News Room

A collection of press releases, audio content and media clips featuring INFORMS members and their research.

Unmasking Human Trafficking: New AI Research Reveals Hidden Recruitment Networks
News Release

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.

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New U.S. drug prices doubled amid a shift toward treating rare diseases
Media Coverage

Drugs being explicitly developed to treat rare diseases are getting more expensive.

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Human air traffic controllers keep flyers safe. Should AI have a role?
Media Coverage

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.

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Resoundingly Human Podcast

An audio journey of how data and analytics save lives, save money and solve problems.

Media Contact

Jeff Cohen
Chief Strategy Officer
INFORMS
Catonsville, MD
[email protected]
443-757-3565

INFORMS in the News

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How the Chicago Marathon will keep track of 1.7 million people

Newsweek, October 14, 2016

Northwestern University engineering professor and INFORMS member Karen Smilowitz and her team of students will utilize a race-simulation program to produce a real-time model of the race by combining data from previous Chicago marathons with periodic updates from the checkpoints. The system analyzes the information and can predict, for example, where runners will be if the temperature rises dramatically. With this information, personnel can foresee how many runners might seek help at certain aid tents along the course and then transfer volunteers to be where they are needed. 

UCSD professor awarded the INFORMS John von Neumann Theory Prize

The Guardian, November 17, 2016

UCSD professor of mathematics Ruth Williams on Tuesday night was awarded the prestigious John von Neumann Theory Prize, given annually by the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences, for her pioneering research on the theory and applications of “stochastic networks and their diffusion approximations.” Williams, who holds the Charles Lee Powell Endowed Chair in Mathematics, shared the award with Martin Reiman of Columbia University’s department of industrial engineering and operations research. Both researchers accepted their prize of $5,000, a medallion and a citation at an annual INFORMS meeting in Nashville, Tenn. 

PROS scientists selected to address 2016 INFORMS Annual Meeting

Business Wire, November 14, 2016

PROS, the revenue and profit realization company, announced that members of its Science and Research team – Ravi Kumar, Ph.D., Ang Li, Ph.D, and Wei Wang, Ph.D. – will deliver presentations based on their research at the 2016 INFORMS Annual Meeting in Nashville, Tenn., at the Music City Center. More than 5,000 leading academics, industry experts, INFORMS members, students and government agency representatives are expected to attend.

Lone Star Analysis showcases multi-criteria modeling at INFORMS Annual Meeting

Benzinga.com, November 14, 2016

During the 2016 INFORMS Annual Meeting in Nashville, Steve Roemerman, CEO of Lone Star Analysis presented, "A Multicriteria, Multiplayer Model: The Protest Casino." Mr. Roemerman described simulation and modeling for public policy in Federal acquisitions. His co-author was Randal Allen. The work presented at INFORMS involved modeling competitive behavior among bidders using game theory methods, econometrics, and policy analysis among other academic fields. 

University of Tennessee faculty support INFORMS Annual Meeting in Nashville

Tennessee Today, November 11, 2016

Bogdan Bischescu, an associate professor of management science at University of Tennessee, is serving as program chair for the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) Annual Meeting November 13–16 in Nashville, Tennessee. Seven faculty members from the Haslam College of Business and Tickle College of Engineering join him on the conference’s organizing committee.

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