Brian Anderson is an assistant professor in the University of Pittsburgh Doctor of Chiropractic (DC) program. Anderson’s role within the program focuses extensively on research, enabling DC students to gain important skillsets in chiropractic research and helping faculty to be part of an active research environment.
After 20 years of private practice, clinical experience and academic teaching, Anderson has homed in on his specialty of research in chiropractic care and is excited to bring his knowledge to Pitt.
Read on to learn more about Anderson’s background and the ways in which students will be involved with his research.
Tell us about your role in the Doctor of Chiropractic program
My role spans interdisciplinary research collaboration, mentoring students and faculty, and weaving research methodology throughout the curriculum. Ultimately, I’m working to advance the profession through rigorous science while developing graduates who generate evidence, not just apply it.
My path to Pitt started when I enrolled in a PhD program after 15 years of clinical and academic experience. At that time, I reached out to high profile researchers in the field whom I respected and aspired to follow a similar path they did. Michael Schneider, who has been a leader in chiropractic research for many years and is now the director of the Pitt DC program, was one of those people.
We discussed the initial planning phases of starting a DC program at Pitt, which came into fruition in 2024. With the program’s first cohort beginning in fall 2025, a faculty position was posted for someone to work directly with Mike Schneider on existing and future projects and to take on some of his research-related responsibilities so he could focus on his position as director of the new chiropractic program. I pursued this position and started at Pitt in September 2025.
What are your research interests?
My research interests center on improving the value and outcomes of spine care delivery through health services research. Specifically, I investigate spine-related health care utilization patterns, comparative/cost-effectiveness and predictors of low-value care exposures. I leverage large administrative datasets—including insurance claims, electronic health records, survey data and NIH’s All of Us research program data to generate evidence that can inform clinical practice, health policy and value-based spine care models.
Additionally, I am a co-investigator on an NIH-funded virtual resource center known as ENRICH, which supports research capacity building at complementary and integrative health institutions.
University of Pittsburgh Awarded $6.4 million NIH Grant to Improve Research in Complementary and Integrative Health Treatments
Pitt will establish a virtual research resource center designed to train, support and mentor complementary and integrative health researchers from other institutions across the U.S.
Read the full storyWhat are you excited to bring to the students?
I’m excited to bring my commitment to mentoring students through hands-on research experiences that demystify the research process. I help students build research skills they’ll use throughout their careers and want them to see research as a natural extension of clinical curiosity—not as something reserved for academics, but as a tool for answering the questions that emerge in practice.
I teach students to be critical, savvy consumers of research. I have developed a large collaborative network of researchers with diverse expertise that I draw from in the classroom. I also bring 15 years of clinical experience, which greatly informs my research and helps me make research more clinically meaningful for students. They learn to critically evaluate studies for quality, relevance and applicability to patient care—skills they’ll use throughout their careers to strengthen clinical reasoning and make informed decisions.
How are you supporting faculty chiropractic research?
At my previous institution, I served on a three-person leadership team dedicated to increasing research capacity institution-wide. We mentored 12 non-research faculty through an intensive, two-year collaborative research project, resulting in several publications, conference presentations and a transformed research culture. Lessons learned from this process will be translated to building a productive research environment within our Pitt Doctor of Chiropractic program.
Departmental research capacity grows with accessible pathways available for both students and faculty to contribute scholarly work. I’m committed to building the infrastructure and support systems that make meaningful participation possible.
How did you become interested in a chiropractic career?
My path to chiropractic began with a high school health careers course that allowed us to shadow health care professionals, including a memorable visit to the anatomy lab at the National University of Health Sciences (NUHS)—my first exposure to chiropractic.
Initially, I pursued a physician assistant career path, but after extensive shadowing, I realized it wasn’t the right fit. During my senior year of my undergraduate public health degree, I revisited NUHS, sat in on a chiropractic problem-based learning session and applied that same day—before ever actually experiencing chiropractic treatment as a patient. I later found a local chiropractor to better understand the profession and started the program in 2001.
After graduating with my Doctor of Chiropractic in 2004, I opened a solo practice in suburban Chicago while beginning an adjunct teaching career at NUHS. In 2008, I was offered a position as an attending chiropractor at Northwestern Hospital’s Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, where I spent two years practicing before returning to NUHS in 2011 as a supervising clinician and faculty member.
A second master’s degree program introduced me to scholarly writing through a case reports capstone project, which I eventually published along with three other case reports. This introduction to research sparked my pursuit of a PhD in health sciences at Northern Illinois University. Upon completing my doctorate in 2019, I transitioned from clinical practice and teaching to focus exclusively on research—leveraging two decades of clinical experience and my newly developed methodological skills to contribute to health services research in chiropractic and spine care.
What makes you excited to be part of the ground-breaking Pitt DC program?
After nearly 20 years dedicated to chiropractic education, I recognize this program as a transformative opportunity for the profession. Pitt’s academic reputation and institutional resources enable us to establish a new standard for chiropractic education. Our rigorous approach spanning admissions, academic performance, interdisciplinary clinical training and evidence-based practice is designed to elevate educational quality throughout the chiropractic profession.
We are currently in the most exciting time in the chiropractic profession’s history, with opportunities for integration into team-based care settings like VA hospitals, federally qualified health centers and academic medical centers, along with rapidly expanding residency and fellowship opportunities for advanced training.
The fact that we offer a conservative, non-pharmaceutical, non-surgical approach to musculoskeletal conditions that is consistent with clinical practice guidelines and the hands-on nature of our practice consistently delivers high patient satisfaction and makes it a unique field to work in.
What else would you like students to know about you?
- As a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan, I’m on a quest to visit all 30 MLB stadiums—16 down, 14 to go.
- My wife teaches fourth and fifth grade academically talented math students.
- My 19 year-old daughter played varsity tennis and is currently studying elementary education at Illinois State University.
- My 15 year-old daughter is a freshman in high school and has been competing in horseback riding competitions since age eight. She is also on the competition cheer team and runs track at her high school.
