Ozgur Araz, PhD

Adjunct Professor

Department of Health Promotion, Social, & Behavioral Health
University of Nebraska Medical Center
College of Public Health, Robert B. Daugherty Water for Food Institute Faculty Fellow

Professional Summary

• June 2011- present   Assistant Professor, College of Public Health, UNMC
• 2012 - present, Faculty Affiliate, Center for Health Policy 
• Jan 2010 - June 2011  Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Computational Biology& Bioinformatics, The University of Texas at Austin
• Aug 2010 - Jan 2011  Lecturer, Information Risk & Operations Management Department, McCombs School of Business, The University of Texas at Austin 
• Aug 2007 - Jan 2010  Research Associate, Decision Theater, Arizona State University, Tempe AZ
• Aug 2006 - Aug 2007  Teaching Assistant, Industrial Engineering Department, Arizona State University, Tempe AZ

Education

• PhD Industrial Engineering, Arizona State University, Dec. 2009
• MS Industrial Engineering, State University of New York at Buffalo, Aug. 2006
• BS Industrial Engineering, Istanbul Technical University, June 2005

Research Interests

• Dr. Araz’s research interests are in complex systems thinking, modeling and simulation, operations management in health care, decision and cost-effectiveness analysis.

Selected Publications

• Ramirez N.A., Fowler, J.W., Lyon J., Araz O.M. GA based decision support system for POD allocation and staffing optimization. In press (October 2014). Production and Operations Management.
• J. Brittin, S. Elijah-Barnwell, T. Huang, N. Yunwoo, O.M. Araz, Drummond W.R., A. Jameton, Friedow B. Community engaged public health research to inform hospital campus planning in a low socioeconomic status urban neighborhood. Accepted (2014). HERD Journal: Health Environments Research & Design.
• Araz O.M., Fowler J.W., Ramirez A. A genetic algorithm for optimizing service times during a public health emergency: locating dispensing sites and allocating medical staff. IIE Transactions on Healthcare Systems Engineering (2014) Vol. 4, Issue 4, 178-190.
• Kuby, M., Araz O.M., Capar I., Palmer M. An efficient online mapping tool for finding the shortest feasible path for alternative fuel vehicles. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (2014) Vol. 39, Issue 32, 18433-18439.
• Araz O.M., Bentley D., Muelleman R. Using Google Flu Trends data in forecasting influenza-like-illness- related emergency department visits in Omaha, Nebraska. American Journal of Emergency Medicine (2014), 32, 9, 1016-1023.
• Brittin J., Araz O.M., Nam Y., Huang T. A system dynamics model to simulate chronic disease trends and sustainable interventions in an urban community. In Press (June 2014). Journal of Simulation.
• Stimpson J.P., Wilson F.A., Araz O.M., Pagan J.A. Share of mass transit miles traveled and reduced motor vehicle fatalities in major cities of the United States. In Press (June 2014). Journal of Urban Health.
• M. Islam, Araz O.M. Evaluating the effectiveness of targeted public health control strategies for Chlamydia transmission in Omaha, Nebraska: a mathematical approach. Advances in Infectious Diseases (2014) 4, 142-151.
• L. Frerichs, Araz O.M., T. Huang. Modeling social transmission dynamics of unhealthy behaviors for evaluating prevention and treatment intervention on childhood obesity. PLOS One (2013), 8 (12): e82887.
• Araz O.M. Integrating complex system dynamics of pandemic influenza with a multi-criteria decision making model for evaluating public health strategies. Journal of System Sciences and System Engineering (2013) 22 (3), 319-339.
• Araz O.M., Lant T., Jehn M., Fowler J.W. Simulation modeling for pandemic decision making: a case study with bi-criteria analysis on school closures. Decision Support Systems (2013) 55 (2), 564-575.
• Araz O.M., Jehn M. Improving public health preparedness through enhanced decision-making environments: a survey based evaluation. Technological Forecasting and Social Change (2013) 80, 9, 1775-1781.
• Araz O. M., Galvani A., Meyers L.A. Geographic Prioritization of Distributing Pandemic Influenza Vaccines. Healthcare Management Science (2012), 15 (3): 175-187.
• Araz O.M., Damien P., Paltiel D., Burke S., van de Geijn B., Galvani A., Meyers L.A. Simulating school closure policies for cost effective pandemic decision making. BMC Public Health 2012, 12(1):449.
• Araz O.M., Jehn M., Lant T., Fowler J.W. A new method of exercising pandemic preparedness through an interactive simulation and visualization. Journal of Medical Systems (2012) 36: 1475-1483.
• Rastogi A., Fowler J.W., Carlyle W.M., Araz O. M., Meltz A., Buke B. Supply network capacity planning for semiconductor manufacturing with uncertain demand and correlation in demand considerations. International Journal of Production Economics (2011) Vol. 134, Issue 2, 322-332.
• Araz O.M., Lant T., Fowler J.W., Jehn M. A simulation model for policy decision analysis: a case of influenza pandemic on a university campus. Journal of Simulation (2011) 5: 89-100.

Professional Affiliations

• INFORMS, Institute for Operations Research and Management Sciences- Member
• Omega Rho, The Honor Society of INFORMS- Member
• American Public Health Association- Member
• System Dynamics Society- Member