Adam Burns

Adam joined Edge in 2013 and serves as Chief Operations Officer and Senior Research Analyst. He oversees team operations and ensures that Edge continues to employ innovative techniques that uncover implications and inform strategy. He also cultivates the firm’s growing efforts in communications research and social marketing. Adam’s recent project efforts include informing messaging and strategy for heart health and safe medicine use campaigns, as well as re-branding and target market assessment studies.

Prior to joining Edge, Adam served as a Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning & Research at Porter Novelli. There, he led primary research efforts in the for-profit, non-profit, and government sectors, building an extensive resume of providing strategic guidance for clients including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, P&G, HP, the IRS, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services. In 2012, his work with CMS garnered a Diamond SABRE Award for Superior Achievement in Measurement and Evaluation.

Adam also served as Research Director at Teenage Research Unlimited, a leading consulting firm specializing in teens and young adults. He coordinated projects for clients such as Sony, MasterCard, and truth®.

He received a graduate degree from the Georgetown Public Policy Institute and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He currently teaches Understanding Markets and Audiences at the Johns Hopkins University Graduate School of Communication, and in Fall 2012, he won the Excellence in Teaching Award. His true passion is spending time with his wife and two daughters in Bethesda, Maryland. He also loves tennis and all things UNC!