Prof Jamie Brown

Professor of Behavioural Science

Behavioural Science and Health

Institute of Epidemiology & Health

Joined UCL: 1st Nov 2010

Research summary

Jamie Brown (Twitter: @jamiebrown10) is passionate about smoking cessation research underpinned by behavioural science. He is Director of the UCL Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group and was awarded a CRUK Future Leaders Prize in 2018, which recognises individuals with ‘potential to achieve world-leading status by producing research of international importance’. He co-leads a CRUK programme of research to i) provide insights into population-wide influences on smoking, smoking cessation and alcohol reduction principally by management and analysis of the major population surveys, the Smoking and Alcohol Toolkit Study, and ii) advance the scientific foundation, and further the development of, potentially wide-reach digital behaviour change technologies (latest trends on cigarette smoking, drinking and data request forms at www.smokinginengland.info and www.alcoholinengland.info). In over 200 articles on a variety of topics, a particular focus has been on real-world monitoring and evaluation of national tobacco control and alcohol policies, events and stop smoking treatments including e-cigarettes and nicotine replacement therapy (links to articles available under publications tab).

The work has been influential: he has over 2,000 citations since 2016 and a Scopus h-index of 34, and has been invited to present his studies at international conferences, to the UK regulatory authorities for medicines and science and technology select committee, and has co-authored briefings to UK all-party parliamentary groups. He is a co-author of Theory of Addiction (second edition) and ABC of Behaviour Change Theories, a Deputy Regional Editor at the journal Addiction and an Editor of the Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group.

He has been successful in obtaining competitive funding to sustain this contribution indicated by 21 grants as Principal or Co-Investigator totalling £6,832,934 since 2012.

He has served on an expert academic panel to Public Health England on the evaluation of Smoking and Alcohol CQUIN amendments, as a non-government member of Cross Departmental (NHS Digital, PHE, Dept of Health, and ONS) 2018 Working Group on Smoking Statistics, the Digital Evaluation Project working group (PHE, NHS Digital, NHS England, NICE) and the Digital Medicine Expert Advisory Panel for The Topol Review: Preparing the healthcare workforce to deliver the digital future.

Internationally, he has participated in expert consultation with French Agency for Public Health on tobacco control policy, Health Canada’s International Science Advisory Board for Canadian Tobacco and Nicotine Survey 2020, and serves on the expert advisory board for the development and national implementation of a Dutch ‘StopAdvisor’ app to help people quit smoking cigarettes, and received a delegation of Philippine Senators and Members of Congress in 2018 aiming to learn about the legislative and regulatory approach taken by the UK government on e-cigarettes for stopping smoking.

You can also follow me on Mastodon @jamiebrown

Teaching summary

He makes a broad contribution to research-based, connected teaching within UCL: he convenes the Health Psychology module for BSc psychology undergraduates, lectures across 6 BSc, MSc and summer school courses, and supervises a range of BSc, MSc and PhD students. He was appointed a HEA Fellow in 2017, which accredited his 12 years of Higher Education teaching experience, knowledge and professional values.