Tarani is a Professor of Medical Sociology. He is a co-director of the ESRC International Centre for Lifecourse Studies in Society and Health and is also the co-director for the SOC-B (Social-Biological) Centre for Doctoral Training funded by the ESRC and BBSRC. He is a member of the ESRC Strategic Advisory Network, fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and the Royal Statistical Society and is an editor-in-chief of the journal Sociology. He joined the University of Manchester in April 2010, was the head of the department of Social Statistics (2012-2014) and the director of the Cathie Marsh Institute (2013-2016). He was formerly at the UCL Research Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, and prior to that completed his PhD in Sociology and post-doc at Nuffield College, University of Oxford. Tarani's research is primarily on the social determinants of health, focusing on health inequalities and psychosocial factors, and the analysis of longitudinal cohort studies.