PhD Student Huifeng Su Wins Two INFORMS Awards for Research on Humanitarian Platforms for Family Reunification
Su’s doctoral research, which uses artificial intelligence to reunite forcibly separated families, was recognized by the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) at its annual meeting.
Huifeng Su, a doctoral student in Operations, received two INFORMS awards for his research creating a machine learning system that helps reconnect families separated by conflicts and other crises. His paper, co-authored with Professors Lesley Meng and Edieal J. Pinker, earned the Data Mining Best Applied Paper Award and the Social Media Analytics Best Student Paper Award at the INFORMS Annual Meeting in October.
Titled “Reuniting Forcibly Separated Families Through Shared Memories with Machine Learning,” the paper develops a recommendation system that helps humanitarian platforms, which serve around 100,000 users, match separated family members more effectively. Such platforms often rely on self-reported data that is often incomplete, inaccurate, or biased. Su and his co-authors’ system learns complex matching patterns from confirmed reunions, significantly reducing search times and enabling families to reunite earlier.
Su came to Yale SOM after earning a bachelor’s degree in industrial and systems engineering and computer sciences from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His research leverages causal inference and machine learning to evaluate and improve the efficiency, quality, and equity of essential health and human services.
