Adam Olshen

Adam Olshen, PhD, MA is a Professor in the Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine. His research program bridges advanced statistical methodology with cancer genomics and clinical applications, focusing on developing computational approaches to analyze complex genomic data and understand cancer biology and patient outcomes.

Dr. Olshen's research spans multiple critical areas in computational biology and cancer genomics. He is best known for developing the circular binary segmentation algorithm, a foundational method for analyzing DNA copy number data that has become standard in cancer genomics research. His work consistently applies sophisticated statistical models to address biological questions, particularly in cancer research where he examines tumor biology, treatment response mechanisms, and patient symptomatology. Recent work demonstrates expertise in multi-omic analyses, single-cell sequencing methodologies, and machine learning applications for understanding cancer stem cells, treatment resistance mechanisms, and symptom biology. His research has particular strength in translating complex genomic data into clinically relevant insights.

Analysis of Dr. Olshen's recent publications reveals a strong focus on applying cutting-edge computational methods to understand cancer biology at increasingly granular levels. His work spans multiple cancer types including breast cancer, leukemia, prostate cancer, and others, with particular attention to genomic alterations, epigenetic changes, and their relationship to clinical outcomes. A notable trend is the application of advanced computational techniques to analyze single-cell and multi-omic data to uncover novel biological insights about cancer heterogeneity, progression, and symptom biology. His publications frequently appear in high-impact journals across computational biology, oncology, and clinical medicine.

Dr. Olshen maintains an active collaborative research program across UCSF, working extensively with clinicians and basic scientists to apply sophisticated statistical methods to complex biological questions. His work has contributed significantly to the development of novel biomarkers, improved understanding of cancer biology, and better methods for analyzing genomic data in clinical contexts. He has been instrumental in numerous studies examining the relationship between genomic alterations and clinical outcomes, as well as the development of novel computational methods for genomic data analysis that have been widely adopted by the research community.