Sait Tunc

Sait Tunc is an Assistant Professor in the Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech, part of the College of Engineering. His research focuses on stochastic modeling, queuing theory, game theory, and machine learning applied to healthcare operations, medical decision making, and portfolio investment. He leads the Healthcare Analytics Research Group and is affiliated with the Translational Biology, Medicine & Health (TBMH) graduate program.

Education

• Ph.D., Industrial and Systems Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison (2016)
• M.S., Industrial and Systems Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison (2015)
• M.S., Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey (2012)
• B.S., Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey (2010)

Research Interests

Tunc’s work bridges operations research and healthcare systems, addressing challenges in organ transplantation, pandemic response, and medical diagnostics. He develops incentive mechanisms to optimize healthcare operations and reduce inefficiencies, leveraging game theory, Markov decision processes, and interpretable machine learning models. Recent contributions include kidney allocation algorithms, university reopening strategies during pandemics, and breast cancer screening guidelines.

Article Trends

His publications emphasize healthcare operations optimization, with a focus on kidney transplantation policies, pandemic preparedness, and diagnostic decision-making. Key themes include incentive mechanisms, predictive modeling, and systems engineering approaches to improve healthcare outcomes.

Scientific Awards

• CAREER Award: Optimizing Healthcare Operations through Incentive Mechanism Design (2024)

Advising & Grants

Tunc mentors PhD students in applied mathematics and healthcare analytics. He actively seeks funding for interdisciplinary projects at the intersection of healthcare, operations research, and policy design. Current work includes NSF-supported research on incentive-compatible transplantation systems.

Labs & Teams

He directs the Healthcare Analytics Research Group, collaborating with clinicians and policymakers to translate data-driven insights into actionable healthcare solutions.