AI-SDM Seminar - Giacomo De Nicola

— 4:30pm

Location:
Virtual Presentation - ET - Remote Access - Zoom

Speaker:
GIACOMO DE NICOLA , Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University
https://gdenicola.github.io/about/

Harmful Algal Blooms and Their Impact on Marine Food Poisonings in Madagascar

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) produce toxins that contaminate coastal waters and aquatic foods, which can lead to severe and potentially deadly intoxications when consumed. Making use of satellite data, we examine spatial and temporal patterns of algal blooms around Madagascar, an extremely poor country heavily affected by HABs due to a combination of increasing nutrient pollution and rising water temperatures. Madagascar's population strongly depends on locally sourced seafood to survive, yet HABs remain understudied and largely unmonitored in the region. 

We develop a statistical approach drawing from the framework of generalized additive mixed models, incorporating high-resolution healthcare data from the Madagascar Ministry of Public Health, to explore the complex association between algal blooms and marine food-related illnesses at the local level. Our findings reveal distinct HAB distribution patterns, highlighting high-risk areas and seasons. We further demonstrate the link between satellite-detected blooms and intoxications, showcasing remote sensing's potential for public health applications in settings where resources on the ground are limited. 

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Giacomo De Nicola is a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, under the joint mentorship of Christopher Golden and Francesca Dominici. His research broadly seeks to design, implement and leverage modern statistical tools to address real-world problems, with a focus on applications in public and planetary health. His current postdoc research is part of the Climate-Smart Public Health project, where he aims at understanding and measuring the impact of climate on public health outcomes in low-income settings. 

Giacomo holds a PhD in Statistics from LMU Munich, an MSc in Economic and Social Sciences from Bocconi University, and a BSc in Statistics from the University of Florence, where he received the best student award for graduating top of his class. His research on assessing excess mortality during crises earned him a special award from the Federal Statistical Office of Germany. 

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Event Website:
https://www.cmu.edu/ai-sdm/events/index.html

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