The Nicotine Research Group is an internationally recognised public health research group at King’s College London, specialising in tobacco, nicotine and vaping. We generate independent, policy‑relevant evidence to reduce smoking‑related harm and health inequalities in the UK and globally.

Tobacco use remains a leading cause of preventable illness, disability and early death. At the same time, new nicotine products are transforming how people start, continue, and quit smoking. In this rapidly evolving context, policymakers, healthcare providers, and the public are faced with competing claims about risks, benefits and regulation. The Nicotine Research Group addresses this by producing independent, rigorous, timely research that supports proportionate tobacco control, effective cessation support, and efforts to reduce health inequalities, ensuring that policy and practice are grounded in empirical evidence.

We conduct multidisciplinary research on tobacco, nicotine, and their co-use with cannabis, with a particular focus on vaping and tobacco harm reduction. Our work examines patterns of use, health risks and benefits, perceptions of harm, and the impact of regulation, policy, and interventions across diverse populations and settings.

We use a range of quantitative and qualitative methods including population surveys, experimental studies, service and economic evaluations, cohort analyses, biomarker studies and systematic reviews. This allows us to produce high‑quality evidence to inform tobacco control policy, smoking cessation practice, and public health guidance. Members of the group contribute to national and international evidence syntheses including Cochrane Reviews; we work in close collaboration with partners across, government and academia. We have strong and longstanding links with local NHS partners, enabling us to co-produce research, evaluate front-line care and service models.

A central theme of our research is reducing health inequalities, particularly among people with mental health conditions, young people, and other underserved groups. A strong translational focus ensures that our research findings are rapidly and effectively applied to real‑world policy and practice, in the UK and internationally.