Get to know HAS President Dr. Sze-Chuan Suen! Student liaisons Yiwen Cao, Ming Luo, Sonza Singh, and Yinsheng Wang met with Dr. Suen to learn more about her professional background, advice for graduate school and career, her perspective on INFORMS and HAS, and some fun facts.
Professional Background
Yiwen Cao: As someone whobegan with a strong foundation in both economics and biological science, what initially drew you to health policy modeling and decision science?
Dr. Sze-Chuan Suen: I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do as an undergrad, so I explored many things, double majoring in Economics and Biology. I was also pre-med and interested in medicine. I found economics interesting due to the decision-making and theory involved. Ultimately, Industrial Engineering and Operations Research (IEOR) provided systematic ways to answer questions in these areas, which led me here. My interest in medicine remained throughout.
Yiwen Cao: Looking across your work, what patterns or themes define your approach as a researcher?
Dr. Sze-Chuan Suen: I do very applied work, often collaborating with medical schools, clinicians, and public health departments. These applied questions frequently lead to more theoretical ones. Many projects in our group are inspired by real-world problems, which might initially be addressed with simpler techniques, but then allow us to explore deeper theoretical questions.
Yiwen Cao: Fill in the blanks: I am an expert in _____ and I wish I knew more about _____.
Dr. Sze-Chuan Suen: I guess I'm an expert in applying IEOR techniques to healthcare problems, especially public health and medical decision-making. I wish I knew more about basically everything else. Since becoming a grad student, I've realized how vast the world is, and I'd love to learn more about everything.
Yiwen Cao: What makes a research problem worth it to you?
Dr. Sze-Chuan Suen: If it's fun to do. It's enjoyable when you can bring in ideas from other contexts, adapt them, and identify a novel component you think you can figure out. That process is really fun and makes a project worthwhile. It's also helpful if there are collaborators or students who are also interested in the journey with you.
Yiwen Cao: What moment or achievement would you say you are most proud of so far in your professional journey?
Dr. Sze-Chuan Suen: I get really excited and proud when I receive positive news via email, like getting my first faculty position, my first grant, or the NSF CAREER award. It represents a lot of hard work being recognized and paying off.
Yiwen Cao: What keeps you motivated?
Dr. Sze-Chuan Suen: Interesting questions keep me motivated. When people present issues, like in patient workflow or disease management, and you realize you can help figure it out, that's really exciting. Thinking about how to adapt and turn these into the next project is highly motivating.
Graduate School, Careers, and INFORMS
Ming Luo: What were the biggest challenges you faced during your PhD journey and how did you overcome them?
Dr. Sze-Chuan Suen: My biggest challenge was internal; I felt stuck in my third and fourth years. Projects seemed like they weren't progressing, which was frustrating amidst pressures like proposals and conferences. What helped was talking with colleagues and other grad students. Seeing their enthusiasm for their work helped reignite mine, reminding me why I was doing it, even if temporarily stuck. Eventually, you work through it.
Ming Luo: As a PhD advisor, what advice do you have for students who feel stuck and worry about impressing their advisor? How should they communicate?
Dr. Sze-Chuan Suen: Advisors know you'll get stuck; research involves unknowns. They know you're trying to impress them. Show that you're making an effort. Explain what you tried, what worked, what didn't, and your thought process. This demonstrates effort and can lead to breakthroughs during discussion as you work through the problem together. Don't be afraid to say something didn't work. When stuck, talking to people, consulting literature, or even stepping away and working on another project can help you return with fresh eyes.
Ming Luo: What skills or experience make a PhD student stand out in the job market (academia or industry)?
Dr. Sze-Chuan Suen: While academic and industry markets look for slightly different things, both value similar core attributes. Show that you are knowledgeable in your research area, passionate about it, and possess strong problem-solving skills. Since you won't necessarily work on the exact same topics post-graduation, demonstrating motivation, curiosity, innovation, and passion is key, as these traits are transferable to new questions and areas.
Ming Luo: What factors influenced your decision to pursue academia instead of industry?
Dr. Sze-Chuan Suen: It's a tough decision many grad students face. Talking to junior faculty and postdocs who have just gone through this progress about their experiences can be helpful. For me, the key factor was the freedom in academia to choose projects, pursue new research areas I hadn't worked in before, seek new grants, and collaborate with new people, all on my own schedule. That flexibility and freedom felt unique to academia.
Ming Luo: How has being an INFORMS member impacted your PhD journey and career?
Dr. Sze-Chuan Suen: INFORMS, especially the annual meeting, is incredibly valuable. It allows you to see the breadth of the field beyond your specific research group, understand the wide range of techniques and applications, and even see similar techniques used in different areas. Networking is another major benefit – meeting people, discussing career prospects, learning from others' experiences, and utilizing the job market sessions.
Ming Luo: Do you have any useful networking strategies to share?
Dr. Sze-Chuan Suen: There are different types. First, let people know who you are and what you do through your presentation and engaging with in-depth questions afterward. Maintain connections post-meeting if potential collaborations arise. Second, go to meetings with specific goals or collaborators in mind. If you have a project idea but lack certain expertise, identify potential collaborators, talk to them, pitch your idea, and see if they're interested in working together. This can lead to long-term collaborations.
Ming Luo: What areas of healthcare operations research are you personally most excited about right now?
Dr. Sze-Chuan Suen: Much of my work is in infectious diseases, which I find important and timely. It's interesting because it involves complex dynamics, incomplete information, data analytics, modeling (like compartmental models), and implementation challenges related to conveying information and adapting models to account for human behavior (mitigation factors, resistance, communication). This complexity, touching areas from data science to psychology, means there are always new questions to explore.
Health Applications Society
Sonza Singh: What are the goals that HAS has for this year?
Dr. Sze-Chuan Suen: A primary goal is providing an engaging platform for the healthcare applications community to connect, share ideas, and disseminate work. Initiatives include the ongoing online seminar series (check the website for the lineup!), which will also feature a student speaker this year. We're also fostering international collaborations, like with the European ORAS conference, hoping to sponsor exchanges and joint events. Organizing a strong cluster at the INFORMS annual meeting is also a key for this year, including the new student poster session at the business meeting.
Sonza Singh: Last year, a major goal was increasing engagement. Are this year's initiatives also focused on that?
Dr. Sze-Chuan Suen: Absolutely, engagement is a primary goal. Year-long activities like the seminar series and international efforts aim to keep people connected beyond the annual meeting, keeping HAS in mind as a venue for dissemination and idea exchange throughout the year.
Sonza Singh: What future directions do you envision for HAS in the next five years or so?
Dr. Sze-Chuan Suen: We want to increase membership and engagement, bringing in people exploring new areas within health applications. Enhancing engagement with students—both current grad students and those advancing in their careers—is crucial. The student liaison program is part of this. We're open to ideas on how to expand and enhance student engagement; if liaisons have ideas for initiatives, we'd love to hear them and leverage HAS's broad reach to support them.
Fun Facts
Yiwen Cao: Please share a book you have read recently or a favorite book.
Dr. Sze-Chuan Suen: It's been a while since I've done leisure reading. The last physical book I looked at was Bertsekas's dynamic programming textbook for stopping problems.
Yiwen Cao: What do you usually do in your free time?
Dr. Sze-Chuan Suen: My free time is mostly spent with my daughter, who just turned six months old. She's fun to play with and watching her grow and change daily is enjoyable.
Ming Luo: Has having a child changed you or your perspective, perhaps in life habits or ways of thinking?
Dr. Sze-Chuan Suen: Yes, it's a major change and provides a different perspective. It's a new, engaging world that takes significant time and energy, naturally shifting your focus. Even for research, going through pregnancy and delivery highlighted areas like maternal health where more research, potentially involving modeling due to data limitations (like inability to run RCTs), could be beneficial. It opened my eyes to a new area of healthcare and potential knowledge generation.