BALTIMORE, MD, May 24, 2025 – Most anti-human trafficking efforts focus on breaking up sex sales; however, new research in the INFORMS journal Manufacturing & Service Operations Management is turning its attention to where trafficking truly begins – recruitment. Using machine learning to analyze millions of online ads, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have uncovered patterns that link deceptive job offers to sex trafficking networks. By mapping the connections between recruitment and sales locations, the study reveals a hidden supply chain – one that can now be exposed and interrupted earlier in the trafficking process.
Drugs being explicitly developed to treat rare diseases are getting more expensive.
Old technology is behind the recent ongoing delays and cancellations at Newark Liberty International Airport, but newer technology will be an important part of the solution.
An audio journey of how data and analytics save lives, save money and solve problems.
Jeff Cohen
Chief Strategy Officer
INFORMS
Catonsville, MD
[email protected]
443-757-3565
Explore our resources for multiple topics including:
The world has marveled at the speed with which science took on and solved the task of creating effective vaccines for Covid-19. But another often-overlooked science — the engineering and management science of operations research — is now equally important for getting vaccines into the arms of Americans.
CATONSVILLE, MD, March 24, 2021 – COVID-19 has been shown to spread on airplanes by infected passengers, so minimizing the risk of secondary infections aboard aircraft may save lives. New research in the INFORMS journal Service Science uses two models to help solve the airplane seating assignment problem (ASAP). The models can lower the transmission risk of COVID-19 more so than the strategy of blocking the middle seats, given the same number of passengers.
The first Covid-19 vaccine candidate went into the arms of volunteers in Seattle in March 2020. It was an mRNA vaccine from Moderna. The mRNA candidate from BioNTech and Pfizer followed in April. By December 2020, these two had become the first vaccines to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Hot on their heels are rivals based on adenovirus vectors from AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, as well as Sputnik V from Russia.
As more people get vaccinated, doctors say we need to start thinking about moving vaccines from mass vaccination sites to health care facilities, such as doctors' offices.
Disruptions in the global high-tech supply chain spell bad news for Chevy Silverados and Samsung phones alike.
OR/MS Today is the INFORMS member magazine that shares the latest research and best practices in operations research, analytics and the management sciences.
Access OR/MS Today Magazine
Analytics magazine showcases articles and research reports based on big data, AI, machine learning, data analytics and other new-age technologies.
Access Analytics Magazine