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Franz Edelman Award

Healthcare

Artificial Intelligence

COVID-19 and breast cancer: The impact of interruptions to preventative care

During the earliest stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, it seemed the world had ground to a halt as efforts were made across the globe to slow the spread of the virus, including stay at home orders, and in many areas the closing of nonessential businesses and services. Unfortunately, this impacted many non-emergency medical procedures and appointments, including screenings, scans, tests and other measures deemed elective. But what are the long-term implications of this gap in preventive medicine, a gap extended for many by an avoidance of medical facilities as potential sites of infection for the virus until the vaccine became…

Tags: breast cancer, COVID-19, healthcare, mammograms, pandemic, preventative care

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Flying high with analytics: Helping the Air Force address its pilot shortage

The fascinating history of operations research can trace some of its earliest applications back to the military during World War II. Since then, its role has continued to grow and evolve, and today it is still a vital tool in helping our modern military address some of its most complex challenges, from logistics, to equipment, to personnel, and more. In this episode, I am joined by Phil Jenkins with the Air Force Institute of Technology to discuss a new study, “An Air Force Pilot Training Recommendation System using Advanced Analytical Methods,” that is slated for publication in the INFORMS Journal on…

Tags: Air Force, pilot shortage, pilot training, pilots

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An update on INFORMS: Continued progress on important initiatives

In this episode, I am pleased to once again be joined by our 2021 INFORMS president Steve Graves. As we enter the latter half of the year, we’ll take a look at the current status of INFORMS, the continued progress of the goals outlined in the new Strategic Plan unveiled at the beginning of the year, and the upcoming 2021 INFORMS Annual Meeting, featuring a flexible format for both in-person and virtual attendees.

Tags: advocacy, AI, artificial intelligence, DEI, diversity, equity, inclusion, INFORMS, INFORMS president, MIT, Stephen Graves

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A sneak peek of the 2021 INFORMS Annual Meeting

For today’s episode, we’ll be doing something a little different. Recently I was joined at INFORMS headquarters by Brad Weaber, our wonderfully dynamic and engaging host for the upcoming 2021 INFORMS Annual Meeting. This year’s meeting features a flexible format, with the opportunity to participate in-person in Anaheim, CA, as well as a fully virtual meeting platform that can be accessed from anywhere in the world.A self-described cruise director on land, Brad will be helping bridge the gap between in-person and virtual attendees, igniting conversations and sparking lasting connections, as well as helping to highlight the many unique features of the…

Tags: 2021 Annual Meeting, Anaheim, Brad Weaber, flexible, in-person, meeting host, virtual

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Helping valuable donor milk reach infants in need

Over 15 million infants around the world are born prematurely each year and can experience health complications and lengthy hospitalizations as a result of underdevelopment and immature immune systems. One of the best resources for these babies can come from their mother’s breast milk, which has unique growth factors and nutritional qualities that can help combat a number of serious conditions that can impact premature infants. But for babies whose mothers may be unable to produce milk due to their baby’s premature birth, or have health conditions or medications that preclude breastfeeding, and a physician recommends breast milk as the…

Tags: breast milk, donor breast milk, infants, premature babies

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Preserving the arts through the pandemic

While the COVID-19 pandemic has touched virtually every aspect of our day-to-day lives, its impact on the performing arts has been especially significant. At the height of the pandemic, many theatres and other venues were closed, including all Broadway theatres in the U.S., and London’s West End theatres, resulting in substantial financial losses. As restrictions loosened and theatres across the globe began to reopen, the challenge then was how to begin successfully and safely welcoming patrons back into performances. Researchers in the Netherlands created an optimization model that was implemented by the Music Building Eindhoven (MBE), enabling the venue to…

Tags: COVID-19, Netherlands, optimization, pandemic, performing arts, seating, theater

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More flexibility and a better balance: The future of work in the U.S.

In March of 2020, our lives were turned upside down when the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent stay at home orders necessitated that our homes also become our offices. Over the ensuing months, we learned to balance the many new challenges of working from home – turning our couches and kitchen tables into our new offices, remembering to unmute on Zoom calls, managing interruptions from kids and pets – all under the cloud of a global pandemic. But with many organizations beginning a return to the office after more than a year of working from home, it raises questions about what…

Tags: Anita Wooley, future of work, remote work, virtual, work from home

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Help wanted: The reasons behind the current labor shortage

During the COVID-19 pandemic, approximately 9.6 million U.S. workers between the ages of 16 and 64 lost their jobs. But in the past several months as the majority of the country has opened back up, we’ve seen more and more darkened windows and closed signs replaced by help wanted notices. What’s been surprising however is the number of these help wanted signs we see remain in place, followed by reports of a labor shortage here in the U.S. So what happened? Have individuals taken the opportunity to transition to new positions or different fields? Are employees able to leverage the…

Tags: COVID-19, job loss, labor shortage, stagnant wages

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From second waves to new variants: The progression of the COVID-19 pandemic

Just over a year ago, I was joined by Julie Swann with North Carolina State University to discuss what, at that time, were fears of a second wave of the coronavirus, and to reflect on how the virus had changed nearly every aspect of our day-to-day lives, seemingly overnight. Now nearly a year later, I am so pleased to welcome Julie back to review what has occurred since we last spoke and to discuss, almost incredulously, growing concern over not just another wave of the virus, but a new variant of the virus, the delta variant, and its impact on…

Tags: COVID-19, delta variant, Julie Swann, pandemic, second wave, vaccine

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Loyalty programs reward customers and businesses alike

If you are anything like me, customer loyalty programs can heavily influence your purchasing habits. I may not even be planning to shop until I realize I have reward points to burn, or special members-only savings, and suddenly my virtual shopping cart is full (while my wallet is a little lighter). Joining me to share some very intriguing insight into how these kinds of programs work and what the actual benefit is to the businesses that utilize them is Arun Gopalakrishnan with Rice University. His study, “Can Non-tiered Customer Loyalty Programs Be Profitable,” was recently published in the INFORMS journal Marketing…

Tags: consumers, customer loyalty programs, customer rewards, marketing, Marketing Science, non-tiered

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