About Me
I am an Assistant Professor of Healthcare Management at Towson University with courtesy appointments at the Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science & Engineering and the Johns Hopkins Data Science and AI Institute.
My research develops AI-driven decision support systems for complex operational problems, with applications in healthcare management and public policy. I combine methods from operations research, machine learning, and optimization to create tools that improve managerial decision-making under uncertainty.
I earned my Ph.D. in Civil and Systems Engineering from Johns Hopkins University, where I worked on cutting-edge research in healthcare operations optimization and inverse optimization methods. I was also a Ph.D. researcher at MIT's Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL).
Most recently, I developed the U.S. Measles Tracker at Johns Hopkins, a comprehensive surveillance system providing county-level measles case data and visualizations. This work was published in JAMA and has been featured across national media outlets as a critical public health resource during the ongoing measles outbreak.
Research Interests
- Operations Management and Analytics
- AI and Machine Learning for Decision-Making in Healthcare
- Data-Driven Operations and Resource Allocation
- Inverse Optimization and Preference Learning
- Healthcare Technology Assessment and Implementation
- Business Analytics for Policy and Management
Research
Research Summary: My research develops AI-driven decision support systems for complex operational problems, with applications in healthcare management and public policy. I combine methods from operations research, machine learning, and optimization to create tools that improve managerial decision-making under uncertainty. My work has been published in leading medical journals (JAMA, Lancet) and is under review at top operations management venues (Management Science, INFORMS Journal of Optimization).
Funded Research Projects
Development of AI-Powered Decision-Support System for Healthy Eating
Amazon-Johns Hopkins University, 2026, $375,000 (Direct Costs)
Role: Co-Investigator (PI: L. Appel; Co-PI: K. Ghobadi)
Developing inverse optimization and machine learning methods for personalized dietary recommendations
Working Papers
Automated Radiation Therapy Treatment Improvement Through Optimization Models
In Preparation
Supervised Inverse Optimization
In Preparation
Smart Surgical Scheduling Tool: An Optimization Model with Integrated Perioperative Information Input
In Preparation
Experience & Education
Towson University
Assistant Professor of Healthcare Management
August 2025 - Present
Research focus: Operations analytics, AI/ML for healthcare decision systems
Teaching: Healthcare systems, health information management
Courtesy appointments: Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering; Johns Hopkins Data Science and AI Institute (DSAI)
Johns Hopkins University
Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Systems Science & Engineering
March 2025 - September 2025
Conducted advanced research in healthcare systems engineering and epidemiological modeling.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Ph.D. Researcher, Computer Science & AI Laboratory (CSAIL)
June 2024 - December 2024
Research focused on AI applications in healthcare operations and decision-making systems.
Johns Hopkins University
Ph.D. in Civil and Systems Engineering
2019 - 2025
Dissertation Committee: Todd McNutt (chair), Kimia Ghobadi (advisor), Tinglong Dai, Yury Dvorkin, Takeru Igusa, Susu Xu, Ritu Agarwal
M.S. in Systems Engineering completed as part of the doctoral program.
Sharif University of Technology
M.Eng. in Transportation Engineering
2016 - 2018
Tehran, Iran - Specialized in transportation systems optimization and traffic engineering.
Sharif University of Technology
B.Sc. in Civil Engineering
2012 - 2016
Tehran, Iran - Graduated in top 20% of class, honored as "Brilliant Talented Student" by Iran's National Elites Foundation.
Publications
Published Articles
Under Review
Leveraging Expert Knowledge to Guide Inverse Optimization: The Case of Nutritional Adherence
Under Review: Management Science
You Are What You Eat: A Preference-Aware Inverse Optimization Approach
Under Review: INFORMS Journal of Optimization
Improving Observed Decisions for Partially Known Optimization Problems Through Inverse Optimization with Application to Radiation Therapy Treatment Planning
Under Review: European Journal of Operational Research
Optimal resource and demand redistribution for healthcare systems under stress from COVID-19
Preprint (2020)
An open-source dataset on dietary behaviors and dash eating plan optimization constraints
Preprint (2020)
Non-Peer-Reviewed Publications & Articles
Near-Real Time Measles Surveillance: How Analytics Can Help Transform Public Health Response
OR/MS Today (2025)
Detecting and Mitigating Disparities in Preventive Care and Healthcare Delivery: The Role of Artificial Intelligence and Operations Research
OR/MS Today (2023)
Monkeypox: Another Public Health Crisis
OR/MS Today (2022) - Featured on Cover
Extended Abstracts & Conference Presentations
Readings & Resources
Curated Reading List Coming Soon
I'm currently building a collection of essential readings, papers, and resources in healthcare operations analytics and optimization. This section will include:
- Foundational papers in healthcare operations research
- Recent advances in AI for healthcare
- Optimization methods in medical decision making
- Recommended textbooks and resources
- Interesting case studies and applications
Check back soon for updates!
Teaching & Service
Teaching at Towson University
Current & Upcoming Courses
HLTH207: Health System of U.S.
Summer 2025, Fall 2025 (2 Sections), Spring 2026 (2 Sections - Upcoming)
Course Evaluations (Summer & Fall 2025):
- Enrollment: 55 students
- Overall teaching effectiveness: 4.3/5.0
- Overall demonstrated knowledge: 4.4/5.0
- Response rate: 83%
HCMN435: Health Information Management
Spring 2026 (Upcoming)
Teaching Excellence Awards
Teaching Assistant Award for excellence in teaching and dedication to engineering education at Johns Hopkins University (2022).
Outstanding Course Evaluations at Johns Hopkins:
- Overall instructor evaluation: 5.00/5.00
- Overall course quality: 4.75/5.00
- Course: EN.500.111 Healthcare System Engineering (Fall 2023)
Conference Organization
- Session Chair, Integrated AI and LLMs in Healthcare Modeling, INFORMS Healthcare Conference, Raleigh, NC, July 2026 (with Kimia Ghobadi)
- Session Chair, Data-driven Inverse Optimization, INFORMS Healthcare Conference, Raleigh, NC, July 2026 (with Kimia Ghobadi)
- Mini-track Chair, AI-Driven Healthcare: Bridging Systems Science and Clinical Practice, HICSS 59, Maui, HI, January 2026
- Session Organizer, POMS Conference 2023, Orlando, FL (with Kimia Ghobadi and Fardin Ganjkhanloo)
Leadership & Service
- President, Johns Hopkins University INFORMS Student Chapter (2022-2024)
- Editorial Board Member, ORMS Tomorrow (2022-2024)
- Peer Reviewer, PLOS Global Public Health (2024-2026)
Professional Affiliations
Notable Projects
U.S. Measles Tracker: Developed and maintain a comprehensive county-level measles tracking system providing real-time epidemiological data and visualizations. The tracker serves as a critical public health resource during the ongoing measles outbreak, featured in JAMA and covered by major media outlets including CIDRAP, HuffPost, and public health podcasts. View JAMA Publication
COVID-19 Dashboard Contributor: Played a key role in data maintenance and monitoring for the globally recognized COVID-19 Dashboard by Johns Hopkins CSSE. Worked directly with state health organizations to ensure timely and accurate county and state-level data reporting during the early phases of the pandemic.
Awards & Recognition
- Selected for HICSS 59 Junior Faculty Consortium (January 2026)
- Teaching Assistant Award, Johns Hopkins University (2022)
- Top 20% in Civil Engineering, Sharif University of Technology (2016)
- "Brilliant Talented Student," Iran's National Elites Foundation (2014)
- Ranked 221st (top 0.085%) in National University Entrance Exam (2012)
Selected Media Coverage
Recent Measles Tracker Coverage (2025)
- TU professor publishes study on measles tracking in JAMA - Towson University News (October 2025)
- TWiV 1254: Clinical Update with Dr. Daniel Griffin - This Week in Virology Podcast (September 2025)
- JAMA Editors Summary featuring measles tracking research - JAMA Network (September 2025)
- Researchers introduce tool featuring timely county-level US measles data - CIDRAP (September 2025)
- RFK Jr. Boasts About Major Measles Outbreak Response - HuffPost (September 2025)
- U.S. Measles Cases Hit Highest Level Since Declared Eliminated in 2000 - Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (July 2025)
COVID-19 Dashboard Coverage
- JHU Coronavirus Resource Center (CRC) - Johns Hopkins University and Medicine (March 2023)
- COVID-19 Dashboard Creator Lauren Gardner Wins Lasker-Bloomberg Public Service Award - The Hub (September 2022)
- New COVID-19 dashboard helps users make informed decisions - The Hub (February 2021)
Other Coverage
- One size doesn't fit all: An AI approach to creating healthy personalized diets - Malone Center (November 2022)
Contact Information
Office Hours:
Available by appointment
Available by appointment