College of Public Health Alum Uses Data to Improve Health of Arkansans
| Brian Delavan, Ph.D., MPH, has always been interested in data and statistics.
He also desires to see his fellow Arkansans live a healthy life.
Those factors influence how he strives to help people in every region of the state.
An alumnus of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, Delavan is currently a special projects bioinformatics epidemiologist for the Arkansas Department of Health.
Delavan appreciates having a career that involves computers, data analysis and making sense of data.
“I enjoy knowing that my work will have a positive impact in the lives of all people,” he said. “My career is about figuring out ways to apply advanced data analysis techniques to improve the health of Arkansans. That’s what I’ve aimed to do since I began working for the health department in 2020.”
Delavan’s path to a career in public health started in Russellville, Arkansas, where he comes from a blue-collar, working-class family.
“I always received encouragement to explore and try different things,” he said about his upbringing.
Upon graduating from high school, Delavan enrolled in Hendrix College, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in 1996 and then entered the workforce. Eventually, while working as a federal labor standards investigator, Delavan developed a desire to have a career that involved computers and the interpretation of data.
Ultimately, thanks to a chance encounter involving his spouse, Delavan chose to pursue a master’s degree from the College of Public Health.
Delavan’s wife worked at the UAMS Library when she mentioned to a College of Public Health recruiter that her husband had an interest in statistics, numbers, and public service. Eventually, the recruiter spoke with Delavan about the school. The conversation convinced him to enroll in the college’s Master of Public Health in Biostatistics program in the fall 2013 semester. Delavan recognized that a biostatics degree could position him to get a career that used technology and data analysis.
Much to Delavan’s delight, the program fulfilled his expectations. While working on the MPH, he learned a lot about the use of statistics and data to study diseases.
“The professors were amazing,” he said. “They were knowledgeable in their field, and they were always willing to help the students however they could. I also appreciated the chance to work on a graph for a published research paper for one of the epidemiology faculty members.”
“The professors care about you and want to see you succeed,” Delavan added. “The college also places you in position to receive real-world, public health experience that will look good on your résumé. You get the theories, and the application all rolled into one education.”
Delavan completed the biostatistics program in December 2015. He’d later earn a Ph.D. in Bioinformatics from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2025.
Delavan, a husband and father of two girls, enjoys how his duties for the state health department can make a positive impact in the lives of entire populations.
“The work of public health impacts Arkansas as a whole, and the work can also make a global impact if you have a published, or cited, research project,” Delavan said. “It’s inspiring because you know your efforts can improve health and can help people in a lot of different places.
“I’m with ADH, doing a lot of the things I learned to do, striving to advance that knowledge in public health throughout Arkansas.”