Interview with Prof. Dr. Giovanni Improta—Editorial Board Member of Bioengineering

We had the pleasure of speaking with Prof. Dr. Giovanni Improta, Editorial Board Member of Bioengineering (ISSN: 2306-5354), to discuss the recent research trends in the field and his personal career developments. We hope you enjoy the interview.

Prof. Dr. Giovanni Improta is a researcher of electronics and informatics bioengineering at the Department of Public Health of the School of Medicine and Surgery of the University of Naples "Federico II" (Naples, Italy), where he teaches the course "Healthcare Organization Models" in the master’s degree program in biomedical engineering at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology of the School of Polytechnic and Basic Sciences of the aforementioned university. Additionally, he teaches the course "Toxicology and Industrial Hygiene" in the master's degree program in chemical engineering at the Department of Chemical Materials and Industrial Production Engineering of the same university.

He has an M.Sc. in both management engineering and biomedical engineering. He also has a master’s degree in finance, administration and management control, and three Ph.D. degrees: a Ph.D. in economics and management of health organizations, achieved in 2011 at the University of Naples "Federico II" with a thesis titled "The HTA (Health Technology Assessment) for the management of biomedical equipment of a Hospital Company: reallocation, donation to developing countries, conception and design of a virtual community"; a Ph.D. in bioengineering, achieved in 2014 at the University of Bologna "Alma Mater Studiorum" with a thesis titled "Symbolic Dynamics Analysis: a new methodology for fetal heart rate variability analysis"; and a Ph.D. in products and industrial processes engineering, achieved in 2017 at the University of Naples "Federico II", with a thesis titled "Dynamic Analytic Hierarchy Process: a new approach to technology assessment to support healthcare processes". He was a research fellow at the Department of Public Health of the University of Naples "Federico II" from 2010 to 2017, where he had the opportunity to participate in national and international research projects and to collaborate with companies operating in the public health and biomedical sector.

His research activities are focused on the management and optimization of health processes through the implementation of management strategies and the development of simulation models and multi-criteria decision systems as well as the analysis, processing, and management of biomedical data and signals by means of statistical approaches and machine learning algorithms. He participated in several national and international conferences, he was involved in different national and international research projects, and he is the author of more than 125 Scopus-indexed scientific publications in both peer-reviewed journals and international conference proceedings. The topics he addresses include clinical decision-making systems, Lean and Six Sigma in healthcare, health technology assessment, and biomedical data analysis. He is also the inventor of two patents on innovative solutions to improve patients’ monitoring and well-being. Moreover, he is the editor, guest editor, and reviewer for different international peer-reviewed journals.

The following is an interview with Prof. Dr. Giovanni Improta:

1. What are your research areas?
My main research activities are focused on the management and optimization of health processes through the implementation of management strategies and the development of simulation models and decision support systems as well as the analysis, processing, and management of biomedical data and signals by means of statistical approaches and machine learning algorithms. Within healthcare management and biomedical data analysis, I mostly contribute to the development of modeling tools, machine learning approaches, and statistical analysis to support clinical decision-making, the application of Lean and Six Sigma approaches to improve and optimize care processes and healthcare quality, and the use of simulation and mathematical models for health technology assessment. In this regard, I had the opportunity to contribute to these topics by authoring more than 120 Scopus-indexed scientific publications in both peer-reviewed journals and international conference proceedings.

2. What are the latest developments in your research field?
In my opinion, the main and most interesting developments regard the advancements of digitalization in the public health sector. Indeed, digital technologies have successfully transformed most sectors, with a major impact on healthcare, where massive investments in digital health technologies are bringing radical transformation to healthcare services. In this scenario, one of the main challenges is the integration of such digital technologies into assistance processes/pathways and clinical practice. The advantages that the introduction of novel biomedical engineering solutions in the public health sector can bring range from the improvement of patient‒clinician communication to the efficient design of new diagnostic‒care‒assistance pathways to the optimization of health services. Among the most innovative digital tools in the field of healthcare, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) plays a fundamental role to help clinicians in making better decisions, in more effectively managing patient data, and, not least, in creating personalized care plans. The use of artificial intelligence to support clinical decisions, in particular, is the subject of a recent patent on the development of an intelligent system for the management of polypathological patients, conceived and developed at the Department of Public Health of the “Federico II” University, to which I contributed as the inventor.

3. Can you briefly share your career development story? For example, what cases have influenced you the most?
My career has been focused on improving myself both from the personal and professional perspective. I have always tried to pursue my career’s objectives with perseverance and enthusiasm. My interest in the healthcare sector and the field of biomedical engineering is the main motivation that has boosted my career advancements and encouraged me to invest in my education and grow as a researcher in the bioengineering field. Besides my main education goals (two M.Sc. degrees and three Ph.D. degrees achieved from 2005 to 2017), I have carried out research activities at the Department of Public Health of the University of Naples "Federico II" as a research fellow from 2010 to 2017 and as a senior researcher from 2017 on, also achieving the National Academic Qualification as Associate Professor in the sector 09/G2—Bioengineering.

4. Do you have any valuable suggestions you would like to share with young students and early career researchers?
I would encourage young students and early career researchers to always invest in their education and professional growth as this is one of the most powerful tools to make their value emerge and to effectively pursue their goals. In addition, as research and innovation change and advance very fast, whatever their background is, I would warmly recommend young students to make efforts in understanding their real and profound motivation as it will always provide them with the strength and necessary determination to deal with new research topics and to face new technological, social, and health challenges.

5. What do you think of the development of Open Access in publishing?
I strongly believe in sharing and spreading research advancements with the scientific community. Therefore, I fully support and absolutely agree with Open Access in publishing as a means to foster innovation and as an incentive to learn from the most valuable and outstanding scientific approaches and outcomes in order to bring further improvements by building on solid shared knowledge.

We are thankful for Prof. Dr. Improta's time and support for Bioengineering.