At the 2021 System Dynamics Society conference, one paper authored by ITA researchers Erin Stringfellow, PhD, Celia Stafford, MPH, Catherine DiGennaro, BA, recent MIT graduate Tse Yang Lim, PhD, and others received two prestigious awards – the Lupina Young Researchers Award and the Dana Meadows Award. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sponsored the work: Reducing Opioid Use Disorder and Overdose in the United States: Model Development and Estimation
Dr. Stringfellow, a post-doctoral research fellow at the ITA, holds a PhD in Social Work from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis and a Master of Social Work from the University of Michigan, where she also earned her BA. She specializes in using qualitative and system dynamics methods to develop sustainable interventions and policies that support recovery from addiction.
Celia Stafford, a former research associate at the ITA is an entering PhD candidate in the Harvard PhD Program in Heath Policy. She received a BA from Emory University in 2017 and an MMPH with a concentration in Biostatistics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2020.
Catherine DiGennaro holds a Bachelor of Arts in Neuroscience from Wellesley College. She currently works as a research associate under Dr. Mohammad S. Jalali and Dr. Carrie C. Lubitz on simulation modeling and health outcomes research.
Dr. Lim recently earned his PhD in System Dynamics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology – Sloan School of Management. He also received Masters and Bachelor degrees from Yale University. He is an ORISE Fellow with the FDA.
Dr. MJ Jalali was the ITA mentor for this project. Additional co-authors include Jack Homer, Wayne Wakeland, Lukas Glos, and Reza Kazemi-Tabriz,
The Health Policy Special Interest Group (HPSIG) of the System Dynamics Society presents the Lupina Young Researchers Award for work in health system dynamics, to people at early stages of their careers to encourage them to do further work in health system dynamics. The award is sponsored by the Lupina Foundation of Toronto, Canada
The Dana Meadows Award of the System Dynamics Society is given annually for the best paper by a student presented at the annual System Dynamics Conference. Established in 2001, the prize celebrates and recognizes high-quality student work in the field of System Dynamics. The Society’s Dana Meadows Award symbolizes the Society’s commitment to students in two ways. It brings recognition to the very best student work. It also honors, in an enduring way, the life and work of Dana Meadows.