Luca Merlo

Associate Professor of Statistics at the Link Campus University

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Department of Human Sciences

Link Campus University

Rome (RM), Italy

I obtained my PhD in Methodological Statistics at the Sapienza University of Rome (Italy) with a thesis on quantile regression models for the analysis of multivariate data. I actively collaborate with national and international institutions, including the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (US), the University of Southampton (United Kingdom) and the University of Pisa (Italy). From 2022 to 2024 I was a researcher in statistics at the European University of Rome (Italy). As of November, I am Associate Professor of Statistics at the Link Campus University in Rome (Italy). My research interests lie in quantile regression, latent variable models, finite mixture models with applications to longitudinal, time series and correlated data.

News

Oct 28, 2025 Our paper with Beatrice Foroni Lea Petrella and Nicola salvati, “Hidden Markov quantile graphical models” has been published on the Journal of Computational and Graphical Statistics. Check it out here.
Sep 9, 2025 I will be chairing the session “Data-Driven Classification and Statistical Modeling for Tackling Environmental Challenges” at the CLADAG 2025 conference hosted by the University of Naples Federico II, Italy.
Aug 22, 2025 I will be chairing the session “Quantile methods and applications” at the EcoSta 2025 conference hosted by the Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan.

Selected Publications

2025

  1. Mid-quantile mixed graphical models with an application to mass public shootings in the U.S.
    Luca Merlo, Marco Geraci, and Lea Petrella
    Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A: Statistics in Society, 2025
  2. Hidden Markov quantile graphical models
    Beatrice Foroni, Luca Merlo, Lea Petrella, and 1 more author
    Journal of Computational and Graphical Statistics, 2025

2024

  1. Expectile hidden Markov regression models for analyzing cryptocurrency returns
    Beatrice Foroni, Luca Merlo, and Lea Petrella
    Statistics and Computing, 2024
  2. Inter-order relations between equivalence for Lp-quantiles of the Student’s t distribution
    Valeria Bignozzi, Luca Merlo, and Lea Petrella
    Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, 2024
  3. Childhood PM2.5 exposure and upward mobility in the United States
    Sophie-An Kingsbury Lee, Luca Merlo, and Francesca Dominici
    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2024

2023

  1. Unified unconditional regression for multivariate quantiles, M-quantiles and expectiles
    Luca Merlo, Lea Petrella, Nicola Salvati, and 1 more author
    Journal of the American Statistical Association, 2023

2022

  1. Quantile mixed hidden Markov models for multivariate longitudinal data: An application to children’s Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire scores
    Luca Merlo, Lea Petrella, and Nikos Tzavidis
    Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series C: Applied Statistics, 2022
  2. Marginal M-quantile regression for multivariate dependent data
    Luca Merlo, Lea Petrella, Nicola Salvati, and 1 more author
    Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, 2022
  3. Quantile hidden semi-Markov models for multivariate time series
    Luca Merlo, Antonello Maruotti, Lea Petrella, and 1 more author
    Statistics and Computing, 2022

2021

  1. Forecasting VaR and ES using a joint quantile regression and its implications in portfolio allocation
    Luca Merlo, Lea Petrella, and Valentina Raponi
    Journal of Banking & Finance, 2021