About
I am an economist specialised in the dynamics of technological change and innovation policy. My career has moved between academic research, government advisory, and international consulting — and the connecting thread is a concern with how states and institutions can steer technological change toward structural transformation and sustainable development.
I currently serve as Director of Strategic Projects and International Relations at CGEE (Centro de Gestão e Estudos Estratégicos), a think tank linked to Brazil’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, where I co-lead a team of more than 70 researchers working on national STI strategy.
Before joining CGEE, I held a tenured Assistant Professorship at TU Delft (2022–2024) and a tenured Adjunct Professorship at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ, 2016–2024), where I taught innovation economics, industrial policy, and research methods at both undergraduate and graduate levels. At Utrecht University (2020–2022), I worked on the Deep Transitions and PROPORTION projects as Senior Researcher in Global Sustainability Transitions.
My doctoral research at SPRU, University of Sussex (2009–2014), examined how industries respond to societal pressures for change, supervised by Frank Geels and Andrew Stirling. During and after the PhD, I worked as Research Fellow with Mariana Mazzucato on the Ford Foundation-funded “Finance and the Entrepreneurial State” project and the INET-funded “Financing Innovation” project, contributing to the analysis of public investment banks and mission-oriented finance that informed policy frameworks adopted in several countries. I have also worked with Carlota Perez on the “Beyond the Technological Revolution” project at TalTech, coordinating a research team at UFRJ.
On the consulting side, I have advised the European Commission (as independent expert on EU missions implementation and on STI financing for sustainable development in Africa), the Inter-American Development Bank (on institutional capacities for mission-oriented innovation in Chile, Colombia, and Mexico, and on climate innovation finance mapping across Latin America), and national and local governments on STI strategy and institutional design. I served as specialist advisor to FAPERJ, Rio de Janeiro’s research funding agency, where I co-designed the Technology Directorate’s multi-year strategic plan.
My research appears in Research Policy, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, Science and Public Policy, and Economic Policy Reform, among others. I have also published policy-oriented work through the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) on the role of the state in governing AI and digital platforms.
I hold a PhD in Science and Technology Policy from the University of Sussex, an MA in Technology Governance from TalTech (Estonia), and a BA in Economics from UFRJ. I am a member of the Babbage Forum (Cambridge IfM), the Mission-Oriented Innovation Policy Observatory (MIPO) (Utrecht University), and the Sustainability Transitions Research Network (STRN).