Analytics Magazine Analytics Magazine, May/June 2014 | Page 24

INFO RM S H O N O R S CDC wins INFORMS Edelman Award T he U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which collaborated with Kid Risk, Inc. to use analytics and operations research to combat the remaining pockets of polio around the world, won the 2014 Franz Edelman Award for Achievement in Operations Research and the Management Sciences. Following a series of judged presentations, the award was presented at the Edelman Awards Gala held in conjunction with the INFORMS Conference on Analytics & O.R. in Boston. INFORMS is the premier organization for advanced analytics professionals. Dr. Bruce Aylward, World Health Organization, assistant director-general of Polio, Emergencies and Country Collaboration, said, “This work has been fundamental to so much of what’s happened in the polio eradication program over the last few years, 24 | A N A LY T I C S - M A G A Z I N E . O R G and it has helped to support many of our decisions over the last decade and to bring the world much, much closer to one where future generations will never know the terror of this disease.” “Through collaborations with Kid Risk, Inc. and other partners, CDC is helping to identify the best strategies to further polio eradication and achieve the endgame,” added Dr. Mark Pallansch, director of the Division of Viral Diseases in the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at CDC. The Franz Edelman competition attests to the contributions of analy F