Mark Petticrew

Professor Mark Petticrew is Professor of Public Health Evaluation at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), where he is based in the Faculty of Public Health and Policy within the Public Health - Environments and Society department. He serves as Director of the NIHR Public Health Policy Research Unit and is an active member of the Commercial Determinants Research Group (CDRG) at LSHTM, which conducts research on the products and strategies of tobacco, alcohol, gambling, food, opioid and other industries. His work is also affiliated with the Centre for Evaluation and the Centre for Maternal Adolescent Reproductive & Child Health.

Professor Petticrew's research primarily focuses on the Commercial Determinants of Health (CDOH), examining how corporate practices influence public health outcomes and policy. His work explores evidence-based policymaking approaches and public health evaluation methodologies, with particular emphasis on how unhealthy commodity industries shape scientific research and policy development. He investigates industry tactics including misinformation campaigns, marketing strategies, and political influence operations that affect population health. His research often employs systems perspectives to understand the complex interactions between commercial interests and public health outcomes.

His extensive publication record demonstrates a strong focus on analyzing industry influence across multiple sectors. Recent work examines alcohol industry marketing tactics, tobacco industry narratives around e-cigarettes, gambling industry practices, and food industry strategies. He has developed frameworks for understanding corporate political activity and has contributed to methodological approaches for evaluating complex public health interventions. His research frequently appears in high-impact public health journals and informs policy development at national and international levels.

Professor Petticrew has secured significant research funding from major organizations including the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), Wellcome Trust, and Medical Research Council. His current projects include "Countermarketing against the products and activities of unhealthy commodity industries: effectiveness mechanisms and inequalities" and the "NIHR PRP Public Health Research Policy Unit 2024-2029." He has led or contributed to numerous completed research grants examining population interventions, complex interventions, mental health, and policy research units.

As Director of the NIHR Public Health Policy Research Unit, Professor Petticrew plays a key leadership role in translating research into policy. He has contributed to important policy discussions around alcohol marketing restrictions, as evidenced by his co-authorship of the influential 2024 BMJ Global Health commentary "Normative value of 'best buys' and the case of bans on alcohol marketing," which argued for comprehensive bans on alcohol marketing as an effective public health intervention. His work supports evidence-based policymaking in contested areas where commercial interests may conflict with public health goals.