Rate My Professor Adam Branscum

Adam J. Branscum, PhD, is Professor of Biostatistics and Director of the Biostatistics Program in the College of Health at Oregon State University. He earned a PhD in Statistics and an MS in Epidemiology from the University of California, Davis in 2005. Prior to his current role, Branscum served as an Assistant Professor at the University of Kentucky. As a first-generation college graduate, he currently accepts new MPH students but not PhD students. His academic career emphasizes contributions to graduate education in statistics and public health.

Branscum's research specializes in Bayesian nonparametric and semiparametric modeling, medical test evaluation, bone health, and kidney disease. He has co-authored over 200 peer-reviewed publications, garnering more than 5,200 citations. A key contribution is his co-authorship of the textbook Bayesian Ideas and Data Analysis: An Introduction for Scientists and Statisticians (2011), alongside Ronald Christensen, Wesley Johnson, and Timothy E. Hanson. Recent works include "Chronic heavy alcohol consumption impairs the ability of demineralized allogenic bone matrix to support osteoinduction in alcohol-naïve rats" (2025), "Adoptive Transfer of Lepr+ Bone Marrow Cells Attenuates the Osteopetrotic Phenotype of db/db Mice" (2025), and "OSU researchers find new insights into leptin and bone health" (2025 collaboration). In March 2024, he joined the "Journal Century Club" by publishing in 100 distinct journals, highlighting his broad impact across disciplines. Branscum received the 2014 Faculty Excellence Award from the College of Public Health and Human Sciences at Oregon State University for his valuable contributions. His collaborative efforts span skeletal biology laboratories, environmental health studies, and epidemiological analyses, advancing statistical methods in health sciences.