ISE seminar Friday 3-4

INDUSTRIAL AND SYSTEMS ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
SPRING 2011 SEMINAR SERIES


TITLE:                 Public Health Engineering Examples

SPEAKER:         Dr. Paul Griffin is a professor in the Harold and Inge Marcus Department of Industrial
                              and Manufacturing Engineering at Penn State University

DATE / TIME:     Friday, March 4, 2011
                              2:30 – 3:30 p.m.

LOCATION:       Room 453 Mohler Lab, 200 W. Packer Avenue


ABSTRACT: Many papers in the medical literature analyze the cost-effectiveness of screening for diseases by comparing a limited number of a priori testing policies under estimated problem parameters. However, this may be insufficient to determine the best timing of the tests or incorporate changes over time. We discuss a model for a simple class of asymptomatic diseases in order to provide the building blocks for analysis of a more general class of diseases. We provide a computationally efficient method for determining a cost-effective dynamic intervention strategy that takes into account (i) the results of the previous test for each individual and (ii) the change in the individual’s behavior based on awareness of the disease. We demonstrate the usefulness of the approach by applying the results to screening decisions for Hepatitis C (HCV) using medical data, and compare our findings to current HCV screening recommendations. A very brief discussion of other current work in public health engineering will also be given including: i) TB infection control in resource-constrained countries, ii) comparison of health outcomes through increased access and Medicaid expansion, and iii) impact of bathhouse closure on HIV incidence.

BIOGRAPHY: Paul Griffin is a professor in the Harold and Inge Marcus Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at Penn State University where he serves as the Peter and Angela Dal Pezzo Department Head. He received his PhD in Industrial Engineering from Texas A&M University. His research and teaching interests are in health systems engineering and supply chain modeling. In particular, his current research activities have focused on cost-effectiveness modeling of public health interventions, health logistics, health access and economic modeling, and pricing and contracting mechanisms.