Lois Labrianidis is a Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Macedonia, Greece, where he also heads the Regional Development and Planning Research Unit. He holds a background as an economic geographer, with a BA from Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, an MA from Sussex, and a Ph.D. from LSE.

From 2015 to 2019, Labrianidis served as the Secretary General for Strategic and Private Investments in the Greek Ministry of Economy & Development.