Mario Caccamo
Translational Faculty
I am a translational scientist and research leader passionate about turning scientific discovery into practical solutions that improve agriculture, strengthen food systems, and deliver societal impact.
Biography
Professor Mario Caccamo is one of the university’s inaugural translational professors. Before joining KAUST, Professor Caccamo served as CEO of Niab, one of Europe’s leading crop science organizations, where he led a multidisciplinary team of researchers, breeders, and innovators working across crop genetics, genomics, agronomy, and data science. Professor Caccamo holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science and has more than 20 years of experience at the interface of bioinformatics, computational biology, genomics, and agricultural innovation. Throughout his career, he has worked across academia, research institutes, government, and industry, leading multidisciplinary programs that combine cutting-edge science with practical application. The Council for Awards of the Royal Agricultural Societies has recently recognized his contributions by awarding Professor Caccamo an Associateship (ARAgS).
Research Interests
Professor Mario Caccamo’s research interests focus on translating advances in crop genetics, genomics, bioinformatics, and computational biology into practical solutions for sustainable agriculture and food security. His work integrates plant breeding, digital technologies, artificial intelligence, and agronomy to improve crop productivity, resource-use efficiency, and climate resilience. He has a particular interest in developing innovative breeding approaches, including research on apomixis, to accelerate the creation and deployment of improved crop varieties. Professor Caccamo is listed as an inventor on a patent concerning mechanisms for apomixis in Poaceae. His research is also centered on building strong links between science, industry, and policy to ensure that agricultural innovations deliver tangible economic, environmental, and societal impact. Examples of his translational work include the development of the Malling Fruits soft-fruit breeding program, whose strawberry and raspberry varieties have achieved global commercial success, and his leadership of major innovation initiatives linking academia, industry, and government. Professor Caccamo has also developed extensive international collaborations with CGIAR institutes, including CIAT, CIMMYT, ICRISAT, IRRI, and ILRI, as well as partnerships with applied research organizations such as EMBRAPA (Brazil), INTA (Argentina), and the Agricultural Genetics Institute (Vietnam).
sustainable food security
agri-tech
food systems
crop improvement
biotechnology
Education Profile
- Ph.D. in Computer Science - Basic Research in Computer Science (BRICS) - University of Aarhus
(Denmark), 2003 - M.Sc., Computer Science, UNICAMP (Brazil), 1998
- B.Sc., Computer Science, Universidad Nacional del Sur (Argentina), 1996