Vito Telesca: Using Machine Learning to link ER & Environmental Factors

The Center for Urban Science + Progress (CUSP) at NYU Tandon welcome you to attend a lecture by Vito Telesca, Professor of Hydrology at the University of Basilicata, as part of the Spring 2025 Urban Science Research Seminar Series. This event will take place in Room 233 (Co-Laboratory).

About the Lecture
Ensemble machine learning model to analyze the association between admissions in Emergency Room and environmental factors 
This study proposes an ensemble machine learning model to analyze the association between cardiovascular, respiratory, and total admissions in Emergency Room (ER) and environmental factors, such as air pollution and weather-climatic conditions. The aim is to improve the understanding of interactions between these factors, considering non-linearities and temporal dependencies, overcoming the limitations of traditional methods, and providing new perspectives on the relationships between diseases, pollution, climate, and hospital admissions. 
The analysis was conducted using ensemble learning techniques, applying three regression models: Random Forest, XGBoost, and Adaboost. Ensemble learning improves predictive power by combining different models to reduce overfitting and variance, offering more robust predictions. The Bayesian optimization technique was applied to improve the accuracy of the predictions. The performance of the three optimized models was evaluated through various metrics, also considering cross-validation the k-fold technique (k=10) to provide a more robust estimate of predictive capabilities. The application of SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations) analysis allowed us to identify the most important variables for hospital admissions and related patterns.
About the Speaker
Dr. Vito Telesca is a professor in hydrology at the University of Basilicata, and received a Ph.D. in Environmental Monitoring. Dr. Telesca is an expert in surface hydrological and fluvial processes. In particular, his research activity is focused on the effect of weather variability on human health, numerical algorithms for climate models, machine and deep learning models development for hydro-climatic problems, hydrological processes monitoring and modeling, and soil-vegetation-atmosphere transfer processes. Dr. Telesca is the author of over 110 research papers in national and international journals, meeting proceedings, and workshop reports. He is an advisor in national and international research activities and scientific responsibility in national and international research projects involving university, public, and private land management enterprises. He is the winner of the Norbert Gerbier-MUMM International Award 2010 by the World Meteorological Organization for the paper J.M. Sánchez, G. Scavone, V. Caselles, E. Valor, V.A. Copertino, and V. Telesca “Monitoring daily evapotranspiration at a regional scale from Landsat-TM and ETM+ data: application to the Basilicata Region”, published by Journal of Hydrology in 2008. From October 2010 to September 2012, he was a Board of Governors of the University of Basilicata member. From May 2017 to September 2020, he was a member of the Academic Senate of the University of Basilicata. From July 2018 to November 2020, he was a Coordinator of the Degree Courses Council in Civil and Environmental Engineering (School of Engineering of the University of Basilicata).

Visitor Information
This event will take place in Room 233 (Co-Lab) at 370 Jay St. Please visit the NYU Tandon website for directions and a campus map. Advance registration through Eventbrite is required for campus access at NYU for external guests.

About the Urban Science Research Seminar Series
The Center for Urban Science + Progress’s annual Research Seminar series features leading voices in the growing field of urban informatics examining real-world challenges facing cities and urban environments around the world. The Spring 2025 series is organized by Assistant Professors Takahiro Yabe, Qi Sun, and Graham Dove.

Host or Publisher NYU Center for Urban Science + Progress