Melissa Franco-Galicia

Melissa Franco-Galicia is a Ph.D. candidate in Health Policy (Decision Science), integrating various disciplines to implement advanced computational models and conduct data-driven research aimed at tackling healthcare issues. Her research interests focus on the intersection of simulation modeling, operations research, and health policy. She utilizes these methodologies alongside decision analysis to evaluate optimal choices amidst uncertainty and to analyze the costs, benefits, and potential risks of cancer control policies in resource-limited settings. Before arriving at Stanford University in 2021, she worked as a project manager at the University of Chicago, focusing on health services and outcome research related to chronic diseases and mental health. She earned her MPH in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from Washington University in St. Louis and holds a BS in Chemistry from the University of California, Davis.

King Center Supported Research

2025 - 2026 Academic Year | Graduate Student Fellowship

Mathematical models for cancer decision-making considering healthcare system and access constraints 

Mathematical modeling informs cancer policies but often prioritizes well-resourced healthcare systems, overlooking capacity constraints. This bias may overestimate or underestimate intervention impacts and hinder decision-makers in under-resourced areas from optimizing resource allocation for maximum health benefits. Resource scarcity pressures these settings, mainly supporting underserved populations. Resource scarcity delays timely cancer care for vulnerable groups. Addressing these disparities necessitates understanding how capacity limits influence health outcomes and resource distribution. This proposal seeks to develop a cancer modeling framework incorporating capacity constraints to improve cancer control in resource-constrained settings.