Dear INFORMS HAS/MSOM Community:
We are pleased to announce that the 2025 Canadian Operational Research Society (CORS) Health Care Operational Research (HCOR) SIG Micro-Event will be held at 11am-noon EST, on Friday, December 5, 2025. This micro-event will be an online zoom seminar co-presented by Prof Sarah Yini Gao and Prof. Daniel Zhichao Zheng. You are cordially invited to attend this event by registering at
https://forms.gle/qsD3mezuxR5cw8wt5
A zoom link will be sent to the registered emails before the event date. Please refer to attached flyer or the following text for details about the online seminar.
Title: Maximizing Effectiveness in Two-Stage Colorectal Cancer Screening in Singapore
Abstract: Two-stage screening programs are widely adopted for early detection of colorectal cancer (CRC). Individuals with a positive first-stage (initial) test are recommended to undergo a second-stage diagnostic colonoscopy. However, both initial screening uptake and post-positive-test adherence to colonoscopy remain low. We have conducted a series of studies to explore effective strategies and optimal screening policies to address both uptake and adherence in the Singapore context, leveraging multiple data sources, including a nationwide survey. In this talk, we first present a randomized controlled trial examining the effectiveness of health information sharing in promoting screening uptake. Second, we present a data-driven optimization of the first-stage test cut-off that incorporates adherence behavior and accounts for limited colonoscopy capacity, with the goal of maximizing overall program effectiveness.
Bio of Speakers: Dr. Sarah Yini Gao is an Assistant Professor of Operations Management at Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University. Her current research interests lie in applying optimization theory and data analytics in various domains, including healthcare operations management, supply chain risk management, humanitarian operations, and topics on innovative business models. Her research has been published in leading journals, including Management Science, Operations Research, M&SOM, Marketing Science, and POM. She received her Ph.D. from the National University of Singapore in 2017.
Dr. Daniel Zhichao Zheng is an Associate Professor of Operations Management at Singapore Management University. His research focuses on data analytics and optimization, with applications in healthcare operations, clinical decision-making, and public health policy design. His work has appeared in Operations Research, Management Science, M&SOM, and various medical journals. He serves as an Associate Editor for Management Science, Service Science, and the Journal of Management Science and Engineering. His research has received over SGD 800,000 in funding from Singapore's Ministry of Education.
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[Yichuan] [Ding] [Vice President of CORS HCOR SIG]
[Associate Professor and Desautels Faculty Scholar]
[Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University]
[Montreal] [QC]
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