Kyriacos Koupparis is Head of Frontier Innovations at the United Nations World Food Programme’s Innovation Accelerator. In this role, he leads a team that explores how emerging technologies – such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, and robotics – can be harnessed to catalyze impact within the context of humanitarian assistance and food security.

Previously, he worked for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as Senior Innovation Advisor where he designed and administered multi-million dollar programs to advance social and environmental prosperity across the globe. He spent the last 15 years working at the nexus between innovation and international development – first as a biomedical researcher working on drug discovery for neglected tropical diseases and further on in his career by managing programs to build better communities in emerging markets through science, technology, innovation and partnerships. He has worked in more than 20 countries throughout Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa, and Asia through his various roles at the U.S. Department of State, USAID, and the United Nations.

Kyriacos is a native of Cyprus, was born in Johannesburg, and spent his adult years in the USA. He holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Biomedical Sciences from the University of California, San Francisco. He is a graduate of the Management of Technology program at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and holds a B.A. in Chemistry from Wayne State University.