Turning Data into Policy Impact: The Supply Chain Analytics for Policy Initiative
Over the past five years, a small, interdisciplinary group of RSBC faculty has been building the Supply Chain Analytics for Policy Initiative, using operations research to tackle some of Camden region’s toughest challenges. Camden ranks among the most economically disadvantaged cities in the country, so the initiative channels faculty research directly into decisions that affect residents’ daily lives, from ambulance response times to school safety.
The initiative has grown alongside a wave of faculty hiring, including Drs. Mark Brennan, Thomas Fewer, Natalie Huang, and Can Kucukgul, who have joined since 2022, and are working alongside senior researchers Drs. Karti Puranam, Ram Gopalan, and Richard Michelfelder. Collectively, this group studies how operations intersect with economic opportunity, gender, politics, and the environment.
The impact of this initiative speaks for itself: Dr. Mark Brennan’s research helped justify a specialized ambulance squad for opioid- and homelessness-related emergencies, informed the placement of speed bumps and safety outreach in neighborhoods, and is now shaping a citywide effort to address Camden’s lack of a grocery store. Dr. Karti Puranam’s research on blood inventory management, including models for coordinating supply from multiple independent sources and replenishment strategies that cut wastage, helps hospitals keep this lifesaving resource available while minimizing shortages. Dr. Ram Gopalan applies systems thinking and data analysis to gun violence, including research using FBI data to understand what drives officer fatalities and broader work asking whether a systems approach can help address the problem.
The collective work of this faculty group has appeared in top journals, such as Production and Operations Management, Management Science, and the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. Importantly, their work has reached policymakers through an operations newsletter, an annual sustainability and business symposium, expert testimonies, and media coverage from NPR, The Boston Globe, and The Wall Street Journal.
Beyond publications, faculty are reshaping how the school teaches and serves the community. New community-engaged coursework and a training pipeline into public-sector careers all trace back to faculty who are putting research into practice. This model exemplifies how a dedicated group of scholars can move ideas from research to classrooms and communities.