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Gabriela Couto has over 30 years of experience at the intersection of science, business, and public policy, focused on innovation management and the development of biotech and life sciences ecosystems across Latin America. She has firsthand experience creating and managing life sciences clusters, including founding and leading CRbiomed (biotechnology and medical device cluster) and managing the Global-Life Centered Hub, both in Costa Rica, as well as the Life Sciences Cluster in Uruguay. This track-record has strengthened her ability to foster synergistic relationships, facilitate knowledge sharing, and enable cross-industry collaboration projects among diverse, multi sector stakeholders.

She also has over 10 years of experience at the Center for Technology Management (CEGETEC) and the Valorization Unit of Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, both in Uruguay. She has a successful track record of preparing biotechnology companies for venture capital negotiations and winning innovation grants, effectively bridging the gap between scientific research and commercial applications.

As a recognized international consultant for organizations including the European Commission, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL/ECLAC), and IDRC (International Development Research Centre of Canada), she has supported a range of multinational projects. Among these, she contributed to major initiatives such as BIOTECSUR and ELAN, focused on strengthening EU–Latin America collaboration in biotechnology and innovation. She has also served as International Technical Assistance Chief for CENIBIOT (Centro Nacional de Innovaciones Biotecnológicas), Costa Rica’s national biotechnology innovation center.

In parallel with her consulting work, Gabriela has taught at the Costa Rica Institute of Technology (TEC), where she developed and delivered courses on biotechnology business models, and at the National University of Costa Rica (UNA) on the “Management of University/Industry Relations”. She manages and creates content for BIOGerentes Academy that is focused on empowering the Latin American biotech community.

She holds an MBA from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and was a Fulbright Scholar at California State University, Fresno for completing the Certificate of Advanced Studies in Biotechnology and holds an Agronomy Engineer title from the Universidad de la República del Uruguay. Gabriela is fluent in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French.