As the new academic year begins and students return to campus, UMass INFORMS is excited to organize a variety of engaging events once again. On September 27, 2024, we kicked off the semester with our first event featuring Dr. Muge Capan, Assistant Professor of Industrial Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Dr. Capan delivered an insightful presentation titled “Improving Diagnostic Equity in Ambulatory Settings: Research to Practice.”
Our new president, Ismael, welcomed Professor Capan and provided a brief introduction to her background.
Our faculty advisor, Professor Anna Nagurney, welcomed Dr. Capan and expressed our gratitude for her acceptance of our invitation. She also congratulated Professor Capan on being featured on the university website for two consecutive days.
During her presentation, Dr. Capan shared an overview of her ongoing research projects across three key areas: diagnostic decision-making, provider workload, and maternal health, with a focus on diagnostic decision-making for this talk. Her project is structured into three parts: identifying and conceptualizing tools for addressing diagnostic errors and conducting chart reviews; analyzing the incidence of diagnostic errors and decision-making under uncertainty; and quantifying distributional disparities among patient subpopulations.
Following the presentation, the audience engaged with Dr. Capan by asking many thoughtful questions. There were several inquiries from PhD students in both the Isenberg School of Management and the MIE department, as well as questions from Professor Solak, the Chair of the OIM Department, Professor Hari Balasubramanian, and Professor Nagurney.
Refreshments, including coffee and bagels, were provided for both the speaker and the audience. Although the delivery was a bit late, our new officers handled the situation calmly, as one would expect from those in the operations research field. While the food was delightful, it was the company that truly made the occasion memorable.
We extend our heartfelt thanks to Dr. Capan for graciously accepting our invitation and delivering such an impactful talk. We also appreciate the support from all OIM and MIE faculty, chapter members, and Professor Nagurney for her assistance with this event.
As always, stay tuned for more exciting events at UMass Amherst, whether during this fall semester or in the future. Our next planned event will be the 2024 INFORMS Annual Meeting Tune-Up, and we hope to see you there!