Dr. Rafael Escalona Reynoso is the Chief Executive Officer and Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Portulans Institute. Prior to that position he was Senior Research Associate and Data Scientist also at the Portulans Institute from 2020 to 2021. Before joining the Portulans research team, he served as Research Leader of the Innovation Index project from 2013 to 2020. As a leader, Dr. Rafael leverages a unique combination of uniqueness of data and policy analysis, public relations skills along with the ability to influence long-term strategies by demonstrating thought leadership in project management.

In the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO), he works closely with the Innovation Index Research team at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), with the GII Advisory Board as well as its corporate partners and academic network. Previously, Dr. Rafael served as a member of the Foreign Trade and Investment Advisory Board in the office of the President of Mexico, and as an Economic Policies, Science and Technology Advisor to the Senate of Mexico – LVIII Legislature. As a member of the congressional advisory group, he has led numerous studies on the economic impact of international biosafety regulations on basic research, industry and commerce in Mexico, directs comparative analysis of international food and drug safety policies and regulations, assists in the enactment of Mexican genetically-modified organisms (GMO) biosafety legislation and the regulatory framework for Mexican Federal Commission on Sanitary Risks.

Dr. Rafael holds a PhD in Regional Planning with a specialisation in Science and Technology Studies, and Risk Analysis, Communication and Policy from Cornell University. His research experience during his time at Cornell University includes comparative studies between the National Innovation Systems of Mexico and Spain, the legal aspects of modern biotechnology and biosecurity of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), as well as on the scope of intellectual property rights (IPR) in the public information era.