Mark McCormack is a Professor of Sociology and Deputy Dean Research for the College of Business and Social Sciences. He has previously worked at Durham University, Brunel University and the University of Roehampton, where he held various research leadership roles including Director of the Centre for Equality, Justice and Social Change and Acting Director of the Graduate School. He is passionate about enabling inclusive research cultures that produce high-quality, impactful research.

His research examines how social trends related to gender and sexuality map onto everyday experiences of individuals. A core focus has been documenting how the decrease in homophobia in Britain and the United States influences the experiences of young people, including an expansion of socially acceptable gendered behaviours for male youth and improvement in life experiences of gay and bisexual youth. His work also explores drag cultures, non-exclusive sexualities, consumption of pornography, social deviance and the interface of sexuality with illicit drug use. His research also explores the social impact of COVID-19, with a focus on sexual practices and sexual cultures. 

Mark has a longstanding collaboration with harm reduction organisation The Loop. The Loop provides drug safety testing, welfare and harm reduction services at nightclubs, festivals and other leisure events. It also provides staff training on drugs awareness, in-house welfare service delivery, the prevention of drug related harm at events, and the delivery of ethical 'front of house' drug safety testing services. Mark is on the Research Action Group of The Loop and supports all aspects of research activity, including data collection and analysis, ethics, staff training and publications. He has published on this strand of research in Contemporary Drug Problems, with other articles under review and in development. 

Mark is Chair of the Editorial Board of Sociology, a Consulting Editor for Journal of Sex Research, and sits on the Editorial Boards of Psychology & Sexuality and the Journal of Men's Studies. He is also a member of the ESRC Peer Review College. Mark has been invited to speak internationally, including at Northwestern University, SUNY - Stonybrook, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the University of Malta, and Flensburg University, Germany. He also held a Visiting Associate Professorship at Cornell University in 2014.