Adult stem cell donor supply chain network design: a robust optimization approach

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is a usual treatment used against cancers and blood diseases. To diminish the incidence and severity of graft-versus-host disease, donors and recipients should be sufficiently matched in terms of human leukocyte antigen. Iranians’ stem cell bank was established to help patients search for their compatible donors. However, in many cases, matched donors are not found in the domestic bank. The low efficiency of the national adult stem cell bank and the expensive cost of adding donors are the main challenges of this study, driving us to design the stem cell donor network for the first time. Initially, using the common weights data envelopment analysis approach, we identified the most efficient donation zones. Afterward, we proposed a mixed-integer programming model in order to design the donor network. Finally, to show the applicability of the model, we provided a real case study of Iran. The results of this study shed light on three important questions: Where should the stem cell donors be attracted from? How many donors does the stem cell bank need to increase the odds of finding a matched donor within the country? And what would be the optimal location and allocation of the donor network facilities?