Dr. Maria Henriksen
Policy Lead
Dr. Maria Henriksen is Policy Lead at the Institute of Cancer Policy, with expertise in European cancer legislation and global prevention policy. She leads the Institute’s work on tobacco control, alcohol harm reduction, and the regulation of risk factors for cancer.
Maria has served as a policy advisor to the European Commission’s BECA (Beating Cancer) initiative and was a lead author of the European Cancer Inequalities Registry. She trained as a lawyer before completing a PhD in public health law at the University of Copenhagen and a fellowship at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Her current research focuses on the political determinants of prevention policy failure — examining why evidence-based interventions are consistently blocked, delayed, or diluted, and what can be done about it.
Selected publications
- Henriksen M, Sullivan R (2026). Tobacco control legislation: lessons from WHO FCTC signatories. New England Journal of Medicine.
- Henriksen M (2025). Industry interference and prevention policy failure in the European Union. European Journal of Public Health.
- Henriksen M et al. (2024). The European Cancer Inequalities Registry: methodology and baseline findings. Lancet Regional Health — Europe.