Richard Bruns, PhD
Senior Scholar, Visiting Assistant Scientist

Professional Profile

Dr. Bruns is a Senior Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, working on economic modeling and cost-benefit analysis of a variety of public health topics. His particular research interests are using cost-benefit analysis to make the world’s preparations for pandemics and emerging biological risks as effective as possible, and expanding the use of quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) to better measure a variety of life states and social conditions, so that cost-benefit analysis can include and properly account for all expected side effects of public policies.

Previously, Dr. Bruns was a Senior Economist at the US Food and Drug Administration, doing cost-benefit modeling of many FDA regulations and actions, including the Intentional Adulteration rule, which is designed to harden food production facilities against terrorist attacks; the PHO GRAS determination, also known as the “trans fat ban”; and a variety of other rules relating to the safety of food and medical devices. He also did preliminary modeling on FDA’s upcoming Nicotine Product Standard, a de facto ban on cigarettes that would have many significant effects on public health and safety, as well as research to quantify and monetize the marginal per-unit effects of a variety of food contaminants, such as mycological toxins and arsenic in rice.

Dr. Bruns has a PhD in economics from Clemson University, with primary concentrations in public economics and policy, industrial organization, and anti-trust and regulation, and secondary concentrations in econometrics, financial economics, game theory, microeconomics, and property rights.