Please call the press office on 01509 223491 to arrange an interview with Professor Antuela Anthi Tako. Bookings can also be made online at globelynx.com.
Antuela is a Professor in Operational Research at Loughborough Business School. Antuela joined Loughborough University in July 2010 as a Lecturer in Operational Research. Prior to joining Loughborough, Antuela worked as a Research Fellow in Healthcare at Warwick University.
Antuela has a background in management science and operational research. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Athens University of Economics and Business (2002), MSc (with Distinction) in Operational Research and Management Sciences (2003), and a PhD in Operational Research (2009) from the University of Warwick. Prior to completing her PhD, Antuela worked in consultancy.
Antuela is an expert in developing quantitative and qualitative modelling approaches to support stakeholder engagement, primarily in Health and Social Care.
Antuela’s research interests include:
- alternative simulation approaches
- participative and facilitated simulation (and conceptual) modelling
- behavioural operational research.
Her research has appeared in the European Journal of Operational Research, Decision Support Systems, Journal of the Operational Research Society, Journal of Simulation and BMJ Quality and Safety.
She is the co-founder of PartiSim, which stands for Participatory Simulation, an approach that supports stakeholder involvement in simulation modelling. Antuela has over 15 years’ experience of running workshops with various stakeholder groups, primarily in the health sector. The most recent organisations Antuela has worked with include the East Midlands Ambulance Service and Leicestershire County Council (the SIMTEGR8 project) which evaluated the design of integrated community-based health and social care services.
Antuela teaches on several business and statistics modules at Loughborough University, at undergraduate, postgraduate and executive education level.
Antuela welcomes applications from prospective PhD students looking to work in:
- simulation conceptual modelling
- multi-methodology
- behavioural simulation.
Antuela undertakes research on the practice of simulation modelling in Operational Research.
Her research has appeared in the European Journal of Operational Research, Decision Support Systems, Journal of the Operational Research Society and BMJ Quality and Safety.
Her research interests include:
- alternative simulation approaches (Discrete-Event Simulation, System Dynamics and Agent-based Modelling)
- participative and facilitated simulation (and conceptual) modelling
- behavioural OR/Simulation.
She applies her work in health, police and supply chain.
Antuela’s work on alternative simulation methods, started with her PhD on the comparison of simulation approaches (Discrete-Event Simulation and System Dynamics). This work was empirical in nature look at two different perspectives: how people go about modelling and using simulation models.
- As a result of this work, a number of leading academic publications have appeared on the comparison of Discrete-Event Simulation and System Dynamics.
- Antuela’s research has received international recognition. She received the Dana Meadows Award at the International System Dynamics Society Conference 2008.
- Antuela’s PhD thesis was also chosen as a finalist for the PhD Prize 2009 by the UK’s OR Society. Antuela continues to work in this area focusing on developing tools to support the choice of simulation methods.
Antuela’s works in the field of participative and facilitated simulation modelling aspires to involve stakeholders in the modelling process through client-oriented workshops. Antuela is co-founder of the PartiSim approach, an EPSRC-funded project. This stream of research brings an innovative approach to undertaking conceptual modelling and simulation modelling by introducing tools to support facilitated and participative modelling. Most recently Antuela led phase 2 of the SIMTEGR8 project, which involved supporting and evaluating the set-up of integrated health and social care services for the elderly and frail, aimed at avoiding A&E referrals.
Antuela works also in the field of behavioural OR, where she investigates how people learn from using simulation models.
- External Exaimer, Southampton Business School (2020-2023).
- Track Co-Chair for the Hybrid Simulation track at the 2019 and 2020 Winter Simulation Conference.
- Co-Chair of the Operational Research Society Simulation Workshop SW21, March 2021.
- Area Editor (Group Modelling and Facilitation in Healthcare) Health Systems Journal, 2020 – current
- Track Co-Chair for the Simulation Education track at the 2018 Winter Simulation Conference, 9-12 December 2018, Gothenburg, Sweden.
- Co-Chair of the Operational Research Society Simulation Workshop SW20, April 2020.
- Associate Editor of Journal of the Operational Research Society (ABS 3) (June 2017 – present).
- Associate Editor of the Journal of Simulation (impact factor 1.218) (September 2018 – present).
- Full Member of the EPSRC Peer Review College Member (February 2018- present), previously Associate Member since November 2016).
- Organising Committee Member for the UK’s Operational Research Society OR59 Annual Conference (September 2017) - Programme Scheduler & Simulation Stream Co-Organiser.
- Keynote speaker for the Simulation stream at the Young OR19 Conference, Aston Business School, Birmingham, September 2015.
- Programme Committee member for a number of for a number of national and international conferences, including the Winter Simulation Conference, OR Society’s Simulation Workshop, International Conference on Simulation and Modeling Methodologies, Technologies and Applications (SIMULTECH).
- Director of the NATCOR[AAT1] Simulation Course, June 2013 - present.
- Chair of the OR Society’s Young OR18 conference, University of Exeter, 9-11 April 2013.
- Journal reviewer of the European Journal of Operational Research, Journal of the Operational Research Society, Decision Support Systems, OMEGA, Journal of Simulation, International Journal of Production Research, System Dynamics Review, etc.
- Winner of the Early Career Researcher Dean’s Award 2013, Loughborough Business School, Loughborough University.
- Dana Meadows Award for the best student paper submitted at the International System Dynamics Society Conference 2008.
- Antuela’s PhD thesis was chosen as a finalist for the PhD Prize 2009 by the UK’s OR Society.
- McHaney, R, Tako, A, Robinson, S (2018) Using LIWC to Choose Simulation Approaches: A Feasibility Study, Decision Support Systems, ISSN: 0167-9236.
- Tako, AA and Kotiadis, K (2018) Facilitated Post-model coding in Discrete Event Simulation (DES): A case study in Healthcare, European Journal of Operational Research, ISSN: 0377-2217. DOI: 10.1016/j.ejor.2017.10.047.
- Gogi, A, Tako, AA, Robinson, SL (2015) An Experimental Investigation into the Role of Simulation Models in Generating Insights, European Journal of Operational Research, 249(3).
- Tako, AA and Kotiadis K. (2015). Partisim: A framework for participative and facilitated simulation modelling. European Journal of Operational Research, 244(2): 555-564.
- Tako, AA (2015) Exploring the model development process in discrete-event simulation: Insights from six expert modellers, Journal of the Operational Research Society, 66(5): 747-760.
Featured papers
- Currie, CSM, Fowler, JW, Kotiadis, K, Monks, T, Onggo, BS, Robertson, D, Tako, AA (2020) How simulation modelling can help reduce the impact of COVID-19, Journal of Simulation, 14(2), pp.83-97, ISSN: 1747-7778. DOI: 10.1080/17477778.2020.1751570.
- Tako, AA, Tsioptsias, N, Robinson, S (2020) Can we learn from simplified simulation models? An experimental study on user learning, Journal of Simulation, 14(2), pp.130-144, ISSN: 1747-7778. DOI: 10.1080/17477778.2019.1704636.