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Operations

A Machine-Learning Model Can Help Reunite Long-Separated Families

Hundreds of thousands of children in China have been separated from their parents. A Yale SOM study finds that a machine-learning approach could cut years off family reunification efforts by matching imperfect, self-reported memories from parents and children.

An abstract illustration show human figures looking at each other
  • New Outbreaks of Coronavirus Can Be Halted with Isolation Measures, According to Study

    Yale SOM’s Edward Kaplan used early reports out of Wuhan to evaluate the likely effectiveness of common tactics, such as isolation of patients and quarantine, in keeping the disease from spreading in new regions.

    A deserted train station in Wuhan, China, on January 23, 2020. Photo: Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images.
  • How Machine Learning Can Find Extremists on Social Media

    Yale SOM's Tauhid Zaman investigated how artificial intelligence could assist efforts to detect and suspend extremist accounts, before they are used to recruit members and spread propaganda.

    A complex network diagram with some nodes highlighted in red
  • A Decision Analysis Approach Points to Better Diagnosis of Prostate Cancer 

    A new study led by Yale SOM’s Arthur J. Swersey, using decision analysis techniques, finds that increasing the number of biopsy needles and using probability modeling to analyze the results can help prevent unnecessary treatment while identifying dangerous cancers.

    A micrograph showing prostatic acinar adenocarcinoma, the most common form of prostate cancer. Photo: Nephron/Wikimedia.
  • Three Questions: Prof. Vahideh Manshadi on Improving Kidney Donation

    This month, the Trump administration announced a series of steps to overhaul the kidney transplant system. We asked operations expert Vahideh Manshadi if the changes could make a difference for patients.

    A car with a request for help finding a kidney written on the rear windshield
  • Kidney Exchange Registries Should Collaborate to Save More Lives

    Yale SOM’s Vahideh Manshadi and her co-authors examined the methodology of kidney exchange registries, and found that registries can find more matches if they collaborate to build a unified database.

    A "Concentration"-style card came with matching kidney cards turned up
  • Why Hidden Populations Are So Hard to Count

    Yale researchers Edward Kaplan and Jonathan Feinstein explain how widely accepted estimates have greatly undercounted the number of undocumented immigrants in the United States.

    A map of the United States illustrating inflows and outflows of people.
  • Could Better Predictions Improve End-of-Life Care?

    A statistical tool that predicts when patients with advanced cancer are likely to die could help promote patient welfare by transferring more people from aggressive interventions to hospice care.

    Screen of heart monitor
  • Three Questions: Prof. Edieal Pinker on Holiday Travel

    We asked Prof. Edieal Pinker if operations research can make airline travel less unpleasant.

    Crowded airport
  • Can Operations Research Help Find Terrorists?

    Yale SOM’s Edward H. Kaplan uses queuing algorithms to estimate how many terror cells exist and determine how to efficiently combat them.

    Pixelated Art Work
  • How Dangerous Is America?

    In the Boston Globe Magazine, Professor Edward Kaplan writes that although more Americans report being worried about terror attacks, we are safer than we often feel. He cites his research that estimated the number of hidden terror plots being planned in the U.S. at any given time.