Dr. Michael Siegel is a Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health. During his 21 years at the School, his main areas of research interest have been alcohol, tobacco, and firearms. Tying these issues together is the presence of powerful corporations that use sophisticated marketing, public relations, and lobbying activities to negatively impact the public’s health. In the tobacco area, Dr. Siegel has examined the impact of cigarette advertising on youth smoking behavior, the health effects of secondhand smoke, and the evaluation of policies to reduce youth smoking and encourage smoking cessation. In the alcohol field, he has examined the relationship between alcohol advertising and youth alcohol consumption at the brand level. Recently, he has initiated a program of research into firearms violence. In September 2013, he published an article in the American Journal of Public Health which examined the relationship between state-level gun ownership and firearm homicide rates throughout the United States during a 30-year period. This research found a strong correlation between increasing prevalence of gun ownership and higher firearm homicide rates. A subsequent paper, published in AJPH the following year, reported that this relationship between gun ownership and firearm homicide was only present for non-stranger homicide rates, not for stranger homicide rates. His current work focuses on examining the impact of state firearm laws on rates of firearm-related homicide and suicide, studying the role of gun culture in the epidemic of firearms violence, and exploring the effects of state-level firearm laws on homicide rates among African-American and Hispanic populations.