Soroush Saghafian

Dr. Soroush Saghafian is interested in using and developing operations research and management science techniques that can have significant public benefits. He is the founder and director of the Public Impact Analytics Science Lab (PIAS-Lab) at Harvard, which is devoted to advancing and applying the science of analytics for solving societal problems that can have public impact. His current teaching focuses on Machine Learning and related analytical tools for solving societal problems.  His current research focuses on the application and development of operations research methods in studying stochastic systems with specific applications in healthcare and operations management. He has been collaborating with a variety of hospitals to improve their operational efficiency, patient flow, medical decision-making, and more broadly, healthcare delivery policies. He also serves as a faculty affiliate for the Harvard Ph.D. Program in Health Policy,  the Harvard Center for Health Decision Science, the Harvard Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government (M-RCBG), the Harvard Data Science Initiative, and is an associate faculty member at the Harvard Ariadne Labs (Health Systems Innovation).

Dr. Saghafian's research has appeared in the news, including in pieces and interviews by The Hill, National Academy of Medicine, New-Meical.net, Industry Global News 24, Global Health News Wire, Eureka Alert (American Association for the Advancement of Science), Managed Healthcare Executive, and INFORMS. He has won various awards for his research, including the INFORMS MSOM Young Scholar Prize (2021) “[for] outstanding contributions to scholarship in operations management," the Inaugural INFORMS 2020 Mehrotra Research Excellence Award "for significant contributions to the practice of health applications through operations research (OR) and management science (MS) modeling and methodologies,"  POMS 2019 College of Healthcare Best Paper Award (first place), INFORMS 2018 Public Sector Best Paper Award (second place),  INFORMS MSOM (Manufacturing & Service Operations Management) Journal 2016 Best Paper Award, INFORMS  MSOM Society 2016 Best Paper Award of Service Special Interest Group (SIG), INFORMS 2015 Junior Faculty Interest Group (JFIG) Best Paper Competition (Honorable Mention), and INFORMS 2012 MSOM (Manufacturing and Service Operations Management Society) Best Student Paper Award.

Dr. Saghafian serves  on the editorial board of a few journals including Operations Research, Production and Operations Management, INFORMS Service Science, and IISE Transactions. His research has been supported through various grants from National Science Foundation (NSF), Mayo Clinic, and Harvard University (HKS), among others.