Daanish Masood Alavi

Daanish Masood Alavi is an investigator at BeAnotherLab, a transnational interdisciplinary group that uses art, science, and technology to promote empathy and perspective taking among diverse communities. The group uses VR and techniques from intergroup neuroscience to develop critical applications in art, scientific research, social projects, healthcare and education, putting a strong emphasis on the impact of the work on people’s lives. Daanish was previously a research affiliate at MIT's Arts, Culture, and Technology program.

Daanish also serves at the United Nations' Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, where he co-leads the Innovation Cell, an interdisciplinary team dedicated to helping the Department and its field presences to understand and explore, pilot, and scale new technologies, tools, and practices in conflict prevention, mediation and peacebuilding. Using human centered design, the Cell is experimenting with XR, NLP, machine vision and machine learning, space-based observation, and speculative design to meet the on-the-ground needs of UN peacemakers in conflict contexts.

Previously, Daanish focused on peace and security in Iraq, including on holding ISIL accountable for its atrocity crimes through the collection of evidence from Iraq's mass graves. From 2007 to 2015, he worked at the UN Alliance of Civilizations, a special UN initiative launched by Secretary-General Kofi Annan that focuses on the role of identity in violent inter-group conflict. Born and raised in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Daanish has lived and worked in New York for 23 years. He began his career shortly after 9/11, working as a community organizer to assist immigrants facing discrimination and deportation.