Sanjay and Panna Mehrotra Research Excellence Award

The Health Applications Society of INFORMS sponsors an annual competition for the Sanjay and Panna Mehrotra Research Excellence Award, which recognizes a mid-career researcher for significant contributions to the practice of health applications through operations research (OR) and management science (MS) modeling and methodologies. The award is named after Professor Sanjay Mehrotra and his wife, in recognition of Professor Mehrotra’s contributions and dedication to translating OR/MS modeling and methodology research to practice so as to improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare systems, and will be presented at the Health Applications Society Business Meeting at the INFORMS annual meeting. Dr. Mehrotra is a professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences at Northwestern University, and served on the Editorial Board of numerous operations research journals.

Criteria 

1. A demonstrable effort in translating OR/MS modeling and methodology research to practice
2. Contributions to the practice of health applications through OR/MS models and methodologies, evidenced by measurable health-related outcomes
3. Contributions to OR/MS models or methodologies

Eligibility

• Assistant/associate professor (tenure-track/tenured, or non-tenure-track) position in an academic institution (by the time of award presentation at the INFORMS annual meeting); or
• Healthcare professional with less than fifteen years of experience since the terminating degree (by the time of award presentation at the INFORMS annual meeting).

In addition, the applicant must be a member of the Health Applications Society, and must not have been a winner in a previous Sanjay and Panna Mehrotra Research Excellence Award Competition.

To be considered for the award, an application package must be submitted by the application deadline to the Chair of the Sanjay and Panna Mehrotra Research Excellence Award Committee (see Application Process details below).

Judging

The Chair of the Sanjay and Panna Mehrotra Research Excellence Award Committee is appointed by the HAS President, and approved by the HAS Board, each year. The Chair appoints 2-4 additional members to the committee. Committee chairs are strongly encouraged to ensure the “diversity” of their committee as appropriate, e.g., the representation of different types of institutions (engineering vs. business schools, industry vs. academia, etc.), gender, research areas. All committee members must be members of the Health Applications Society, and may not serve on any other HAS award committee at the same time.

Candidates are judged by the Award Committee based on:

1. A demonstrable effort in translating OR/MS modeling and methodology research to practice
2. Contributions to the practice of health applications through OR/MS models and methodologies, evidenced by measurable health-related outcomes
3. Contributions to OR/MS models or methodologies

Up to three finalists will be selected and invited to present their work at the INFORMS annual meeting in a session devoted to the competition and sponsored by the Health Applications Society. The Award Committee reserves the right not to award a prize in any given year. If all submissions are judged by the Award Committee to be of insufficient quality to select finalists, the selection committee may declare that the competition is deserted for the current year.

Application Process

A complete application must consist of the following documents submitted as PDF files:

1. A curriculum vitae of the applicant, which must include the applicant’s complete educational and professional history with degree dates, and the applicant’s entire research portfolio on health applications
2. A 3-4 page statement (excluding the references cited in the document) that summarizes the applicant’s use of OR/MS models and methodologies to address significant problems that arise in health systems, the developed solutions, the effort conducted for translating research results to practice, and the impact on practice (demonstrated through measurable health-related outcomes)
3. Two letters from practitioners that discuss the significance of the problems studied by the applicant and the practical impact of the applicant’s research
4. Up to four manuscripts (published or under review) written by the applicant (manuscripts can be submitted electronically, or links to manuscripts can be provided)
5. A one-page statement describing the future research goals of the applicant in health applications
6. Written commitment, if selected as a finalist, to make a high quality, 30-minute presentation for the Sanjay and Panna Mehrotra Research Excellence Award session organized by the Health Application Society at the INFORMS annual meeting.

All application materials including support letters should be submitted electronically to: Andrew Schaefer (andrew.schaefer@rice.edu) by July 21, 2023.