Michael Marmot

{{Short description|British medicine and public health academic (born 1945)}} {{EngvarB|date=June 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}} {{multiple issues| {{BLP sources|date=February 2016}} {{lead too short|date=July 2017}} }} {{Infobox scientist | honorific_prefix = Professor Sir | name = Michael Marmot | honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CH|FRCP|FFPM|FMedSci|FBA}} | birth_name = Michael Gideon Marmot | image = Sir Michael Marmot, Professor of Epidemiology and Director, Institute of Health Equity, University College London (cropped).jpg | image_size = 270px | alt = | caption = Marmot at 2024 Nobel Week | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1945|01|26}}<ref name=whoswho>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U26652|title=Marmot, Prof. Sir Michael (Gideon)|work=Who's Who 2014, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2014; online edn, Oxford University Press}}{{subscription required}}</ref> | birth_place = London, England | death_date =  | death_place = | death_cause = | nationality = | fields = | workplaces = {{Plainlist| * University College, London * UCL Institute of Health Equity, London}} | patrons = {{Plainlist| * Medsin * World Social Science Forum 2015 * Healthworks * CCDE Co-patron}} | alma_mater = {{Plainlist| * University of Sydney (MBBS) * University of California, Berkeley (PhD)}} | thesis_title = Acculturation and Coronary Heart Disease in Japanese-Americans | thesis_url = https://www.proquest.com/docview/30277047 | thesis_year = 1975 | doctoral_advisor = | academic_advisors = | doctoral_students = | notable_students = | known_for = {{Plainlist| * ''Fair Society, Healthy Lives'' ("The Marmot Review")<ref>{{cite web|title=Michael Marmot|url=https://www.instituteofhealthequity.org/projects/fair-society-healthy-lives-the-marmot-review|publisher=instituteofhealthequity.org|access-date=10 August 2015|archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20160518215800/http://www.instituteofhealthequity.org/projects/fair-society-healthy-lives-the-marmot-review|archive-date=18 May 2016}}</ref> * Social determinants of health * Health equity * Whitehall Studies<ref name=whitehall>{{cite web|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/iehc/research/epidemiology-public-health/research/whitehallII|title=Whitehall II|website=www.ucl.ac.uk}}</ref>}} | awards = {{Plainlist| * Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (2022) * Knight Bachelor (2000) * FFPH * FBA * FMedSci * FRCP}} | spouse = Alexandra Naomi Ferster<ref name=whoswho/> }}

'''Sir Michael Gideon Marmot''' (born 26 January 1945) is Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College London. He is currently the Director of The UCL Institute of Health Equity.<ref>[http://www.instituteofhealthequity.org/about-us/about-professor-sir-michael-marmot About page on the Institute of Health Equity website]</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.amphilsoc.org/blog/american-philosophical-society-welcomes-new-members-2023 | title=The American Philosophical Society Welcomes New Members for 2023 }}</ref>

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,<ref name=did>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b048j630 Michael Marmot interviewed by Kirsty Young] on BBC Desert Island Discs 6 July 2014</ref> where he attended Sydney Boys High School (1957–1961)<ref>[http://www.shsobu.org.au/wp-content/uploads/imperial-honours.pdf Profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323090425/http://www.shsobu.org.au/wp-content/uploads/imperial-honours.pdf |date=23 March 2019 }}, shsobu.org.au. Retrieved 31 January 2016.</ref> and graduated with an MBBS medical degree from the University of Sydney in 1969.<ref name="ucl">{{Cite web |title=M. Marmot's Academic Background |url=https://iris.ucl.ac.uk/iris/browse/profile?upi=MGMAR64 |access-date=8 September 2022 }}</ref><ref name="wma">{{Cite web |title=Michael Marmot CV|url=https://www.wma.net/who-we-are/leaders/michael-marmot_cv/ |access-date=31 December 2022 }}</ref>

He earned an MPH degree in 1972<ref name="ucl"/> and a PhD in 1975 from the University of California, Berkeley for research into acculturation and coronary heart disease in Japanese Americans.<ref name="phd">{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=Michael Gideon|last=Marmot|title=Acculturation and Coronary Heart Disease in Japanese-Americans |publisher=University of California, Berkeley|year=1975|author-link=Michael Marmot|id={{ProQuest|302770471}}}}</ref>

==Career== He was a member of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution for six years{{When|date=June 2021}} and in the New Year Honours 2000 he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, for services to epidemiology and the understanding of health inequalities.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=55710 |date=30 December 1999 |page=1 |supp=y}}</ref>

Marmot advised the WHO.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jul/18/rise-in-life-expectancy-has-stalled-since-2010-research-shows Rise in life expectancy has stalled since 2010, research shows] ''The Guardian''</ref> He was chair of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH), which was set up by the World Health Organization 2005, and in August 2008 he produced for the commission a report called ''Closing the Gap in a Generation''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=M. Marmot, Chair of CSDH | date=13 March 2015 |url=https://www3.paho.org/hq/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10573:2015-prof-sir-michael-marmot&Itemid=41319&lang=en#gsc.tab=0 |access-date=8 September 2022 }}</ref>

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 (BMA) from 2010 to 2011,<ref>{{Cite web |title=M. Marmot, President of BMA |url=https://www.nationalhealthexecutive.com/Last-Word/New-President-for-the-BMA-Sir-Michael-Marmot/25108 |access-date=8 September 2022 }}</ref> and is the new president of the British Lung Foundation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=M. Marmot, President of British Lung Foundation |url=https://www.health.org.uk/about-the-health-foundation/our-people/covid19-impact-inquiry/michael-marmot |access-date=8 September 2022}}</ref>

Marmot served as president of the World Medical Association for 2015–16.<ref>{{Cite web |title=M. Marmot, President of WMA |url=https://www.wma.net/who-we-are/history/past-leaders/ |access-date=8 September 2022 }}</ref> During his tenure he faced calls to eject the Israeli Medical Association (IMA) from the World Medical Association, owing to the evidence of Israeli doctors complicity with the torture of Palestinians. He received criticism for not only refusing to eject the IMA but also accepting the IMA's stated commitment to medical ethics without investigating any of the torture claims. <ref>{{Cite journal |date=2025-12-04 |title=Sir Michael Marmot, the World Medical Association, and medical complicity with torture in Israel |url=https://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g4386/rr |language=en}}</ref>

Marmot was elected member of the Academia Europaea in 1995.<ref>{{Cite web |title=M. Marmot, member of Accademia Europaea |url=https://www.ae-info.org/ae/Acad_Main/List_of_Members/ListMembersByAlphabet?start=m |access-date=8 September 2022 }}</ref>

Marmot was appointed Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to public health.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=63918|supp=y|page=N6|date=31 December 2022}}</ref>

=== Memberships === Marmot was elected as a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP) in 1989. He became a fellow of the Faculty of Public Health (FFPHM) in 1989, a fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci) in 2008, and was elected an honorary fellow of the British Academy (Hon FBA) also in 2008.<ref name="wma" /><ref>[https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/fellows/michael-marmot-FBA-hon/ Professor Sir Michael Marmot Hon FBA] - website of the British Academy</ref>

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).<ref name="wma" />

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.<ref name=phd/> 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, 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.<ref>{{Cite journal|pmid=1674771|year=1991|last1=Marmot|first1=M.G.|title=Health inequalities among British civil servants: The Whitehall II study|journal=Lancet|volume=337|issue=8754|pages=1387–93|last2=Smith|first2=G.D.|last3=Stansfeld|first3=S|last4=Patel|first4=C|last5=North|first5=F|last6=Head|first6=J|last7=White|first7=I|last8=Brunner|first8=E|last9=Feeney|first9=A|doi=10.1016/0140-6736(91)93068-k|s2cid=2791924}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|pmid=3416162|year=1988|title=Intersalt: An international study of electrolyte excretion and blood pressure. Results for 24 hour urinary sodium and potassium excretion. Intersalt Cooperative Research Group|journal=BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.)|volume=297|issue=6644|pages=319–28|pmc=1834069|doi=10.1136/bmj.297.6644.319}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|pmid=1671422|year=1991|last1=McKeigue|first1=P.M.|title=Relation of central obesity and insulin resistance with high diabetes prevalence and cardiovascular risk in South Asians|journal=Lancet|volume=337|issue=8738|pages=382–86|last2=Shah|first2=B|last3=Marmot|first3=M.G.|doi=10.1016/0140-6736(91)91164-p|s2cid=21350831}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|pmid=10346775|pmc=1115843|year=1999|last1=Hemingway|first1=H|title=Evidence based cardiology: Psychosocial factors in the aetiology and prognosis of coronary heart disease. Systematic review of prospective cohort studies|journal=BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.)|volume=318|issue=7196|pages=1460–67|last2=Marmot|first2=M|doi=10.1136/bmj.318.7196.1460}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(97)04244-X|pmid=9242799|title=Contribution of job control and other risk factors to social variations in coronary heart disease incidence|journal=The Lancet|year=1997|volume=350|issue=9073|pages=235–39|first=MG|last=Marmot|s2cid=5665244}}</ref>

Marmot has a special interest in inequalities in health<ref>{{Cite journal|pmid=24594545|year=2014|last1=Torjesen|first1=I|title=Low paid workers are not paid enough to live healthily, Marmot says|journal=BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.)|volume=348|article-number=g1939|doi=10.1136/bmj.g1939|s2cid=27705220}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|pmid=18994652|year=2008|last1=Boseley|first1=S|title=Michael Marmot: Leader in the social determinants of health|journal=The Lancet|volume=372|issue=9650|page=1625|doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(08)61675-X|s2cid=13557445}}</ref> 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, the former UK chief medical officer. This reported in November 1998.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/265503/ih.pdf |title=Independent Inquiry into Inequalities in Health Report |website=www.gov.uk |access-date=2019-05-30}}</ref>

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.{{citation needed|date=November 2015}}

In 2008, Marmot appeared in ''Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?'', an American documentary series examining the social determinants of health that drew heavily from Marmot's work on the Whitehall Studies.

On 6 November 2008, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced that the Secretary of State for Health Alan Johnson had asked Marmot to chair a review of health inequalities in England; to inform policy making and address health inequalities from 2010.{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}} The review was announced at the launch of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health report ''Closing the Gap in a Generation''.{{citation needed|date=November 2015}} The review was published in 2010 entitled ''Fair society, healthy lives : the Marmot Review''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Fair society, healthy lives : the Marmot Review: strategic review of health inequalities in England post-2010.|url=https://www.gov.uk/research-for-development-outputs/fair-society-healthy-lives-the-marmot-review-strategic-review-of-health-inequalities-in-england-post-2010|access-date=2021-06-30|website=GOV.UK|language=en}}</ref>

In 2020, Marmot co-authored ''Health Equity in England: The Marmot Review 10 Years On.''<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Health Equity in England: The Marmot Review 10 Years On {{!}} The Health Foundation|url=https://www.health.org.uk/publications/reports/the-marmot-review-10-years-on|access-date=2021-06-30|website=www.health.org.uk|date=25 February 2020 |language=en}}</ref> It found that life expectancy is falling among the poorest people and particularly amongst women in certain English regions.<ref name="G2020">{{cite news |last1=Boseley |first1=Sarah |title=Austerity blamed for life expectancy stalling for first time in century |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/feb/24/austerity-blamed-for-life-expectancy-stalling-for-first-time-in-century |access-date=25 February 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=25 February 2020}}</ref> 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 noted a greater fall in life expectancy in the poorer areas of the county.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=Marmot|first=Michael|date=2021|title=Build Back Fairer in Greater Manchester - Main Report|url=https://www.instituteofhealthequity.org/resources-reports/build-back-fairer-in-greater-manchester-health-equity-and-dignified-lives}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-06-30|title='Jaw-dropping' fall in life expectancy in poor areas of England, report finds|url=http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/jun/30/life-expectancy-key-to-success-of-levelling-up-in-uks-poorer-areas-covid-pandemic|access-date=2021-06-30|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref> It made recommendations around improving living standards, working conditions and increasing prospects for young people.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-06-30|title=Michael Marmot and Jessica Allen: Building back fairer in Greater Manchester|url=https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2021/06/30/michael-marmot-and-jessica-allen-building-back-fairer-in-greater-manchester/|access-date=2021-06-30|website=The BMJ|language=en-US}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 September 2022 |title=A generation of Britons face long term illness from being cold and poor this winter |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/sep/01/generation-britain-long-term-illness-cold-poor-winter-cost-of-living-crisis |access-date=8 September 2022 |website=The Guardian }}</ref>

==Selected bibliography== ===Books=== * {{cite book|last1=Marmot|first1=Michael|title=The Health Gap: The Challenge of an Unequal World|journal=The Lancet |url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/health-gap-9781408857977/|publisher=Bloomsbury|year=2015|volume=386|issue=10011|pages=2442–4|doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(15)00150-6|pmid=26364261|isbn=978-1-4088-5799-1 |s2cid=27066898}} * {{cite book|last1=Marmot|first1=Michael|title=The Status Syndrome: How Social Standing Affects Our Health and Longevity|url=http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/status-syndrome-9781408872680|publisher=Bloomsbury|year=2015|isbn=978-1-4088-7268-0}} * {{cite book|last1=Marmot|first1=Michael|last2=Wilkinson|first2=Richard G.|author-link2=Richard G. Wilkinson|title=Social Determinants of Health|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford/New York|year=2006|orig-date=1999|edition=2nd|isbn=978-0-19-856589-5}} * {{cite book|last1=Marmot|first1=Michael|last2=Siegrist|first2=Johannes|title=Social Inequalities in Health: new evidence and policy implications|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford/New York|year=2006|isbn=978-0-19-856816-2}} * {{cite book|last=Marmot|first=Michael|title=The Status Syndrome: How Social Standing Affects Our Health and Longevity|publisher=Times Books|location=New York|year=2004|isbn=978-0-8050-7370-6|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/statussyndromeho00marm}} * {{cite book|last1=Marmot|first1=Michael|last2=Wilkinson|first2=Richard G.|author-link2=Richard G. Wilkinson|title=The Solid Facts|publisher=World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe|location=Copenhagen|year=2003|isbn=978-0-585-49252-0}}

===Journal articles and research=== *Marmot, M (2021) ''Build Back Fairer in Greater Manchester''<ref name=":2" /> *Marmot, M (2020) et al. ''Health Equity in England: The Marmot Review 10 Years On''<ref name=":1" /> *Marmot, M (2010). ''Fair society, healthy lives : the Marmot review ; strategic review of health inequalities in England post-2010''<ref name=":0" /> *{{Cite journal|pmid=19018626|year=2008|last1=Marmot|first1=M|title=Michael Marmot on eliminating social injustice|journal=The Health Service Journal|page=15}}

== Awards and honours == * 2024 Honorary Doctor of Medicine by the University of St Andrews<ref>{{Cite web |title=Laureation Address: Professor Sir Michael Marmot CH MBBS MPH PhD FRCP FFPHM FMedSci FBA |url=https://graduation.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/2024/laureation-address-professor-sir-michael-marmot-ch-mbbs-mph-phd-frcp-ffphm-fmedsci-fba/}}</ref> * 2016 Awarded an honorary doctorate by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).<ref>{{cite web|last=Fossen|first=Christian|title=Honorary Doctors|url=https://www.ntnu.edu/phd/honorary-doctors|website=www.ntnu.edu}}</ref> * 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<ref>{{cite journal|date=30 December 1999|title=New Years Honours List|url=http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/|journal=The London Gazette|volume=55710|page=2|access-date=10 July 2008|archive-date=20 April 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100420032516/http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/}}</ref> * 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{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}} * 2004 Alwyn Smith Prize Medal for distinguished service to public health, Faculty of Public Health * 2004 Bisset Hawkins Medal, Royal College of Physicians * 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 == {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{External links|date=June 2021}} *[https://www.equallyours.org.uk/tackling-health-inequalities-marmot-cities/ Tackling health inequalities: 'Marmot cities'] *[https://www.coventry.gov.uk/info/176/policy/2457/coventry_a_marmot_city Coventry:A marmot city]

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