João Leitão has a Ph.D. in Economics (2004) from the University of Beira Interior and a habilitation in Technological Change and Entrepreneurship (2017) from the Instituto Superior Técnico of the University of Lisbon. Associate Professor with Habilitation, Director of UBIExecutive Business School and of the MBA@UBI. Member of the RIS Policy Council of EIT Food, of the MIT Technology Review Global Panel, and of the Board of the Portuguese Association for Regional Development (APDR). Local Councillor of the European Committee of the Regions and Member of the Municipal Assembly of Fundão. Vice-coordinator of the Núcleo de Estudos em Ciências Empresariais (NECE). Evaluator/expert for the European Commission and associated agencies, as well as for international scientific and technological committees, and national agencies. Chairman of several scientific, business, and public policy events promoting technological entrepreneurship, innovation, and sustainable regional development. Editor of several scientific journals and books.

Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Capital, Open Innovation, and Sustainable Development are among the fields for which he has authored and co-authored scientific research.
Patent co-author: PT Patent 109800 · Issued May 22, 2020.