The Center for Supply Chain Research® (CSCR®) is excited to announce as of August 1, Dr. Hui Zhao has stepped into the role of the center’s new Co-Director of Research, succeeding Dr. Aydin Alptekinoglu. 
Zhao, who had an extensive background in both teaching and researching supply chain, logistics, and analytics, is currently serving the Smeal community as a Professor of Supply Chain Management and the Charles and Lilian Binder Faculty Fellow. Her research focuses on improving supply chain effectiveness and efficiency through the application of analytics to align incentives and induce collaboration. Much of Zhao’s research focuses on healthcare, with particular interests in pharmaceutical/healthcare supply chains, public policy, and innovative design of healthcare systems.
Aside from academia, Zhao’s work has been well recognized by industry and government agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). She has been invited by the FDA to serve on an expert panel for the US drug shortages and has gone to the Department of Health and Human Services multiple times to make presentations. As the new co-director, Zhao seeks to apply her experiences to help bolster the center’s research portfolio and provide relevant solutions to today’s supply chain issues.
“I believe industry and academia can mutually benefit from each other. While many of our faculty do research that I believe could directly benefit the industry, the industry could feed the academia with current and future challenges that can develop into great research topics,” she explained. “CSCR is the perfect platform for such collaboration and I hope to help strengthen this mutually beneficial relationship with this co-director of research position.”
Zhao’s research has been published in top journals, funded by agencies like National Science Foundation (NSF) and Department of Justice (DOJ) and received multiple awards including being a finalist for the 2015 Pierskalla award by INFORMS and the runner-up for the 2018 Ralph Gomory Best Industry Studies Paper Award by the Industry Studies Association (ISA).
She is excited for her new role with the center, citing CSCR as one of the earliest and most reputable supply chain knowledge banks in the nation. Zhao believes research analytics matched with strategic industry partnerships will become another strength the center is able to offer to fellow corporate sponsors, faculty, and students as well.
“I hope to advocate for our faculty’s research to benefit our sponsors and to outreach to current (and potential) industry sponsors for potential collaboration,” she shared. “We will also seek to publish in reputable industry-oriented journals and magazines based on center or faculty research— and may explore the possibility of starting a case library.”
As research is critical to any field, supply chain included, Zhao’s role serves a vital function. Industry and government agencies have daily operations and goals, but may not have the capacity for the research academia is interested in and equipped to conduct, Zhao explains. Such research is key to long-term innovation in supply chain models, identifying driving forces for issues, and applying new technologies to current and future challenges. Zhao’s expertise and experience in these areas will be instrumental in achieving the center’s vision for research collaborations.
Steve Tracey, Executive Director of the Center for Supply Chain Research, feels Zhao will lead the center to great success.
“We’re all very excited to have Dr. Zhao join us as our co-director of research in the center,” Tracey said. “She has a successful history of working with CSCR in past research projects, brings a wealth of knowledge in her own research domains, and, most importantly, she’s excited about this new opportunity and how it will both impact her own research and the research of others.”