Sir Michael Gideon Marmot (born 26 February 1945) is Professor of

Epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and Risk factor (epidemiology), determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population, and application of this knowledge to prevent dise ...

and

Public Health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. He is currently the Director of The UCL Institute of Health Equity. Marmot has led research groups on health inequalities for over thirty years, working for various international and governmental bodies. In 2023, he was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

. He has won several awards including 2012 Lifetime Award Fellowship Eur Academy of Occupational Health Psychology, 2012 Patron of Medsin-UK, 2010 Manchester Doubleday Award, and 2004 Alwyn Smith Prize Medal.

Early life and education

Marmot was born in London on 26 January 1945. When he was a young child, his family moved to Sydney in Australia,Michael Marmot interviewed by Kirsty Young
on BBC

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight audio recordin ...

6 July 2014 where he attended

Sydney Boys High School Sydney Boys High School ('SBHS'), otherwise known as Sydney High School ('SHS') or simply High, is an Australian government-funded single-sex academically selective secondary day school for boys, located at Moore Park, New South Wales, a s ...

(1957–1961) and graduated with an

MBBS A Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (; MBBS, also abbreviated as BM BS, MB ChB, MB BCh, or MB BChir) is a medical degree granted by medical schools or universities in countries that adhere to the United Kingdom's higher education tradi ...

medical degree from the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

in 1969. He earned an MPH degree in 1972 and a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in 1975 from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

for research into

acculturation Acculturation refers to the psychological, social, and cultural transformation that takes place through direct contact between two cultures, wherein one or both engage in adapting to dominant cultural influences without compromising their essent ...

and

coronary heart disease Coronary artery disease (CAD), also called coronary heart disease (CHD), or ischemic heart disease (IHD), is a type of cardiovascular disease, heart disease involving Ischemia, the reduction of blood flow to the cardiac muscle due to a build-up ...

Japanese American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian Americans, Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 United States census, 2000 census, they have declined in ...

Career

He was a member of the

Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution in the United Kingdom was created under Royal Warrant in 1970 to advise the monarch, Government, Parliament and the public on environmental issues. It was closed on 1 April 2011, as part of the Co ...

for six years and in the New Year Honours 2000 he was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

, for services to epidemiology and the understanding of health inequalities. Marmot advised the WHO. He was chair of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH), which was set up by the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

2005, and in August 2008 he produced for the commission a report called ''Closing the Gap in a Generation''. Marmot gave the Harveian Oration in 2006. He leads the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), and is engaged in several international research efforts on the social determinants of health. He served as president of the

British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union and professional body for physician, doctors in the United Kingdom. It does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The BMA ...

(BMA) from 2010 to 2011, and is the new president of the

British Lung Foundation Asthma + Lung UK (formally Asthma and Lung UK) is a British charity based in London, England. It focuses on respiratory health, in particular asthma and lung disease. The organisation was formed in January 2020 as Asthma UK and the British Lung ...

. Marmot served as president of the

World Medical Association The World Medical Association (WMA) is an international and independent confederation of free professional medical associations representing physicians worldwide. WMA was formally established on September 17, 1947 and has grown to 115 national me ...

for 2015–16. Marmot was elected member of the

Academia Europaea The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of humanities, letters, law, and sciences. The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europe ...

in 1995. Marmot was appointed

Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded on 4 June 1917 by King George V as a reward for outstanding achievements. It was founded on the same date as the Order of the British Empire. The orde ...

(CH) in the

2023 New Year Honours The 2023 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

for services to public health.

Memberships

Marmot was elected as a

fellow of the Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians of London, commonly referred to simply as the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of ph ...

(FRCP) in 1989. He became a fellow of the Faculty of Public Health (FFPHM) in 1989, a

fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci) is an award for medical scientists who are judged by the UK Academy of Medical Sciences for the "excellence of their science, their contribution to medicine and society and the range of the ...

(FMedSci) in 2008, and was elected an

honorary fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (post-nominal letters FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in t ...

(Hon FBA) also in 2008. He has been furthermore elected an honorary fellow of the Royal Society of Public Health (Hon FRSPH) in 2008, an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (Hon FRCPsych) in 2013, and an honorary fellow of the Faculty of Public Health (Hon FFPH). Marmot is a Foreign Associate Member of the Institute of Medicine (IOM).

Research

Marmot conducted ground-breaking studies of heart disease and stroke, comparing Japanese people in Japan (high stroke rates, low heart attack rates) with those in Hawaii and California, where, especially in later generations, the disease patterns became reversed after adopting lifestyle, stress and diet changes. He has more recently led the Whitehall Studies of British civil servants, again focusing on heart disease and other disease patterns. His department includes the MRC

National Survey of Health & Development The National Survey of Health & Development is a Medical Research Council (MRC) longitudinal survey of people born in Britain in March 1946. It is "the longest continually running major birth cohort study in the world and is one of the longest-run ...

, a longitudinal study directed by Professor Michael Wadsworth of people born in Britain in 1946 and followed up since. There are 120 other academic staff in the department. Marmot has a special interest in inequalities in health and their causes, and has been a government advisor in seeking to identify ways to mitigate them. He served on the Scientific Advisory Group of the Independent Inquiry into Inequalities in Health chaired by Sir

Donald Acheson Sir Ernest Donald Acheson (17 September 1926 – 10 January 2010) was a British physician and epidemiologist who served as Chief Medical Officer of the United Kingdom from 1983 to 1991. He was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Early life Ac ...

, the former UK chief medical officer. This reported in November 1998. In ''The Status Syndrome: How your social standing directly affects your health and life expectancy'', he argues that socio-economic position is an important determinant for health outcomes. This result holds even if we control for the effects of income, education and risk factors (such as smoking) on health. The causal pathway Marmot identifies concerns the psychic benefits of "being in control" of one's life. Autonomy in this sense is related to our socio-economic position. Based on comparative studies, Marmot argues that we can make our society more participatory and inclusive to increase overall public health. In 2008, Marmot appeared in '' Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?'', an American documentary series examining the

social determinants of health The social determinants of health (SDOH) are the economic and social conditions that influence individual and group differences in health status. They are the health promoting factors found in one's living and working conditions (such as the dist ...

that drew heavily from Marmot's work on the Whitehall Studies. On 6 November 2008, Prime Minister

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...

announced that the Secretary of State for Health

Alan Johnson Alan Arthur Johnson (born 17 May 1950) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Education and Skills from 2006 to 2007, Secretary of State for Health from 2007 to 2009, Home Secretary from 2009 to 2010, and Shadow Chancello ...

had asked Marmot to chair a review of health inequalities in England; to inform policy making and address health inequalities from 2010. The review was announced at the launch of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health report ''Closing the Gap in a Generation''. The review was published in 2010 entitled ''Fair society, healthy lives : the Marmot Review''. In 2020, Marmot co-authored ''Health Equity in England: The Marmot Review 10 Years On.'' It found that life expectancy is falling among the poorest people and particularly amongst women in certain English regions. Published in the same year, ''Build Back Fairer: The COVID-19 Marmot Review'' explored connections between inequality in socioeconomic conditions and COVID-19 death tolls, recommending investing in public health. In 2021, a follow-up report looking at

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

noted a greater fall in

life expectancy Human life expectancy is a statistical measure of the estimate of the average remaining years of life at a given age. The most commonly used measure is ''life expectancy at birth'' (LEB, or in demographic notation ''e''0, where '' ...

in the poorer areas of the county. It made recommendations around improving

living standards Standard of living is the level of income, comforts and services available to an individual, community or society. A contributing factor to an individual's quality of life, standard of living is generally concerned with objective metrics outside ...

working conditions {{Short description, 1=Overview of and topical guide to working time and conditions The following Outline (list), outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to working time and conditions: Legislation * See :Labour law * Collective ...

and increasing prospects for young people. In 2022, Marmot warned of the risk of "a humanitarian crisis" the next winter caused by "fuel poverty", which could have long-term consequences mostly for the young and least well-off.

Selected bibliography

Books

* * * * * *

Journal articles and research

*Marmot, M (2021) ''Build Back Fairer in Greater Manchester'' *Marmot, M (2020) et al. ''Health Equity in England: The Marmot Review 10 Years On'' *Marmot, M (2010). ''Fair society, healthy lives : the Marmot review ; strategic review of health inequalities in England post-2010'' *

Awards and honours

* 2016 Awarded an honorary doctorate by the

Norwegian University of Science and Technology The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU; ) is a public university, public research university in Norway and the largest in terms of enrollment. The university's headquarters is located in Trondheim (city), Trondheim, with region ...

(NTNU). * 2015 C.-E. A. Winslow Medal, Yale * 2012 Lifetime Award Fellowship Eur Academy of Occupational Health Psychology * 2012 Patron of Medsin-UK * 2012 European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology Fellowship * 2011 Ambuj Nath Bose Prize, Royal College of Physicians * 2011 Medal of City of Lima, awarded by Mayor of Lima * 2011 Sir Liam Donaldson Lecture and Medal, Health Protection Agency * 2011 Fellow, Association for Psychological Medicine * 2011 Avedis Donabedian International Foundation Award * 2010 Manchester Doubleday Award, Manchester School of Medicine * 2010 Jenner Medal, Royal Society of Medicine * 2010–11 President, British Medical Association * 2008 Tore Andersson Award in Epidemiological Research, Karolinska Institutet, * 2008 William B. Graham Prize for Health Services Research * 2007 Centre for Disease Control (CDC) Foundation Hero Award * 2006 Winner BMA Book Awards 2006 (Public Health) * 2006 Harveian Oration, Royal College of Physicians * 2004 Balzan Prize for Epidemiology * 2004 Alwyn Smith Prize Medal for distinguished service to public health, Faculty of Public Health * 2004 Bisset Hawkins Medal,

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians of London, commonly referred to simply as the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of ph ...

* 2003 Visiting Fellow Commoner, Trinity College, Cambridge * 2002 Decade of Behaviour Distinguished Speaker, Gerontological Society of America * 2002 Patricia B Barchas Award, American Psychosomatic Society

References

External links

Tackling health inequalities: ‘Marmot cities’Coventry:A marmot city
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marmot, Sir Michael 1945 births British medical researchers British epidemiologists British public health doctors Jewish British scientists Knights Bachelor Living people People educated at Sydney Boys High School Australian public health doctors Medical doctors from Sydney Sydney Medical School alumni UC Berkeley School of Public Health alumni 21st-century English medical doctors Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom) Academics of University College London Honorary Fellows of the British Academy Presidents of the British Medical Association Members of the National Academy of Medicine Ihsan Doğramacı Family Health Foundation Prize laureates International members of the American Philosophical Society Recipients of the Jenner Medal of the Royal Society of Medicine