Media Coverage

Media articles featuring INFORMS members in the news.

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What Biden Can Do to Fix America's COVID-19 Vaccine Mess

What Biden Can Do to Fix America's COVID-19 Vaccine Mess

Vox, January 22, 2021

One of President Joe Biden’s most pressing tasks is speeding up America’s Covid-19 vaccination efforts. Vaccines are the US’s way out of the pandemic. But the vast majority of Americans — perhaps 70 percent or more, though we don’t know for sure — will have to be inoculated to reach herd immunity or protect at least most of the population. That means vaccinating hundreds of millions of people. The US isn’t on track to do that quickly. Former President Donald Trump’s administration aimed to vaccinate 20 million Americans by the end of 2020. Three weeks into 2021, slightly more than 15 million have gotten at least one dose. 

Biden's COVID-19 Plan Creates More Vaccination Sites, Speeds Through Priority Groups

Biden's COVID-19 Plan Creates More Vaccination Sites, Speeds Through Priority Groups

The Olympian, January 21, 2021

President Joe Biden’s national distribution plan for COVID-19 vaccines calls for increased access and ramping up production for a pandemic that he warned on Thursday will get worse before it gets better. “More people, more places, more supply,” Bechara Choucair, the Biden administration’s vaccine coordinator, told reporters. “That’s what this boils down to.” Biden wants to expand the number of people with access to vaccines as quickly as possible. His plan seeks to create hundreds of mass vaccination centers around the country. And he wants to compel the manufacturers of vaccines, and of the medical equipment required to administer them, to ramp up production.

You Might End Up Getting Your COVID Vaccine From a Dentist or Veterinarian

You Might End Up Getting Your COVID Vaccine From a Dentist or Veterinarian

Vice, January 21, 2021

As states try to pick up the pace in administering coronavirus vaccines, they’re asking a wide range of nontraditional workers to step in. And that means people rolling up to get their shot might find a National Guard member, a dentist, or a veterinarian on the other side of the needle. As of Wednesday, the U.S. has distributed more than 36 million vaccine doses, but administered only about 16.5 million. There’s a host of reasons for that imbalance, including inadequate planning, but some health officials are grappling with a shortage of people able to give the shot. After all, health care workers are also busy managing the COVID-19 pandemic itself.

How Engineering Can Contribute to a Reimagining of the US Public Health System

How Engineering Can Contribute to a Reimagining of the US Public Health System

My Plainview, January 21, 2021

Of the many things that COVID-19 has made abundantly clear to us, surely one of them is a newfound realization that public health has become increasingly complex. Understanding the challenges to public health – that is, the task of guarding the well-being of the U.S. population – is essential now more than ever. As an engineer, design futurist and graduate program director, I have seen how COVID-19 has transformed how public health preparedness is viewed and understood. Some say the pandemic has delivered an urgency for a reimagining of public health. From problems in producing PPE that demonstrate the vulnerabilities in critical supply chains to solutions in vaccine distribution challenges that leverage innovative public-private partnerships, new perspectives and approaches to public health are necessary.

President Biden's National Mask Mandate: What It Means For You

President Biden's National Mask Mandate: What It Means For You

WSOC TV, January 21, 2021

One of President Joe Biden’s first official acts is to require the use of masks and social distancing in all federal buildings, on federal lands and by federal employees and contractors. The White House recommends:

  • Every American to wear a mask when they are around people outside their household.
  • Every governor to make that mandatory in their state.
  • Local authorities to also make it mandatory to support their state’s orders.

Health experts and scientists have repeatedly said that wearing masks and social distancing helps stop the spread of COVID-19. Dr. Julie Swann with North Carolina State University has studied the effectiveness of masks. She leads a team chosen by the CDC to create models for supporting states with their decision-making on the coronavirus.

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Artificial Intelligence

Study finds ChatGPT mirrors human decision biases in half the tests

Study finds ChatGPT mirrors human decision biases in half the tests

Celebrity Gig, April 2, 2025

Can we really trust AI to make better decisions than humans? A new study says … not always. Researchers have discovered that OpenAI’s ChatGPT, one of the most advanced and popular AI models, makes the same kinds of decision-making mistakes as humans in some situations—showing biases like overconfidence of hot-hand (gambler’s) fallacy—yet acting inhuman in others (e.g., not suffering from base-rate neglect or sunk cost fallacies).

Why 23andMe’s Genetic Data Could Be a ‘Gold Mine’ for AI Companies

Why 23andMe’s Genetic Data Could Be a ‘Gold Mine’ for AI Companies

TIME, March 26, 2025

The genetic testing company 23andMe, which holds the genetic data of 15 million people, declared bankruptcy on Sunday night after years of financial struggles. This means that all of the extremely personal user data could be up for sale—and that vast trove of genetic data could draw interest from AI companies looking to train their data sets, experts say.

Healthcare

Want to reduce the cost of healthcare? Start with our billing practices.

Want to reduce the cost of healthcare? Start with our billing practices.

The Hill, March 11, 2025

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as the new secretary of Health and Human Services, is the nation’s de facto healthcare czar. He will have influence over numerous highly visible agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration, among others. Given that healthcare is something that touches everyone’s life, his footprint of influence will be expansive. 

We all benefit from and are hurt by health insurance claim denials

We all benefit from and are hurt by health insurance claim denials

Atlanta Journal Constitution, January 23, 2025

Health insurance has become necessary, with large and unpredictable health care costs always looming before each of us. Unfortunately, the majority of people have experienced problems when using their health insurance to pay for their medical care. Health insurance serves as the buffer between patients and the medical care system, using population pooling to mitigate the risk exposure on any one individual.

Supply Chain

LM Podcast Series: Looking at the state of the supply chain with Rob Handfield

LM Podcast Series: Looking at the state of the supply chain with Rob Handfield

Logistics Management/, April 22, 2025

During this podcast Handfield addressed various topics, including: the current state of the supply chain; steps and actions shippers should consider related to tariffs; how the supply chain is viewed; the need for supply chain resiliency; and supply chain risk mangement planning, among others. 

Tariff fight continues between U.S. and China

Tariff fight continues between U.S. and China

FOX News, April 18, 2025

Oklahoma State University's Sunderesh Heragu joins LiveNOW's Austin Westfall to discuss the evolving economic landscape after President Trump implemented tariffs on some of our biggest trade partners. Most tariffs have been halted for now -- but not with China. Beijing and the White House have levied steep tariffs on each other. Trump announced that tariffs on China would reach 145 percent. In response, China imposed 125 percent tariffs on U.S.-imported goods.

Climate