Rate My Professor Steffen Ventz

Steffen Ventz, PhD, serves as Associate Professor and Medtronic Faculty Fellow in the Division of Biostatistics and Health Data Science within the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. In this role, he contributes to advancing statistical methodologies in public health research. He advanced to Associate Professor in 2025, following his appointment as Assistant Professor in the same division in 2022. Previously, Ventz held positions at prestigious institutions, including Research Scientist (equivalent to Research Assistant Professor) in the Department of Biostatistics at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health from 2018 to 2022, Assistant Professor of Statistics in the Department of Computer Science and Statistics at the University of Rhode Island from 2015 to 2018, and Research Fellow (postdoctoral training) at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health from 2013 to 2015. Earlier experiences include Max-Planck EDSD Fellow at the Institute National D’Etudes Demographiques in Paris, France, and research assistant positions at the Rostock Center for Demography and Max-Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Germany.

Ventz holds a PhD in Mathematical Statistics from Bocconi University (2013), an MPhil in Mathematical Statistics from Bocconi University (2010), an MA in Mathematical Demography from the University of Rostock (2007), and a BS (Vordiplom) in Mathematical Demography from the University of Rostock (2005). His research focuses on Bayesian statistics and statistical decision theory, design of experiments and adaptive sequential statistical methods, meta-analysis and data integration, causal inference, statistical computing, and Monte-Carlo optimization. Applications include oncology, infectious diseases, cardiovascular disease, and strokes. Key publications include "Bayesian designs and the control of frequentist characteristics: a practical solution" (Biometrics, 2015), "BRCA1 recruitment to transcriptional pause sites is required for r-loop-driven DNA damage repair" (Molecular Cell, 2015), "A Bayesian response-adaptive trial in tuberculosis: The endTB trial" (Clinical Trials, 2017), "The design and evaluation of hybrid controlled trials that leverage external data" (Nature Communications, 2022), and "External Control Arms and Data Analysis Methods in Nonrandomized Trial of Patients With Glioblastoma" (JAMA Oncology, 2023). Ventz has delivered numerous invited seminars at institutions such as Harvard University, Yale University, University of Minnesota, University of Florida, and international venues including McGill University and University of Glasgow. He is affiliated with the Masonic Cancer Center and serves as Faculty Biostatistician for the MCC Biostat Core.