Mark Tomlinson's scholarly work has involved a diverse range of topics such as improving early childhood development, mental health, adolescent health, and on life course approaches to build human capital in the first two decades of life. He has been a consultant for the World Health Organization, USAID, World Bank, and Conrad N Hilton Foundation.  He was one of the co-ordinating writers of the World Health Organization document – “Nurturing Care for Early Childhood Development”. He was elected as a member of the Academy of Science in South Africa in 2017.  He received the Chancellors Award for Research at Stellenbosch University in 2015. In 2024 he was awarded a Gold Scientific Achievement Award from the South African Medical Research Council. These are awarded to established senior scientists who have made seminal scientific contributions that have impacted on the health of people. He has published 417 papers in peer-reviewed journals, edited four books and published numerous chapters. He has an H-index of 88; an i-10 index of 334; and 31316 citations (google scholar).  He is on the Editorial Board of PLoS Medicine; and is also on the Editorial Board of Psychology, Health and Medicine.