About

My research focuses on business analytics, digital marketing, and operations management, while also examining the broader impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on business and society. I leverage methods and tools from machine learning, graphical models, network analysis, and optimization to enhance data-driven decision-making and drive business innovation.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Environmental health
• Demography
• Virology
• Internal medicine
• Political Science
• Sociology
• Computer Science
• Computer Security
• Psychology
• Medical emergency
• Telecommunications
• Pharmacology
• Criminology
• Geography

Selected publications

• Sat3R: Satellite DSM Reconstruction via RPC-Aware Depth Fine-tuning

  ArXiv.org · 2026-05-08

  articleOpen access

  Accurate Digital Surface Model (DSM) reconstruction from satellite imagery is critical for applications such as disaster response, urban planning, and large-scale geographic mapping. Existing approaches face a fundamental trade-off: optimization-based methods achieve strong accuracy but require hours of per-scene computation, while generalizable geometry foundation models offer near-instant inference but fail to generalize to satellite imagery due to the domain gap introduced by the Rational Polynomial Camera (RPC) model and mismatched depth scale distributions. We present Sat3R, a feed-forward framework that bridges this gap via RPC-aware metric depth fine-tuning of Depth Anything V2 using the Scale-Invariant Logarithmic (SiLog) loss. By constructing physically consistent pseudo depth supervision from RPC geometry, Sat3R adapts a monocular depth foundation model to the satellite domain without per-scene optimization. Experiments on the DFC2019 benchmark demonstrate that Sat3R reduces MAE by 38% over zero-shot feed-forward baselines and achieves competitive accuracy against optimization-based methods, while delivering over 300x speedup. Sat3R demonstrates that feed-forward models, when properly adapted to the satellite domain, can match optimization-based accuracy at a fraction of the computational cost, paving the way for practical large-scale satellite DSM reconstruction.

  PublisherOA PDF

• Additional file 2 of The impacts of COVID-19 on routine immunization for children in Rwanda

  Figshare · 2026-01-01

  articleOpen access

  Supplementary Material 2: Supplementary file 2. Supplementary Table

  PublisherDOI

• The impacts of COVID-19 on routine immunization for children in Rwanda

  BMC Infectious Diseases · 2026-01-24

  articleOpen access

  The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic had a direct impediment to the provision of critical health services worldwide, and one of the most affected areas was routine immunisation programmes. This caused a significant drop in child immunisation rates, especially in the early stages of the pandemic. This research aimed to investigate the socio-demographic predictors of the continued persistence of routine immunisation services in Rwanda during the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey was done between January 3 and March 31, 2022 among mothers living in five districts in Rwanda. The goal of the study was to investigate issues that affect the willingness of mothers to vaccinate their children during the COVID-19 pandemic. The main outcome measure was the willingness to vaccinate children, which was divided into willing, uncertain, and unwilling. The analysis of the correlation between the maternal sociodemographic factors and the outcome variable was performed by the multinomial logistic regression model in the case when the effect of the pandemic on the attitudes to vaccination could potentially affect the outcome. Two thousand four hundred and fifty-five out of the two thousand four hundred and fifty-five mothers surveyed indicated that their religion endorsed immunisation of two thousand four hundred and fifty-five mothers, 92.2% and their culture advocated immunization of two thousand four hundred and fifty-five mothers, 91.6%. The cultural and traditional support to immunization was significantly linked to the marital status, educational level, and average monthly income (p < 0.05). In terms of perceptions of vaccine safety, 77.3% of participants were concerned with serious adverse effects of vaccines in general, and 58.7% were in particular concerned with COVID-19 vaccinations, and only eight point 1% questioned the overall safety of COVID-19 vaccines. With the exception of age, marital status, and the number of children in the vaccination-aged group, all the other socio-demographic variables were significantly correlated with perceived risks of vaccination (p < 0.05). Our cross-sectional survey (N = 2,045 mothers; data collection 3 January-31 March 2022) suggests that Rwanda, like any other country in the world was affected by the pandemic. However, the shocks of the pandemic in Rwanda did not significantly affect routine immunisation because her prior investments, especially the systems and practices established during the Ebola pandemic (surveillance, infection-prevention and control [IPC], rapid risk-communication and outreach networks) could well have alleviated the harmful effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the usual childhood immunisation as noted by World Health Organization. (2019, July 24). WHO applauds. This survey evidence indicates that pro-vaccination social norms are also strong: 92.2% of survey participants reported that their religion promotes immunisation, and 91.6% indicated that their culture promotes vaccination. These social and community support levels align with a system that emphasised the need for regular immunisation during the pandemic. Not applicable.

  PublisherDOI

• Additional file 2 of The impacts of COVID-19 on routine immunization for children in Rwanda

  Figshare · 2026-01-01

  articleOpen access

  Supplementary Material 2: Supplementary file 2. Supplementary Table

  PublisherDOI

• Bevacizumab for Metastatic Colorectal Cancer with Chromosomal Instability: Cost-Effectiveness Analysis for a Novel Precision Treatment Approach in Germany, Ireland and Spain

  PharmacoEconomics · 2026-02-04

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Economic evaluations of screening and case-finding for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD): a systematic review

  npj Primary Care Respiratory Medicine · 2026-01-21 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access

  Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) imposes significant health and economic burdens globally. Screening and case-finding strategies are increasingly recognized as critical methods to enhance early diagnosis and management of COPD. It is important to understand the economic impact and cost-effectiveness of these strategies to inform the population health policies and real-world practice. In this study, we aim to summarize and compare the economic evaluations of COPD screening and case-finding strategies. We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and NHS economic databases for all published studies up to April 2025 that reported economic outcomes, including cost-effectiveness, budget impact, or cost analysis, related to screening and case-finding of COPD. Data extraction included study type, target population, methods, cost perspectives, and outcome measures. Findings were synthesized narratively. This systematic review was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42024516534). We identified 18 eligible studies that met the inclusion criteria, including 11 empirical and 7 modeling studies. A range of screening and case-finding approaches were evaluated, with most studies (n = 16) employing questionnaires either as standalone tools (n = 14) or for pre-screening purposes before the portable spirometer test (n = 8). Portable spirometers were also commonly used (n = 10). The economic outcome measures varied across studies, including cost per additional case detected, cost per quality-adjusted-life-year (QALY) gained, and program-level budget impact. Healthcare sector and payer's perspectives were the most commonly adopted. While studies consistently suggested that targeted screening strategies were likely to be cost-effective, considerable heterogeneity in study designs, target populations, and economic measures limited direct comparisons between the strategies. COPD screening and case-finding showed potential of being cost-effective preventive strategies, particularly for high-risk groups. However, the lack of standardized descriptions for the details of the implemented strategies and the diverse outcome measures reported across existing studies limits the comparability between these strategies. Future research is needed to assess the long-term economic impact on healthcare systems and to explore personalized compared with one-size-fits-all screening strategies for COPD.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and its attributable risk factors in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2021: results from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

  BMJ Public Health · 2026-01-01 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access

  Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remains a major global health challenge, contributing significantly to morbidity and mortality. This study aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the burden of COPD by age, sex and Sociodemographic Index (SDI), in addition to its attributable risk factors across 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2021. Methods: This study is a systematic analysis of data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2021 from 1990 to 2021 across 204 countries and territories. The study calculates age-standardised rates (ASRs) for prevalence, deaths and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) by adjusting rates to a global age distribution and computed estimated annual percentage changes (EAPC) for these ASRs and the relative COPD burden, while also exploring the relationships between the SDI and age-standardised DALYs per 1000 population via linear regression. Results: In 2021, there were an estimated 213.4 million prevalent COPD cases globally, with an ASR of 2512.9 per 100 000. From 1990 to 2021, the EAPC for ASRs in prevalence was -0.044%, while the EAPC for percentage in prevalence was 1.224%. COPD caused 3.7 million deaths, with an ASR of 45.2 per 100 000, and 79.8 million DALYs, with an ASR of 940.7 per 100 000. The leading risk factor for COPD globally was particulate matter pollution, where it accounted for 41.7% of the global DALYs. Appreciable geographical and demographic variations were observed, with North America exhibiting the greatest ASRs for prevalence and South Asia showing the greatest ASRs for death rates. Conclusions: The study highlights the persistent and evolving global burden of COPD, emphasising the significant impact of environmental factors such as particulate matter pollution. It underscores the need for targeted public health interventions and resource allocation, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries, to mitigate the growing COPD challenge. To enhance COPD management, the recommendations include implementing regional plans to mitigate particulate pollution, strengthening surveillance of air quality and health outcomes, developing integrated health strategies and supporting a global framework for air quality improvement.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Sat3R: Satellite DSM Reconstruction via RPC-Aware Depth Fine-tuning

  arXiv (Cornell University) · 2026-05-08

  preprintOpen access

  Accurate Digital Surface Model (DSM) reconstruction from satellite imagery is critical for applications such as disaster response, urban planning, and large-scale geographic mapping. Existing approaches face a fundamental trade-off: optimization-based methods achieve strong accuracy but require hours of per-scene computation, while generalizable geometry foundation models offer near-instant inference but fail to generalize to satellite imagery due to the domain gap introduced by the Rational Polynomial Camera (RPC) model and mismatched depth scale distributions. We present Sat3R, a feed-forward framework that bridges this gap via RPC-aware metric depth fine-tuning of Depth Anything V2 using the Scale-Invariant Logarithmic (SiLog) loss. By constructing physically consistent pseudo depth supervision from RPC geometry, Sat3R adapts a monocular depth foundation model to the satellite domain without per-scene optimization. Experiments on the DFC2019 benchmark demonstrate that Sat3R reduces MAE by 38% over zero-shot feed-forward baselines and achieves competitive accuracy against optimization-based methods, while delivering over 300x speedup. Sat3R demonstrates that feed-forward models, when properly adapted to the satellite domain, can match optimization-based accuracy at a fraction of the computational cost, paving the way for practical large-scale satellite DSM reconstruction.

  PublisherDOI

• Additional file 1 of The impacts of COVID-19 on routine immunization for children in Rwanda

  Figshare · 2026-01-01

  articleOpen access

  Supplementary Material 1: Supplementary file 1. Survey Questionnaire

  PublisherDOI

• Additional file 1 of The impacts of COVID-19 on routine immunization for children in Rwanda

  Figshare · 2026-01-01

  articleOpen access

  Supplementary Material 1: Supplementary file 1. Survey Questionnaire

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Jagpreet Chhatwal

  Massachusetts General Hospital

  125 shared

• Simiao Chen

  Erasmus MC

  81 shared

• Till Bärnighausen

  University Hospital Heidelberg

  67 shared

• Chen Wang

  Peking Union Medical College Hospital

  66 shared

• Turgay Ayer

  Emory University

  65 shared

• Pascal Geldsetzer

  Stanford University

  57 shared

• Fengyun Yu

  54 shared

• Fasiha Kanwal

  Center for Innovation

  39 shared

Education

• B.A., Economics

  Peking University

  2009

• B.S., Geographical Science and Remote Sensing

  Peking University

  2009

• M.A., Urban and Regional Planning

  University of Minnesota

  2012

• M.S., Statistics

  University of Minnesota

  2012

• Ph.D., Marketing

  The Pennsylvania State University

  2020

Awards & honors

• Faculty Leaders for AI-Aware Instruction
• Small Research Grant
• Runner-up, INFORMS Information Systems Cluster Best Paper Aw…
• Winner, Best Paper in AI in Business and Society Track, Paci…
• First Runner-Up, Best Completed Research Paper, Pacific Asia…