Theo Anagnostopoulos is a person of many titles: geneticist, science engager, social entrepreneur, public speaker, and since 2021, a National Geographic Explorer. He holds a Ph.D. in medical genetics from King’s College London, and his Postdoctoral research work was in hereditary cancer. He has received training in social entrepreneurship from Stanford University and in leadership from Columbia University. Since 2022, he is also a Visiting Researcher at the Science Communication Department of Leiden University, the Netherlands.
He is the co-founder and general manager of SciCo, an international social enterprise aiming to make science and technology simple and understandable to the public and various stakeholder groups. His mission is to connect people by creating opportunities for non-scientists to engage with science, reaffirming science’s vital role in our everyday lives. Through numerous high-impact outreach activities, including science festivals, educational platforms, and workshops, the organisation has reached over 400,000 people.
He is also the co-founder of the Athens, Thessaloniki, Patras, Thessaly, and Mediterranean Science Festivals, and the successful science communication projects: Mind the Lab, School Lab, STEMpowering Youth – Generation Next, and Celebrity Science, among many others. Moreover, he is the co-founder of Theta Communications, a company specialising in experiential training of employees.
Holding many memberships in high-impact organisations, Theo is the first Greek to become an Ashoka Fellow, joining the prestigious global network of leading social entrepreneurs in 2017.
He has travelled in 96 countries, in six continents and is a member of the Explorers Club in New York.