Julie Swann

 
Julie Swann is the department head and A. Doug Allison Distinguished Professor of the Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering. She is an affiliate faculty in the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at both NC State and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Before joining NC State, Swann was the Harold R. and Mary Anne Nash Professor in the Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. There she co-founded and co-directed the Center for Health and Humanitarian Systems (CHHS), one of the first interdisciplinary research centers on the Georgia Tech campus. Starting with her work with CHHS, Swann has conducted research, outreach and education to improve how health and humanitarian systems operate worldwide.
 

Health and Humanitarian Research

Swann is a Fellow of IISE and a member of INFORMS as well as a research leader in using analytics and system approaches to enable health care and supply chains to become more efficient, effective, or equitable. Her work as a systems engineer with analytics skills relates to areas of public health, public policy, epidemiology, infectious disease, supply chain management, and disaster response. Recent activities include:

• Conducting analytics to reduce adverse events and unplanned admissions to hospitals and skilled nursing facilities for the Medicare system, as part of a data innovation team in the 2019-2020 CMS national innovation challenge. This work includes examining the role of the CMS quality ranking systems on adverse events and unplanned admissions.
• Leading a team selected by the CDC and the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists to develop forecasts and decision models to support state decision making during the Covid-19 pandemic in the US.
• Analyzing the disease’s epidemiology and public health impacts the spread of a pandemic, including influenza (2007 to current) and Covid-19 (2020 to present).
• Educating practitioners from non-profits, industry, government agencies, etc., that conduct emergency management and disaster response on crucial aspects of supply chain management.
• Quantifying the return on investment from decisions by state agencies to improve pediatric asthma.

 

Collaborations

Swann has collaborated widely with organizations such as:

• The American Red Cross
• The Carter Center
• CARE USA
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
• Emory University Hospital
• State Departments of Public Health
• and many other companies

Worldwide, she has contributed to the education of thousands of practitioners in health and humanitarian systems through the co-creation and teaching in a professional certificate program at Georgia Tech. This contribution includes teaching in the MASHLM program in Lugano, Switzerland, and co-chairing the annual Health and Humanitarian Logistics Conference.
 

Media Coverage

Swann has served as an expert for the media, appearing in sources such as:

• Forbes
• LiveScience
• The Washington Post
• Politico
• The Los Angeles Times
• Scientific American
• FiveThirtyEight
• The Hill
• The Atlanta Journal and Constitution
• The Raleigh News and Observer
• WRAL
• CNBC
• USA Today
• The Atlantic
• IMPACT 2020, Powered by McClatchy DC

 

 
To see her full list of media appearances with links to each publication, view ISE’s In the News page.

 

Research Interests

Swann is a research leader in using mathematical modeling to enable supply chain systems and health care to become more efficient, effective, or equitable. Recent collaborations have been to quantify the return on public investments to improve pediatric asthma, plan for infectious disease outbreaks, analyze administrative claims data from Medicaid patients across the US, and design systems with decentralized decision-makers.

Education

Honors and Awards

• 2021 | Elected as 2022 Chair of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers Council of Industrial Engineering Academic Department Heads
• 2020 | Finalist in Best Service Science Paper Competition, Service Science Section Cluster of INFORMS
• 2020 | Volunteer Service Award, Institute of Industrial Systems Engineers
• 2020 | Fellow, Institute of Industrial Systems Engineers
• 2012 | GT College of Engineering ‘s Georgia Power Professor of Excellence
• 2011 | Atlanta Busines Chronicle’s 40 under 40 Award
• 2007 | Joe Magnan Alumna of the Year for Tattnall Square Academy
• 2006 | Council of Outstanding Young Engineering Alumni of Georgia Tech Inductee
• 2004 | CAREER Award, National Science Foundation
• 2004 | Charles McKuen Award for outstanding contributions to General Motors
• 2002 | Council of Logistics Management Dissertation Award

Discover more about Julie Swann

• Swann Named IISE Council Chair
• Swann Joins a Great Group of Fellows
• To Eradicate Guinea Worm Disease in Humans, Scientists Focus on Dogs
• Four-University Study Focuses on Student Well-Being During the Pandemic
• From Testing to Distribution: The Logistics Behind COVID-19 Vaccines
• Why We Should Already Be Planning For COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution 
• Study Finds Dedicated Clinics Can Reduce Impact of a Flu Pandemic
• All Systems Go 
• 2019 FMM Alumni Celebration
• Outreach and Engagement
• She’s Eager to Tell the ISE Story
• North Carolina State’s Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering Welcomes First Female Department Head
• Welcome Dr. Julie Swann as new ISE Head