Her research focuses on social marketing and health communication; she teaches an upper-division social marketing course. She has served as the co-associate editor for the journal Health Promotion Practice, with responsibility for the social marketing department. Prior to joining the faculty at Brigham Young University, Dr Thackeray was employed at the Utah Department of Health. During a sabbatical, Dr Thackeray worked for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Marketing.