Sorapop Kiatpongsan

Sorapop is a physician-scientist, an educator and an executive who believes in the power of technology and innovation in transforming how people live, learn, work and play, and that full potential of innovation can be realized through strategic initiatives and partnerships. He has more than 25 years of experience in academia, medicine and life sciences with expertise in strategy, research & development, innovation & entrepreneurship, public policy, consulting, partnership-building and ecosystem-building across sectors at national and international levels.

Prior to joining MIT as Director of ASEAN Initiative, Sorapop was Health and Public Sector Lead at Accenture. Formerly, he was Assistant President for Research and Innovation at Chulalongkorn University, Managing Director at Institute of Public Policy and Development, and Director of Innovation Ventures at Bumrungrad International Hospital. He is Visiting Professor at Sasin School of Management and serves as advisors, board & committee members for startups, companies, government agencies and international organizations.

Sorapop’s academic and research contributions have been cited by international agencies such as the UNFPA’s State of World Population Report, the UNDP’s Human Development Report, the International Labour Organization‘s Global Commission on the Future of Work, the UN Research Institute for Social Development’s Policy Brief, and featured at various publications and media outlets such as Science, Nature Reports Stem Cells, Scientific American, New Scientist, Harvard Business Review, Forbes, The Economist, The Economist Intelligence Unit, The Huffington Post, CBS News and Fast Company. 

His selected awards and recognitions are Asia 21 Young Leader (Asia Society), Lee Lusted Award and Young Scientist Asia-Pacific Award (Society for Medical Decision Making), S.S. Ratnam Young Gynaecologist Award (Asia & Oceania Federation of Obstetrics & Gynaecology), and Derek Bok Distinction in Teaching Awards (Harvard University).

Sorapop received M.D. (first class honors) from Chulalongkorn University and Ph.D. from Harvard University with King Anadamahidol Fellowship under the Royal Patronage of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. He was a postdoctoral fellow in Science, Technology and Innovation Policy at Harvard Kennedy School and a postdoctoral fellow in Stem Cell Biology, Reproductive Biology and Regenerative Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.