Penn State National Science Foundation Center for Health Organization Transformation
(Penn State CHOT) - An Industry-University Cooperative Research Center
Penn State CHOT Research Highlights  
COVID-19 research conducted by a Penn State CHOT team is featured in the Centre Daily Times.


Ahead of Penn State's reopening, a team of Penn State CHOT researchers has been working for months during the summer to develop new analytical tools that complement the COVID-19 pharmaceutical and medical approaches to stop the spread. These analytical tools include simulation models, data visualization algorithms, and artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, which are developed to help policymakers and healthcare taskforces respond to COVID-19 effectively. This research project is highlighted in the Centre Daily Times. Click  here  to read the original article. 

The simulation models aim to analyze patterns of human movement and the dynamics of virus spread, predicting real-time positions of infected individuals in specific geographical areas to analyze possible scenarios where the virus could spread. Simulation models overcome practical limitations in the real-world experiments and offer a higher level of flexibility to study the effectiveness of intervention approaches (e.g., social distancing, clinical testing programs). Data visualization focuses on compact representations of trends and patterns in data and effectively provides a sense of the current status and the trend of virus spread. AI tools help forecast the number of admissions, optimize the allocation of medical resources, optimize the staffing level, and thereby improve the availability of care.
A CHOT-sponsored REU project: Development of a virtual mental health clinic 

A CHOT-sponsored research project is featured in the Multi-Campus Research Experience for Undergraduates (MC REU) virtual symposium.  The team, consisting of  Bryant Niederriter , along with CHOT faculty adviser Faisal Aqlan and Hui Yang, utilized virtual reality (VR) to the diagnosis of mental disorders. Current diagnosis of mental disorders is mainly based on interviews and questionnaires, which can be influenced by interviewers' and self-report bias. This study focuses on testing the effectiveness of sensor-based VR technology in assisting in the diagnosis of mental disorders such as Alzheimer's, schizophrenia, and dementia, as well as the improvement of medical training for care and treatment of these disorders. The VR environments consist of tasks for the user to perform and implement eye tracking to analyze patterns in a healthy sample and affected participants. The research intends to create useful tools to assist in diagnosing and modeling mental disorders to improve the decision-making process.
COVID-19 Research News
Centre County COVID-19 Data 4 Action Project
Three Penn State cross-University institutes - the Clinical and Translational Science Institute, the Social Science Research Institute, and the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences - within the Office of the Senior Vice President for Research are supporting a C entre County COVID-19 project. As its first project, Centre County COVID-19 Data 4 Action Project personnel are conducting an anonymous survey to document how the pandemic is affecting Centre County residents' lives and their experiences as they return to work and school. Their work will continue over the next two years. A second survey for Penn State students returning to campus and Centre County residents will track effects over time.
Penn State CHOT Members
Faisal Aqlan was promoted to associate professor, and his achievement is highlighted in local news media

Faisal Aqlan, a CHOT faculty member in the Department of Industrial Engineering at Penn State Erie, was recently promoted to associate professor. He also received two awards at the 2020 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference: The Outstanding Junior Faculty Award from the Manufacturing Division and the new Industrial Engineering Educator Award from the Industrial Engineering Division.

His research interests lay in utilizing analytics, navigation techniques such as virtual reality and augmented reality, and integrating them with process improvement. He is a senior member of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers and has authored/co-authored more than 100 scientific publications. Erie Reader, Erie's only independent, alternative newspaper, selected Aqlan to its 40 under 40 honors for 2019. Click here to read the full article. 
Funding Opportunities
    • Social Science Research Council (SSRC)
    • Deadline: Aug. 31 (rolling basis)
Upcoming Events
As event guidance concerning the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, please note that these events may be rescheduled or moved to a virtual venue. Please check in with the specific event planners for the latest information.

IEEE CASE 2020
Aug. 20-24, 2020

The in-person gathering of CASE 2020, scheduled to be held Aug. 20-24, 2020 in Hong Kong, has been cancelled. CASE 2020 will now be held as a virtual conference but will still take place Aug. 20-24, 2020. The IEEE CASE is the flagship automation conference of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society and constitutes the primary forum for cross-industry and multidisciplinary research in automation. Its goal is to provide a broad coverage and dissemination of fundamental research in automation among researchers, academics, and practitioners. The theme of the conference is  Automation Analytics. Click here for more information. 

IISE Annual Conference 2020
Oct. 31-Nov. 3
New Orleans, Louisiana

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the IISE Annual Conference & Expo has been rescheduled from May 30-June 2 to Oct. 31-Nov. 3 in New Orleans, Louisiana at the Hyatt Regency New Orleans. Leaders in the field will join up-and-comers and students to network, gather new ideas, and learn about innovative tools and techniques - resulting in lasting career connections. Please check the revised schedule and new registration dates. Click here for more information.
CHOT Website
Check out the CHOT website for information about our new projects and exciting activities.
Submit Your News
If you have any exciting news that you would like to feature in our CHOT newsletter, please submit it to Haedong Kim, newsletter editor, at  [email protected].
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