Heather Bush | College of Public Health

Dr. Heather M. Bush is Acting Dean and former Chair of the Department of Biostatistics.

Dr. Bush is also a Kate Spade & Company Endowed Professor at the Center for Research on Violence Against Women and as co-director of Center for Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Research Design at the UK Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences.

Dr. Bush has previously received Dean’s Outstanding Teaching Performance Award, Golden Apple Award for Outstanding Teaching, and Provost’s Outstanding Teaching Award. Dr Bush was also named University Research Professor for 2018-19.

She focuses her academic work on vulnerable populations, examining women’s health issues, the health impacts of sexual violence, and the prevention of sexual violence. As a researcher, she works to promote the engagement of populations that are generally underrepresented in research.

She also prioritizes collaboration, describing herself as “a team scientist whose overall goal is to transform approaches to scientific research by engaging as an active partner in research teams dedicated to difference in population health.

Dr. Bush is currently working in partnership with KIPRC investigators to (1) translate bystander-based training to promote harm reduction in academic populations and (2) develop a novel mortality and morbidity surveillance system that incorporates injuries related to sexual violence, substance use, and mental health. Prior to her appointment to the faculty, she was a senior biostatistician in industry.

Dr. Bush received his BS in Mathematics from Mount Vernon Nazarene University, and a Ph.D. in Philosophy, Statistics and MS in Statistics from the University of Kentucky.