Michael Marmot

Sir Michael Marmot, born in London in 1945 and raised partly in Sydney, is a medical epidemiologist who holds a chair in epidemiology and public health at University College London and directs the UCL Institute of Health Equity. He is included here for his research on how social position and psychosocial conditions shape health. His Whitehall II study of British civil servants found that people in lower employment grades had poorer health and higher death rates than those in senior posts, and his book The Status Syndrome argues that being in control of ones own life is a pathway through which social standing affects health. Earlier work followed Japanese-American men and several migrant groups to test how culture and lifestyle affect heart disease. He chaired the World Health Organization Commission on Social Determinants of Health and led the Marmot Review of health inequalities in England. He is a former president of the British Medical Association and the World Medical Association.