Álvaro Machado Dias is an Associate Professor at UNIFESP (Federal University of São Paulo). He holds a Master’s degree, a Ph.D., and completed a postdoctoral fellowship. He developed the country’s only postdoctoral research program focused specifically on decision-making processes in the human brain (EPM-UNIFESP, 2015). He has also completed advanced international training in areas including microeconomics, artificial intelligence, and complex decision modeling.
Academic & Scientific Leadership
- Director of the Center for Advanced Studies in Decision Making.
- Member of Behavioral & Brain Sciences (Cambridge) and the MIT Technology Review Global Panel.
- Author of more than 100 high-impact scientific papers.
- Co-Editor of Frontiers in Neuroscience (Neuromodulation), part of the Nature portfolio.
- Creator of the first postgraduate courses in Neuroeconomics at a public university in Brazil (EPM-UNIFESP, Department of Psychiatry).
- CNPq research leader, heading a national research directory on Decision Making.
- Leads research on decision-making processes in the human brain at the Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Clinical Neurosciences at UNIFESP.
- Netflix neuroscience consultant for the series João de Deus: Cura e Crime.
- Public intellectual with a strong presence in mainstream media and specialized forums, bridging neuroscience, business, and technology.
Entrepreneurship & Innovation
He is a Partner at Instituto Locomotiva, one of Brazil’s leading research companies; at WeMind, an innovation office; and at MetaHuman. He is also co-creator of the first blockchain protocol developed in Brazil.
Art & Design
Álvaro is the creator of Video-Wave, an experimental artwork presented at the Inhotim Museum; Encephalon, the largest neuroscientific artwork in the world, part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Tomorrow; and Video-Wave II (SPFW, 2018), a piece created using brainwave data.
He is also the author of additional installations exhibited in various spaces, and maintains a deep interest in cinema and music, contributing occasionally to cultural projects.