Julie Swann

A. Doug Allison Distinguished Professor and Department Head

 
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 the 2022 President-Elect of INFORMS and a Fellow of IISE, INFORMS, and AIMBE as well as a research leader in using analytics and system approaches to enable healthcare 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.
Julie Swann discusses her health and humanitarian research
 

 

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:

 

 

Julie Swann Headshot
Julie Swann Presenting at a Conference
Julie Swann at a Conference
Julie Swann Teaching Class
Julie Swann talking with Alumni
Julie Swann being interviewed by the media

 

 

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

DegreeProgramSchoolYear
Ph.D.Doctorate of Industrial Engineering/Management ScienceNorthwestern University2001
MSIEMaster of Science in Industrial Engineering/Management ScienceNorthwestern University1998
BSIEBachelor of Science in Industrial EngineeringGeorgia Institute of Technology1996
 

Honors and Awards

  • 2022 | President-Elect, Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences
  • 2022 | Fellow, Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences
  • 2022 | Fellow, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering
  • 2021 | 2022 Chair, 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 for Operations Research and the Management Sciences
  • 2020 | Fellow, Institute of Industrial and 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

 

Publications

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Potential Interventions for Guinea Worm Disease in Dogs in Chad Using Simulations
Wang, Y., Perini, T., Keskinocak, P., Smalley, H., Swann, J., & Weiss, A. (2023, May 28). , . https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.05.22.23290350
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Potential Interventions for Guinea Worm Disease in Dogs in Chad Using Simulations
Wang, Y., Perini, T., Keskinocak, P., Smalley, H., Swann, J., & Weiss, A. (2023), AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE AND HYGIENE, 109(4), 835–843. https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.22-0654
Evaluation of the US COVID-19 Scenario Modeling Hub for informing pandemic response under uncertainty
Howerton, E., Contamin, L., Mullany, L. C., Qin, M., Reich, N. G., Bents, S., … Lessler, J. (2023), NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-42680-x
Potential Impact of a Diagnostic Test for Detecting Prepatent Guinea Worm Infections in Dogs
Smalley, H., Keskinocak, P., Swann, J., Hanna, C., & Weiss, A. (2023, October 31). , . https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.10.30.23297718
Risk Score Models for Unplanned Urinary Tract Infection Hospitalization
Alizadeh, N., Vahdat, K., Shashaani, S., Swann, J. L., & Ozaltin, O. (2023, August 9). , . https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.08.06.23293723
AN APPROACH TO POPULATION SYNTHESIS OF ENGINEERING STUDENTS FOR UNDERSTANDING DROPOUT RISK
Dorris, D., Ivy, J., & Swann, J. (2022), 2022 WINTER SIMULATION CONFERENCE (WSC), pp. 677–688. https://doi.org/10.1109/WSC57314.2022.10015440
COULD EARLIER AVAILABILITY OF BOOSTERS AND PEDIATRIC VACCINES HAVE REDUCED IMPACT OF COVID-19?
Rosenstrom, E. T., Ivy, J. S., Mayorga, M. E., & Swann, J. L. (2022), 2022 WINTER SIMULATION CONFERENCE (WSC), pp. 1092–1103. https://doi.org/10.1109/WSC57314.2022.10015236
Cross-sector Decision Landscape in Response to COVID-19: A Qualitative Analysis of North Carolina Decision-Makers
Biddell, C. B., Johnson, K. T., Patel, M. D., Smith, R. L., Hecht, H. K., Swann, J. L., … Lich, K. H. (2022, March 12). , (Vol. 3). Vol. 3. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.03.09.22272160
Cross-sector decision landscape in response to COVID-19: A qualitative network mapping analysis of North Carolina decision-makers
Biddell, C. B. B., Johnson, K. T. T., Patel, M. D. D., Smith, R. L. L., Hecht, H. K. K., Swann, J. L. L., … Lich, K. H. (2022), FRONTIERS IN PUBLIC HEALTH, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.906602
DIP: Natural history model for major depression with incidence and prevalence
Yildirim, M., Gaynes, B. N., Keskinocak, P., Pence, B. W., & Swann, J. (2022), JOURNAL OF AFFECTIVE DISORDERS, 296, 498–505. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2021.09.079

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Julie Swann