions to improve population health. Throughout her career, Dr. Liu has collaborated closely with research institutions and CDCs in China and internationally. She is recognized as Overseas High-Caliber Personnel by Shenzhen Municipality and Guangdong Province.
Xiaona (Nana) Liu
Principal Scientist
Andrea Patton
Ph.D.
Andrea is a Behavioural Epidemiologist and Head of Prevalence Research at the Centre.
Andrea’s expertise lies in conceptualising, designing, conducting, and reporting descriptive
and analytical studies that inform public health policy. Andrea completed her PhD at the
School of Medicine at the University of Dundee developing time series methodology to
evaluate public health interventions. Andrea has applied this knowledge through her work
with leading regulatory agencies in Scotland, advising Scottish Government and the Scottish
National Health Service. Before joining CSUR, Andrea led a behavioural research programme
at the University of Edinburgh’s Medical School. Since joining CSUR in 2020, Andrea has
established a behavioural research programme to provide regulatory science research for
clients seeking FDA authorization for tobacco products in the United States.
Andrea Patton
Head of Prevalence Research
CSUR Team
Venus Marza
Ph.D. Senior Research Fellow
Venus Marza is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Substance Use Research with over ten years of experience in data analysis. She earned her PhD in Computer Engineering with the topic of complex networks in 2015. In particular, she focused on topics of big data and data mining in various large-scale networks such as health-care data. More than her role as a data analyst, she was also effective as a lecturer for more than 11 years in West Tehran branch of Azad University in Computer Science department.
Venus spent ten years working as senior researcher and developer at Behpardaz Jahan Company. She was data analyst of EHR and pharmacies’ data and she has also designed a data model for e-prescription and medicine supply chain in FDO (Food and Drug Organization). She has published several papers in journals and conferences and has authored a book and a chapter book in her research scope.
At the Centre for Substance Use Research, Venus is involved in several research projects such as 1) Prevalence study and assessing the prevalence of use and intentions to use conventional cigarettes and e-cigarettes in U.S adolescents and adults, 2) Recognition study and assessing verbal and visual recognition of e-cigarette products among adolescents and adults in the United States, and 3) Longitudinal Study to assess the rates at which cohorts of adults and adolescents in the United States initiate and cease use of a range of tobacco products over a 12-month period. Venus is currently working on prevalence project of e-cigarettes brands and devices to assess the prevalence and patterns of overall e-cigarettes use and specific e-cigarette brands and devices use among the adolescent and adult population in the U.S.
Venus Marza
Chief Statistician
Piotr Gromski
Head of Tobacco Regulatory Modelling
Dr. Piotr Gromski is Head of Tobacco Regulatory Modelling at the Centre for Substance Use Research, with expertise in behavioural studies, regulatory science, probabilistic and population modelling.
Involved in the design, execution, and reporting of behavioural and observational studies for Pre-Market Tobacco Product Applications (PMTAs) related to next-generation tobacco and nicotine products. His work includes randomized controlled trials, longitudinal cohort studies, actual use studies, and population modelling to generate evidence supporting regulatory decisions and harm-reduction strategies.
Piotr holds a PhD in Chemometrics from the University of Manchester, where he contributed to the EU-funded PhastID project on point-of-care diagnostics. He previously spent six years at the University of Glasgow’s School of Medicine, focusing on population modelling of large health datasets, including obstetric anaesthesia outcomes, reproductive health data, and NHS datasets, producing insights for healthcare policy.
At CSUR, Piotr combines population-level modelling with behavioural science to assess tobacco and nicotine use initiation, cessation, and risk perceptions. He collaborates with statisticians and regulatory experts to develop study protocols, interpret data, and prepare regulator-ready submissions and publications. His skills in modular R scripting, scenario planning, and reproducible workflows support CSUR’s mission to deliver science aligned with regulatory standards for clients navigating PMTA and MRTP pathways.
In recognition of his growing contributions to the field, Piotr was recently invited to join the Editorial Board of the American Journal of Health Behavior. This invitation, which he accepted, reflects peer acknowledgement of his expertise and standing within the health behaviour research community, and underscores the impact and quality of his work.
Piotr Gromski
Head of Tobacco Regulatory Modelling
Dylan Grier
M.Sc.
Dylan joined CSUR at the beginning of 2024 as a data analyst. He completed his MSc in Psychological Research Methods at The University of Stirling in 2021, obtaining a distinction. His dissertation focussed on investigating the effects of lexical word characteristics on recognition memory, and during his Master’s he took part in a research placement conducting research exploring stakeholder views on subconcussive head impacts in contact sports.
Following his graduation, Dylan gained experience working as a researcher for a commercial research agency. There, Dylan applied quantitative and qualitative research methods and data analytical techniques to a range of research projects aiming to gain insight into business customers and prospects, and contributing to UK government funded research. Alongside working as a researcher, Dylan continued at The University of Stirling, gaining experience working as a teaching assistant. In this role, he was involved in contributing to the delivery of workshop and seminar classes, evaluating student assessments, and providing feedback.
Dylan Grier
Researcher
Christopher Russell
Ph.D.
Christopher Russell is a Psychologist and Specialist Advisor for the Centre for Substance Use Research (CSUR), Glasgow, Scotland.
Christopher Russell
Specialist Advisor
Support Staff
Suman Joshi
Data Protection & Information Security Coordinator
Helen Taggart
Maureen Debbage
Cyber Security
Mike Robinson
Legal Representation
Within the U.S. CSUR legal representation is provided by Sheppard Mullin Richter and Hampton