Danil Mikhailov, Ph.D., is a computer scientist and social scientist and a world-leading expert in the application of technology and data innovation for social impact. Danil’s main research interests are in Science and Technology Studies, including social media, AI, and misinformation; technology and AI ethics; and design of healthy and inclusive data ecosystems. A second, unrelated area of research interest is the history, philosophy, and practice of traditional Chinese martial arts.
Danil currently serves in the role of Chief Scientist at data.org, leading on a number of key global programs, such as Epiverse and the low-resource languages digitisation program in Africa. Between 2021 and 2025, Danil served as the Executive Director and then the founding President and CEO of data.org, leading his talented multi-disciplinary team to set up the organisation and launch global data for social impact programs in climate, health, and financial inclusion to build digital public goods, train a new generation of purpose-driven data practitioners, and design sustainable data ecosystems in Latin America, Asia, Africa, Europe, and the US. Prior to data.org, Danil was Head of Data & Innovation at Wellcome, where he founded and directed the Wellcome Data Labs, an interdisciplinary team of data scientists, software developers, and social scientists, creating open-source data tools supporting Wellcome’s mission.
Danil has served on executive and advisory boards of multiple other high-profile academic, nonprofit, and public sector initiatives, including founding and chairing the Digital Strategy Forum for Science, Art, and Culture, in the United Kingdom, co-founding the Research on Research Institute that studies the processes and structures of scientific research, and co-founding and chairing the Global Pandemic Data Alliance, formed under the auspices of the G7 to improve the effectiveness of world’s pandemic & epidemic data infrastructure.
Danil holds a Ph.D. in Sociology and Communications from the University of Brunel, an MA in Philosophy from Birkbeck, University of London, an MA in Chinese Studies from SOAS, University of London, and a BSc in IT & Business Management, University of York. He is currently a research associate at SOAS, in the UK, and the co-lead of the newly launched Institute for Community AI research (I-CAIR).