Vishal Ahuja

Bio

Vishal Ahuja is an Associate Professor of Information Technology and Operations Management at SMU Cox School of Business and an Adjunct Faculty at UT Southwestern Medical Center. His research focuses on developing decision analytic tools that can be implemented easily by healthcare professionals and policymakers to improve patient health, advance the quality of care, and enhance the efficiency of care delivery.

For his research, Vishal partners with various organizations such as the Dept. of Veterans Affairs, where he has a faculty affiliation with the Primary Care High Risk Investigator Network. Additionally, he collaborates with organizations such as Parkland Hospital, Baylor Heart Hospital and Children’s Hospital. Vishal’s research has appeared in leading management and clinical journals. Further, he has either won or been a finalist for several awards and honors including Pierskalla Award for the Best Paper in Healthcare Management Science, Innovation in Analytics Award, and Sanjay and Panna Mehrotra Research Excellence Award, which recognizes significant contributions to the practice of health applications. Most recently, he won the Dlin/Fischer Clinical Research Award from the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry for his research related to improving mental health outcomes of high-risk veterans.  

Vishal's efforts have been recognized outside of academia, including from regulators, practitioners, and the broader healthcare community. His research was cited by the FDA in their workshop on “Assessing the Public Health Impact of Prescription Drug Postmarketing Safety Labeling Changes,” in which he was invited as an expert panelist.  He won the most recent Excellence in Healthcare Award  by DCEO Magazine in the Outstanding Healthcare Innovator category (and was a finalist in the Outstanding Healthcare Advocate category in 2020).  Vishal has consulted with a variety of organizations, regularly advises digital health startups, and is frequently invited to speak at academic and industry conferences, universities, and hospitals. Vishal currently serves on the advisory board of TraumaCare, an AI-based software solution to improve clinical decision-making.

Vishal holds an MBA and a PhD in Business Administration from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. At Cox, he teaches MBA courses in operations management and service operations. To bring relevance to his research and teaching, Vishal attempts to draw from his diverse work experience in the corporate sector that spans several years in the chemical, manufacturing, and consumer goods industry

Teaching

Research