Margaret Brandeau is the Coleman F. Fung Professor in the School of Engineering at Stanford and a Professor of Medicine (by courtesy) at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Her research focuses on the development of applied mathematical and economic models to support health policy decisions.

She has published cost-effectiveness analyses of a variety of HIV and drug-abuse interventions including methadone maintenance, buprenorphine maintenance, HIV testing and counseling programs targeted to women of childbearing age, and HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis for key populations. She has also published a number of studies on effective allocation of HIV prevention resources. She has been a Principal Investigator and co-Principal Investigator on four sequential five-year NIDA-funded projects entitled "AIDS and Drug Abuse: Policy Modeling for Better Decisions" that have led to numerous publications and presentations. Recently she has also worked in the area of bioterrorism preparedness planning, and on hepatitis B prevention and control.