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Fatih Safa Erenay is an Associate Professor in the Department of Management Sciences at the University of À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ. His research interestsÌýincludeÌýapplications of stochastic modelling and optimization, with a focus on Markov decision processes, partially observable Markov decision processes, dynamic programming, simulation, and simulation-based optimization.ÌýUsing his methodological expertise, heÌýdevelops novel modelsÌýto tackle high-impact medical decision making, transportation, and production planning problems.
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HisÌýresearch mainly focuses on optimal decision making for the management of infectious and chronic diseases.ÌýHe uses stochastic modelling and simulation to capture the progression of diseases such as end stage liver disease, cancer, influenza, MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus), and ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). Then,ÌýheÌýemploys Markov decision processes (MDPs), partially observable MDPs (POMDPs), control theory, and simulation-based optimization to determine valuable insights about the optimal management of these diseases and/or optimal delivery of associated health services. He activelyÌýcollaborates with clinicians and public health expertsÌýfrom the School of Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Mayo Clinic-Rochester, and Grand River Hospital, Kitchener-Canada to shed light on various controversial policy questions and methodological issues, such as;
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- How should donated organs be allocated to patients awaiting transplant to balance the efficiency (e.g., life year gains) and urgency measures (e.g., pre-transplant deaths)?
- How frequently should an individual patient with particular demographics, personal history, and risk of having advanced lesions undergo cancer screening?
- How can we improve vaccine coverage and reduce vaccine wastage by using multi-dose vials of different sizes? Can we avoid service denial using small and large vials dynamically?
- How can we optimize the vaccine allocation protocols to mitigate influenza pandemic propagation while considering the randomness and heterogeneity in disease spread?
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Professor Erenay’s research also includesÌýOR applications inÌýproduction planning, multi-criteria scheduling, and transportation problems.ÌýHeÌýhas publications or papers under revisionÌýin prestigious OR journals such as Operations Research, M&SOM, ProductionÌý& Operation Management, INFORMS Journal on Computing, IIE Transactions,ÌýEuropean Journal of Operational Research, andÌýAnnals of Operations ResearchÌýas well asÌýin well-known medical and engineering journals such as Cancer, PLoS ONE, Medical Decision Making, and Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research.ÌýThe quality ofÌýhis research has been acknowledged by several prestigious awards: 2009 Service Science Best Paper Award (Winner), 2009 INFORMS Pierskalla Best Paper Award (Finalist),ÌýPoster Competition of 2009 IERC Doctoral Colloquium (Winner).ÌýIn 2017 and 2018,Ìýhis PhD students became the winner and the runner-upÌýin the CORS Student Paper Competition forÌýtheir joint works.ÌýDr Erenay is also an associate editor for IISE Transactions on Healthcare Systems Engineering and an editorial board member for INFORMS Service Science journal.
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