Eugene Wickett
Ph.D. researcher with experience in humanitarian response
Embedded Files
Excerpt from the Spring 2022 edition of Northwestern Engineering magazine.
Welcome!
Welcome!
I am currently a postdoctoral research fellow at Indian School of Business in Hyderabad, India, where I am studying the strategic role of inspections in influencing quality decisions in pharmaceutical supply chains.
In 2024, I graduated with a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences from Northwestern University, where I studied under Profs. Karen Smilowitz and Matthew Plumlee. My dissertation research developed methods for using supply-chain information to improve detection of substandard and falsified medical products. My broader interests include humanitarian logistics and operations research applications in low-data and low-resource settings.
Please see my Research page for more information on my work, and my Teaching/Collaboration page for an overview of my interests in education and professional development.
Education
PhD (2024): Industrial Engineering & Management Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
MS (2019): Industrial Engineering & Management Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
MS (2012): Applied Mathematics & Statistics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
BS (2009): Industrial & Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia
News & Updates
Jul. 2, 2026: I am honored to have been conferred "Best Student Paper" as part of the ISB-POMS 2026 workshop. It was wonderful to have our work recognized by the committee, and I thank them for their time in reviewing all the submissions.
July, 2026: I had the pleasure of completing my first peer review for a submission to the Journal of Quality Technology.
Oct. 20, 2025: The Journal of Quality Technology has published "Measuring sampling plan utility in post-marketing surveillance of medical products". This paper develops methods for evaluating the sampling plans used in post-marketing surveillance; regulators can use these methods to compare plans and select the plan that best meets their objectives.
Many thanks to the reviewers, who all provided constructive feedback.
Jul. 28, 2025: The Journal of Opioid Management has published a special supplement with studies of a large database on urine testing for patients using pain medications, for which I provided data analysis.
Many thanks to the reviewers and their helpful comments.
Apr. 19, 2025: I am excited to have landed in Hyderabad, India, to begin postdoctoral research under Parshuram Hotkar, in partnership with Karen Smilowitz, as part of the ISB-Kellogg Joint Research Initiative. We will study how inspections at different supply-chain tiers influence decisions regarding pharmaceutical quality. As opposed to my dissertation work, where the goal was to identify sampling plans furthering regulatory aims, this effort considers quality as a strategic decision by suppliers and retailers.
Jun. 10, 2024: Graduation was a wonderful day, and I was very happy to celebrate the conferral of my PhD with my advisors, friends, and family.
Jun. 10, 2024: I am honored to have been conferred the "Outstanding TA" award for the 2023-2024 school year.
Feb. 1, 2024: "Inferring sources of substandard and falsified products in pharmaceutical supply chains" was highlighted as a feature article in the IISE Transactions Special Issue on Analytical Methods for Detecting, Disrupting, and Dismantling Illicit Operations.
(See IISE's post on LinkedIn and X.)
ISEFeb2024_Research.pdf[This "Research" section is provided for informational purposes only with permission of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers from the February 2024 issue of ISE Magazine, Copyright©2024. All rights reserved. www.iise.org/ISEMagazine.]
Mar. 24, 2023: "Inferring sources of substandard and falsified products in pharmaceutical supply chains" (my first dissertation chapter) was published in the IISE Transactions Special Issue on Analytical Methods for Detecting, Disrupting, and Dismantling Illicit Operations.
Dec. 2, 2022: "Using Supply-Chain Information to Improve Regulatory Actions in Pharmaceutical Quality Assurance" won Best Student Poster during the 11th annual Global Health Symposium, hosted by The Robert J. Havey, MD Institute for Global Health. I was honored to have my work recognized by the award panel.
GHD_Eugene Wickett.pdfOct. 17, 2022: I presented ongoing work on sampling plans in post-market surveillance at the annual INFORMS meeting in Indianapolis. Thanks to INFORMS for hosting a great event.
Sep. 21, 2022: Featured in "Practical Solutions for a Healthier World" in Northwestern Engineering, along with advisors Karen Smilowitz and Matthew Plumlee (by Brian Sandalow)
Sep. 12, 2022: Congrats to Karen Smilowitz for being named a 2022 INFORMS Fellow!
Last updated: July 14, 2026
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