Samira Shirzaei Nichols Data-verified

Affiliation confirmed via AI analysis of OpenAlex, ORCID, and web sources.

Assistant professor

University of Central Arkansas

Last publication 2026 Last refreshed 2026-05-02

faculty

2 h-index 7 pubs 7 cited

Research Areas

Links

ORCID Research Group

OverviewAI-generated summary

Samira Shirzaei Nichols' research focuses on public health issues, particularly concerning vulnerable populations and the application of quantitative methods. Her recent publications investigate substance use and HIV risk among refugee sex workers in Italy, exploring intersecting structural vulnerabilities and health risks. She has also examined PrEP awareness and willingness within this demographic using machine learning-enhanced mixed-methods approaches. Beyond public health, Nichols has explored the application of machine learning models for COVID-19 case forecasting in the United States and investigated adaptive staff scheduling systems under time-varying demand. Additionally, her work has touched on gender equity in academic fields, specifically analyzing representation and pay in engineering and science.

Metrics

h-index: 2
Publications: 7
Citations: 7

Selected Publications

Substance Use is Linked to Less Facility-Based but Greater Self-HIV Testing Willingness Among African Refugee Male Sex Workers in Italy: A Cross-Sectional Study (2026)

DOI OpenAlex
Economic precarity shapes engagement in sex work and HIV-related behaviors among African refugee male sex workers in Italy: A mixed-methods study (2026)

1 citation DOI OpenAlex
A simulation-driven expert system for adaptive staff scheduling under non-Poisson, time-varying demand (2026)

DOI OpenAlex
Intersecting Structural Vulnerabilities and Health Risks: A Quantitative Epidemiological Study of HIV and STI Burden Among African Migrant Male Sex Workers in Italy. BSGH 027 (2025)

1 citation DOI OpenAlex
Substance Use and HIV Risk in a Syndemic Context: Vulnerabilities Among African Refugee Sex Workers in Italy (2025)

2 citations DOI OpenAlex
Bridging Gaps in HIV Prevention: A Machine Learning-Enhanced Mixed-Methods Study on PrEP Awareness and Willingness Among Refugee Male Sex Workers from Sub-Saharan Africa in Italy (2025)

2 citations DOI OpenAlex
Flexible Staff Scheduling in Small Service Systems with Time-Varying Non-Poisson Demand to Achieve Time-Stable Performance Using Drl (2024)

DOI OpenAlex
Enhancing COVID-19 Case Forecasting in the United States: A Comparative Analysis of ARIMA, SARIMA, and RNN Models with Grid Search Optimization (2024)

1 citation DOI OpenAlex
Justice and Fairness in Academia: Are Women Underrepresented/Underpaid in Engineering and Science Fields? Comparing 2018 and 2021 Data (2023)

DOI OpenAlex
Applying Deep Reinforcement Learning to Dynamic Staff Scheduling in a Service System with Nonstationary Arrival Process; a Case Study of Grocery Store (2022)

DOI OpenAlex
Society 5.0: a simulation optimisation study of dynamic scheduling for a grocery store (2021)

DOI OpenAlex
Society 5.0: a simulation optimisation study of dynamic scheduling for a grocery store (2021)

1 citation DOI OpenAlex