Senior Research Engineer & Project Leader · Hamilton Medical

Hi, I'm Mario Lavanga

I build deep-learning and signal-processing models on physiological data.

Specialized in multimodal sensor fusion and real-time patient monitoring.

Health AI

What I actually do — and the evidence behind it.

Health AI with statistical rigour — time-series modelling, causal inference, supervised learning and uncertainty quantification, on observational ICU and NICU data under regulated constraints.

612
citations: 13
h-index: 18
i10-index: 9
first-author papers

Google Scholar, June 2026

Signal processing for ICU ventilation

I develop signal-processing algorithms for ICU ventilation and deploy them on embedded devices and a cloud platform, in a regulated environment.

ICU ventilationSignal processingEmbedded + cloudRegulated

Causal inference

I apply Granger and Bayesian causal discovery to ICU time series to understand what drives ICU events.

GrangerBayesianCausal discoveryTime series

Supervised learning on biosignals

Supervised models on physiological signals — for example sleep staging and stress detection.

Supervised learningSleep stagingStress detectionBiosignals

The virtual aging brain

Modelling the virtual aging brain with variational autoencoders and brain-network analysis (Human Brain Project; NeuroImage 2023).

Variational autoencodersBrain networksHuman Brain ProjectNeuroImage 2023

Causal discovery on biosignals

PCMCI⁺ · real data

Discovered from 6 open recordings — Respiration, PPG and ECG.

positive negativelag in ms · thickness = strengthhover a node to isolate its links

Causal graph discovered with PCMCI⁺ on the open BIDMC PPG/Respiration dataset. Arrows are time-lagged causal links (lag in ms); thickness = strength, colour = sign. Method: Runge et al., Science Advances 2019. Data: Pimentel et al., IEEE TBME 2017 (PhysioNet).

Try the in-browser ECG classifier

Experience

HAMILTON MEDICAL AG

Project Leader

December 2024 - Present

Leading cloud ventilation-management features from research through IP protection and regulatory submission.

Hamilton Medical Website

HAMILTON MEDICAL AG

Senior Research Engineer

June 2022 - December 2024

Built deep-learning and rule-based models for patient–ventilator asynchrony, respiratory mechanics, and patient effort, and optimized signal-processing algorithms for both embedded devices and a cloud platform. Working on patent applications.

Hamilton Medical Website

TNG - INSTITUT DE NEUROSCIENCES DES SYSTÈMES

Postdoctoral Researcher

October 2020 - June 2022

Studied functional connectivity in healthy aging with the theoretical neuroscience group, using causal inference and variational autoencoders on resting-state brain dynamics (Python, JupyterLab, Slurm, SnakeMake). Work published in NeuroImage (2023).

INS Website

Flemish scientific research fund (FWO)

S.B. PhD Fellow at ESAT department, STADIUS group, KU Leuven

January 2017 - September 2020

Developed a model to quantify stress and pain in premature infants. Investigated scalp-EEG connectivity, nonlinear properties of neonatal EEG, and heart-rate variability fractality. Codes developed in Matlab.

FWO website

KU LEUVEN

PhD Fellow at ESAT department, STADIUS group, Biomed Team

January 2016 - December 2016

First-year PhD research dedicated to neonatal physiology, development, machine learning, and graph theory.

Biomed Team Website

Education

KU Leuven

Doctor of Engineering Science (PhD) - Electrical Engineering

2016 - 2020

Perfected research and communication skills to deliver clinically sound results based on mathematical and data science knowledge.

Alta Scuola Politecnica

Double Degree Program

2013 - 2015

Multidisciplinary program organized by Politecnico di Milano and Politecnico di Torino.

Politecnico di Milano

MSc in Biomedical Engineering

2013 - 2015

Focus on biomedical signal processing and biophysical models. Master thesis on the estimation of the baroreflex in an animal model.

Politecnico di Milano

BA in Biomedical Engineering

2010 - 2013

Basis of engineering science, continuum mechanics, electronics, and control theory.

Featured Projects

Patient-ventilator asynchronies

Optimizing patient-ventilator asynchrony detection in mechanically ventilated patients using advanced signal-processing techniques.

Respiratory MechanicsSignal ProcessingPythonC#

View Project

The Virtual Aging Brain

Modelling aging and neurodevelopment with The Virtual Brain. Creating a virtual aging cohort based on the 1000 Brains Study dataset using Python, JupyterLab, Git, SnakeMake, and Slurm.

NeurosciencePythonHPCModeling

View Project

The Perinatal Stress Calculator

PhD research focused on the detection of early-life pain and stress in premature infants by means of physiological signal processing (EEG, ECG). Developed in Matlab.

Biomedical EngineeringMatlabSignal Processing

View Project

Advanced

Supervised Learning

Advanced

Media

PhD Graduation Video

Video recording of the PhD graduation ceremony.

Talk at University of Virginia

Invited talk at the University of Virginia.

Get in Touch

I'm always open to discussing health-ML research, collaborations, or just chatting about AI coding tools.

Say Hello