Soroush Saghafian Photo
Associate Professor of Public Policy
Contact:
617-496-1748
617-384-7340

Personal Website

Dr. Soroush Saghafian is interested in using and developing operations research, management science, and operations management techniques that can have significant public benefits. He is the founder and director of the Public Impact Analytics Science Lab (PIAS-Lab) at Harvard, which is devoted to advancing and applying the science of analytics for solving societal problems that can have public impact. His current teaching focuses on Machine Learning and Big Data Analytics tools for solving societal problems.  He has been collaborating with a variety of hospitals to improve their operational efficiency, patient flow, medical decision-making, and more broadly, healthcare delivery policies. He also serves as a core faculty member for the Harvard Center for Health Decision Science, a faculty affiliate for the Harvard Ph.D. Program in Health Policy,  the Harvard Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government (M-RCBG), the Harvard Data Science Initiative, the Harvard Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, the Harvard Center for Public Leadership, is an associate faculty member at the Harvard Ariadne Labs (Health Systems Innovation), and a holds a research collaborator position at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).

Dr. Saghafian's research has appeared in the news, including in pieces and interviews by PBS News, NBC News, Euronews, The Hill, National Academy of Medicine, Harvard Crimson, New-Meical.net, Industry Global News 24, Global Health News Wire, Eureka Alert (American Association for the Advancement of Science), Medscape, Medical Xpress, Managed Healthcare Executive, DOTmed, ABC Channel (TV), and INFORMS.

He has won various awards for his research, including the INFORMS MSOM 2023 Responsible Research Award (second place)  “[for] contributing knowledge that may have implications for making the world a better place by informing evidence-based, high-quality, and societally beneficial organizational practices across the business, government, and non-government organizations,” INFORMS MSOM Young Scholar Prize (2021) “[for] outstanding contributions to scholarship in operations management," Inaugural INFORMS 2020 Mehrotra Research Excellence Award "for significant contributions to the practice of health applications through operations research (OR) and management science (MS) modeling and methodologies,"  INFORMS 2018 Public Sector Best Paper Award (second place),  and  2010 INFORMS Pierskalla Award "for the best research paper in healthcare."

Dr. Saghafian's research has been supported through various grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF)Department of Defense (Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs)Mayo Clinic, and Harvard University, among others.

Academic Journal/Scholarly Articles

Book Chapters

HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series

Research Papers/Reports

Commentary

Transparent Engagement 

Harvard Kennedy School is proud of its energetic involvement in the world. To better understand how to solve public problems by improving policy and leadership, we engage directly with policymakers, public leaders, governments, nonprofit organizations, and for-profit businesses whose activities affect those problems. However, we recognize that such engagement can raise questions about perceived and potential conflicts of interest, so we disclose publicly the key professional activities of our faculty outside the Kennedy School. The activities disclosed below are for the most recent reporting period, as defined by University policy. Some may be paid, some may be unpaid, and others may be in exchange for expense reimbursement only.

Outside Professional Activities For Soroush Saghafian

Organization Relationship
Harvard School of Public Health Speaking engagement, invited lecture, or presentation
International Academic Program Speaking engagement, invited lecture, or presentation
Enquire AI Membership on a scientific or other advisory board
Massachusetts General Hospital Research or teaching appointment

Contact

Phone: 617-496-1748

Expertise

Health
Social Policy
Science, Technology & Data
Decision Making & Negotiation
Public Leadership & Management

Mailing Address

Harvard Kennedy School
79 John F. Kennedy Street
Cambridge, MA 02138