We have two excellent plennary sessions scheduled and an exciting panel discussion. For more information see below.

Professor Nadia Lahrichi - 07.07.2025 09:30 to 10:30

Leveraging Operations Research to drive innovation in Healthcare Systems

As healthcare systems face increasing pressure to deliver high-quality care efficiently, operations research (OR) offers powerful tools for driving innovation and enhancing system performance. In this keynote, we will explore how advanced OR methodologies and data analytics can transform healthcare delivery through practical case studies, including resource scheduling and allocation. We will also examine some critical questions such as: Does innovation in hospitals align with innovation in OR? And what are the key elements that drive meaningful change? While we may not have definitive answers, we will share insights and lessons learned that can help shape the discussion.

Nadia Lahrichi holds a PhD in applied mathematics from Polytechnique Montréal. She is currently a full professor at the department of Mathematics and industrial engineering at Polytechnique Montreal and the codirector of CIRRELT. Her research is mainly focused towards applying modeling and operational research tools to improve patient flow in the healthcare system. She uses exact, metaheuristics and discrete event simulation approaches to tackle patient and resource scheduling problems. She has published more than 50 papers in peer reviewed journals and received the award for outstanding application of operational research (from the Canadian Operational research society) for solving the home health care routing and scheduling problem.  

She is an associate editor of Health Care Management Science and Operations research for Health Care. She co-organized multiple international conferences such as Optimization Days, Odysseus, NOW and ORAHS.
 

Lina Grännö - 10.07.2025 09:00 to 10:00

Transforming healthcare delivery through data-driven organizational development and strategic planning 

As healthcare strives to meet patients' needs with high quality and accessibility, operations research (OR) offers opportunities to streamline and improve healthcare processes. In this keynote, we will explore how data-driven organizational development and strategic planning can transform healthcare delivery through practical examples from Karolinska University Hospital. We will discuss critical questions such as: How can we ensure optimal use of healthcare resources? While we may not have all the answers, we will share insights and experiences that can help shape future discussions.
 
Lina Grännö holds a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering and Management from Linköping University, with a specialization in logistics. She is currently the Head of Planning and Follow-up at Karolinska University Hospital, where she is responsible for the hospital's production and scheduling as well as quality monitoring. Her work focuses on creating tools and processes that help staff optimize capacity utilization and meet patient needs. Lina has extensive experience in data-driven organizational development, organizational change, and leadership within politically governed organizations. She has also been instrumental in the implementation of the hospital's BI tool and the unified scheduling tool for all clinical operations.
 
Lina's work at Karolinska University Hospital is directly linked to the goals and objectives of ORAHS, where systematic and quantitative analysis is used to support planning and management in the healthcare sector. The goal for her department is to ensure that frontline managers have easy access to data to enable data-driven decisions when they lead, guide, and develop their respective operations. Lina's efforts contribute to improving healthcare efficiency and quality, and her experiences provide valuable perspectives on how OR can inspire and support changes in healthcare. By promoting cross-border collaboration, innovative solutions to complex challenges can be developed.

Panel dicussion - 10.07.2025 13:30 to 14:30

More information to follow