Health Care Management Science - Call for Papers for Special Issue on Management Science for Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response

The Health Care Management Science Journal has a current open Call for Papers for the Special Issue on Management Science for Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response.

• Management Science for Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response (this opens in a new tab)
  Closes September 2, 2024

The control and monitoring of infectious diseases are crucial for preventing potential outbreaks and their devastating social and economic repercussions. There are a multitude of lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. These include the dire consequences of inadequate disease management, with the virus rapidly spreading across the globe, leading to widespread infections and loss of lives. The new variants of the virus and the associated waves of the pandemic added layers of complexity, bringing more disruptions. This underscores the world's lack of preparedness for managing infectious outbreaks, particularly those that are highly transmissible. Factors such as population expansion, unprecedented global connectivity, and the proliferation of pathogen-handling laboratories have significantly increased the risk of pandemics. With evidence and expert consensus pointing to an increasing frequency of outbreaks, along with warnings of future pandemics, there is a critical need for immediate action to establish a transformative preparedness platform that enhances our readiness to respond to such future threats.

Management scientists can play a central role in supporting the decision-making processes that lay the groundwork for establishing such a preparedness platform. Their expertise in decision-making, strategic planning, and systems analysis is invaluable not only in facing an infectious outbreak but also in preemptive actions. This expertise underpins the development of international protocols and guidelines aimed at reducing the risk of future pandemics and establishing new ways to actively surveil and detect such events early, to prevent their spillover into a global spread. The importance of early detection of potential outbreaks cannot be overstated, as it can mean the difference between a contained outbreak and a global pandemic. For example, zoonotic viral surveillance is critical in preventing future outbreaks, many of which potentially originate in animals. Monitoring viruses present in animals can limit the impact of zoonotic diseases on both humans and animals, prevent their spread, and provide insights into the epidemiology and evolution of zoonotic viruses. Additionally, management scientists can help establish infrastructure for faster testing, vaccine development, and ramping up production capabilities during a pandemic.

It is crucial to recognize the possible failure of preventive measures, highlighting the necessity for preparedness and informed response strategies to outbreaks. Management scientists are poised to establish new methods for creating accurate models that simulate disease spread across diverse populations, enabling the formulation of effective mitigation strategies. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed complex dynamics characterized by multiple waves of varying intensities, which is attributed to how populations respond to outbreaks, exhibiting cautious behavior during surges and increased social interactions when cases wane. As a result, there is a dire need for models that consider behavioral changes, as well as spatial and temporal population dynamics, to accurately capture the intricate multi-wave patterns of pandemics. These models support management scientists in identifying effective mitigation measures, such as widespread social distancing policies. These policies are of utmost importance, as they are the first line of defense against infectious threats prior to the development of tests and vaccines. Other measures include deploying mass screening and contact tracing strategies, including the construction of proactive and reactive screening measures, determining which sub-populations to target, and identifying suitable testing sites. Vaccine allocation is another critical factor, with decisions regarding how to allocate vaccines and whom to prioritize to best curb the spread of the disease. A framework that considers the deployment of various mitigation measures and their economic impact is necessary, providing ample opportunity for management scientists to explore new approaches to construct and deploy fair and resilient optimal mitigation measures.

The aftermath of pandemics must not be overlooked, and management scientists can be instrumental in this regard as well. For instance, mental health has emerged as a significant public health crisis, with COVID-19 exacerbating the situation and leading experts to describe this mental health crisis as a "pandemic within a pandemic." It becomes imperative to establish the necessary infrastructure to manage this surge in demand. Management scientists can devise strategies to increase access to critical mental health services and develop highly effective treatments, especially for vulnerable populations such as university students, for whom suicide is now the second leading cause of death. Another example is the resilience of the supply chain, which is vital to global commerce, ensuring that goods and services are provided efficiently worldwide and that basic necessities are available to consumers when and where needed. The proper functioning of supply chains is essential to the stability and growth of economies worldwide, as they drive innovation, create jobs, and promote international trade. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed vulnerabilities in global supply chains, leading to significant disruptions in the production and delivery of essential goods and services. There is an urgent need for new research to deepen our understanding of the complex socio-economic systems underpinning global supply chains and their capacity to adapt to challenges, including infectious threats.

With their strong decision focus, management scientists are uniquely equipped to synthesize and incorporate knowledge from diverse fields, including epidemiology, operations research, data science, economics, and behavioral science. This is especially critical given the numerous uncertainties surrounding the epidemic's progression, the evolution of treatment and prevention strategies, and the varied political reactions across countries. Moreover, the necessity to balance competing priorities—such as protecting public health, safeguarding the economy, preventing future infection waves, and addressing the needs of the most vulnerable—further underscores their pivotal role.

This special issue welcomes papers on all the above topics and others relating to the role that Management Science can play in the fight against infectious outbreaks. The manuscript submission deadline is September 2, 2024, with a target publication date of September 2025. Articles that do not meet the SI timeline may be considered as regular journal submissions. Manuscripts should conform to the journal’s Submission Guidelines. Submissions should be made through the journal’s Editorial Manager site, and authors wishing their paper to be considered for the Special issue should select “SI: Pandemic” as the article type.

The special issue will be guest edited by Hrayer Aprahamian (Texas A&M), Vedat Verter (Queen’s) and Manaf Zargoush (McMaster). Queries about this special issue can be directed to the Managing Guest Editor at vedat.verter@queensu.ca (this opens in a new tab).

Guest Editors
Hrayer Aprahamian, PhD, Texas A&M University, USA
Vedat Verter, PhD, Queen's University, Canada
Manaf Zargoush, PhD, McMaster University, Canada