Organizers

Forum Chair

Pinar KeskinocakPinar Keskinocak, PhD
Georgia Institute of Technology
William W. George Chair, School of Industrial and Systems Engineering; Co-director, Center for Health & Humanitarian Systems (CHHS); ADVANCE Professor, College of Engineering, Georgia Tech

Dr. Keskinocak has over 20 years of experience in logistics and supply management. Her work focuses on the applications of operations research and management science with societal impact, particularly health and humanitarian applications. She co-founded and co-directs the GT Center for Health and Humanitarian Systems, which was recently named an Interdisciplinary Research Center at Georgia Tech. Her recent work has addressed infectious disease modeling (e.g., cholera, pandemic flu), evaluating intervention strategies, and resource allocation; catch-up scheduling for vaccinations; medical decision-making (e.g., disease screening); hospital operations management; disaster preparedness and response (e.g., prepositioning inventory, debris management). She has worked on a variety of projects with companies, governmental and non-governmental organizations, and healthcare providers, including American Red Cross, CARE, CDC, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Emory University Hospital, Grady Memorial Hospital, Pan-American Health Organization, and the Task Force for Global Health.

Forum Co-Sponsor

Georgia Tech School of Industrial and Systems Engineering

Institute for People and Technology

Program Committee

Beth MynattBeth Mynatt, PhD
Georgia Institute of Technology
Distinguished Professor and Executive Director Institute for People and Technology (IPaT)

Dr. Elizabeth Mynatt is Distinguished Professor in the College of Computing and the Executive Director of Georgia Tech’s Institute for People and Technology (IPaT). IPaT is pursuing innovative new ideas to promote healthy, productive and fulfilling lives on a global scale. By fostering an interdisciplinary and collaborative environment between Georgia Tech faculty, students, and external partners, IPaT provides the continuity and capacity to address and solve today’s scientific, social, and economic grand challenges surrounding the health and well-being of people, their families, and communities. Mynatt is an internationally recognized expert in the areas of ubiquitous computing and assistive technologies. Her research contributes to ongoing work in personal health informatics, computer-supported collaborative work and human-computer interface design.

 

Michael Best

Michael Best, PhD
Georgia Institute of Technology
Associate Professor, School of Interactive Computing; Joint with the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs

Michael L. Best directs the United Nations University Institute on Computing and Society (UNU-CS) in Macau SAR, China. He is an associate professor, on leave, with the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs and the School of Interactive Computing in the College of Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he directs the Technologies and International Development Lab. Best’s research focuses on information and communication technologies (ICTs) for social, economic, and political development. In particular he studies mobile and Internet-enabled services and their design, impact, and importance within low-income countries of Africa and Asia. Additionally, he researched engineering, public policy, and business issues as well as methods to assess and evaluate development outcomes. Professor Best is also interested in the impact of ICTs on the development-security nexus and on post-conflict reconstruction and reconciliation.

Professor Best is cofounder and Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of the widely read Information Technologies and International Development journal, and he spearheads the Global Computing column for Communications of the ACM. He holds a doctorate from MIT and has served as director of Media Lab Asia in India and head of the eDevelopment group at the MIT Media Lab. Best has over 100 published papers in journals, proceedings, and books. He is the recipient of awards including the Stephen A. Denning Faculty Award for Global Engagement (2014), People & Technology Award, Georgia Tech Research Corporation (2011), and Ivan Allen Faculty Legacy Award (2009).

 

Shatakshee Dhongde

Shatakshee Dhongde, PhD
Georgia Institute of Technology
Associate Professor and Director for Graduate Teaching and Training, School of Economics

Shatakshee Dhongde is an Associate Professor in the School of Economics. She obtained her Ph.D. from the University of California, Riverside. She is a research affiliate with the Institute of Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Her research has focused on studying the impact of globalization on economic growth and income inequality and measurement of poverty and multidimensional deprivation. She was awarded the Nancy and Richard Ruggles Prize by the International Association for Research in Income and Wealth in 2012. The award is given for the best research paper by a young scholar under the age of 35. Her work has been published in leading economics journals. In addition to her research, she enjoys teaching and is the recipient of multiple teaching awards at Georgia Tech. She has been selected in the inaugural cohort of the Provost Teaching Learning Fellows Program.

 

Sherry Farrugia, PhD

Sherry Farrugia
Georgia Institute of Technology
Chief Operating and Strategy Officer Pediatric Technology Center
Director, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Partnership

As a Strategic Partners Officer for Georgia Tech Sherry works closely with corporate leaders to develop partnerships between companies and campus. By understanding their business and technology interests and applying an in-depth knowledge of Georgia Tech’s expertise, research initiatives and health information technology, Sherry develop the connections and collaboration models that best meet a company’s strategic goals, specifically as it relates to Health IT. This includes providing insight into the innovations, new technologies and start up ventures developed at Georgia Tech.

Prior to Georgia Tech, Sherry was senior vice president of gBehavior, a company that delivers custom-designed behavior modification solutions to the self-insured to measurably change behavior in health and wellness, ultimately reducing the cost of providing health care to its employees. She also co-founded and sold a health care IT company to McKesson HBO & Company in the early ’90s whose technology was focused on point-of-care documentation and tracking both clinical and financial outcomes – technology McKesson is still using in their systems today.

 

Bill Todd

Bill Todd
Georgia Institute of Technology
Professor of the Practice, Scheller College of Business

Bill Todd joined the Scheller College of Business faculty after serving as president and CEO of the Georgia Cancer Coalition for eight years. Under his leadership, the Georgia Cancer Coalition raised and invested more than $300 million to support research and prevention efforts to reduce cancer deaths. His 40-year career has focused on health care and technology management in Atlanta, Georgia. He was the founding president of the Georgia Research Alliance in 1990, nurturing the independent not-for-profit organization that has helped build Georgia’s reputation as a center for discovery and invention and fostered major advances in science, medicine and technology. He also founded Encina Technology Ventures in 2000. Todd began his career at Emory University hospitals, clinics and the medical school, where he held a variety of administrative posts over two decades, ultimately serving as assistant vice president for Medical Administration at the Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center.

Since returning to his alma mater in 2011, Bill Todd developed three courses in Healthcare Management. He teaches Management in the Healthcare Sector each semester, and has written four original cases. He also has taught Principles of Management for the non-management majors, as well as the Entrepreneurship Forum and Strategic Management. He also serves as Faculty Guide in the Stamps President’s Scholars Program. He has been invited to teach in the Study Abroad Program at Worcester College at the University of Oxford in 2013 and 2015 and at the Biomedical Engineering Study Abroad Program at the National University of Ireland in 2016 and 2019. He has received excellence in teaching awards from both the College and the Institute.