Student: Ana Sofia Bernardo Torrado (77466/D)

Title: Sustainable Blood Supply Chain Optimization: Addressing demand and supply, collaborative strategies, and a closed-loop system

Date: 30/05/2025, 10h30

Location: IST Central Building, Meeting Room (Floor 0)

Supervisor: Professor Ana Paula Ferreira Dias Barbosa Póvoa (IST)

Co-supervisor: Professor Cátia Rafaela Ferreira Medeiros da Silva Coelho (IST)

Brief description of the research work: This thesis investigates critical challenges in the Blood Supply Chain (BSC), which involves key processes ensuring the availability of blood for healthcare. With a strong focus on sustainability, it proposes an innovative conceptual framework to guide the design of a sustainable BSC. Additionally, three optimization models are developed to support decision-making at strategic, tactical, and operational levels—incorporating a multiproduct approach and addressing different aspects, including donor allocation, collaboration through transshipment strategies, and the integration of a closed-loop system. Using techniques such as mixed-integer linear programming and a genetic algorithm, these models are applied to the Portuguese context, offering practical insights to improve the efficiency of blood supply operations.

Research Unit: Centre for Management Studies of IST (CEGIST)