Epilepsy Foundation Promotes Caitlin Grzeskowiak to Vice President of Research & Innovation

BOWIE, MD, December 19, 2023 — The Epilepsy Foundation today announced that Caitlin Grzeskowiak has been promoted to vice president of Research & Innovation. In this new role, Grzeskowiak will continue fostering initiatives that connect people living with epilepsy with research programs to improve outcomes.

“Caitlin’s wealth of knowledge and expertise in the epilepsy research field makes her an invaluable leader at the Foundation,” said Dr. Jacqueline French, chief medical and innovation office, Epilepsy Foundation. “For the past few years, she has exhibited exceptional leadership and a relentless commitment to bringing innovative treatments to market in a timeframe that matters. She brings passion, commitment, and research insights to accelerate ideas into new therapies for people living with the epilepsies.”  

Grzeskowiak joined the Epilepsy Foundation in 2020 as the senior director of research. In this role, she helped launch a virtual accelerator course for epilepsy startups to provide expertise and guidance to commercialize products that improve the lives of people with epilepsy; and EDEN, a real-world data collection platform designed to improve patient access to information about their epilepsy. She has also led the implementation of successful programs including: the Epilepsy Foundation’s Pipeline Conference, Research Roundtable for Epilepsy, My Seizure Gauge Initiative, Shark Tank, Human Epilepsy Project 2, and Junior Investigators Fellowships.

Prior to the Epilepsy Foundation, Grzeskowiak was director of research at Project Data Sphere, a nonprofit organization focused on breaking down barriers to cancer clinical trial data sharing. There, she focused on major health equity initiatives to bring earlier detection testing to medically underserved communities and improving disease classification databases to inform retrospective analysis of adverse events resulting from emerging therapies. Grzeskowiak also served as manager of Science Initiatives at Research!America, where she focused on advocacy and strategic policy initiatives for the scientific community.

She holds a doctorate in Molecular and Human Genetics from Baylor College of Medicine. Her research focused on developing platform technologies to run large-scale genetic screens. Grzeskowiak also completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University School of Medicine where she developed a patented technology ultimately designed to predict cancer patients’ response to immunotherapy. While at Stanford, she also completed the Ignite Program through the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, which focuses on commercializing technology from the lab. 

About Epilepsy

According to the World Health Organization, epilepsy is the most common serious brain disorder worldwide with no age, racial, social class, national or geographic boundaries. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) estimates that 3.4 million people in the United States are affected by epilepsy. Epilepsy is the underlying tendency of the brain to produce seizures which are sudden abnormal bursts of electrical energy that disrupt brain functions. 

About the Epilepsy Foundation

With a network of partners throughout the United States, the Epilepsy Foundation is leading the fight to overcome the challenges of living with epilepsy. The Foundation connects people to treatment, support, and resources; leads advocacy efforts; funds innovative research and the training of specialists; and educates the public about epilepsy and seizure first aid. For more than five decades, the Epilepsy Foundation has shone a light on epilepsy to promote awareness and understanding, and to advocate for laws that matter to people with epilepsy, while also funding epilepsy research and supporting epilepsy investigators and specialists in their early careers. In partnership with the CDC, the Epilepsy Foundation has helped to improve access to care for people with epilepsy, expanded its digital reach and online resources in homes across the country, and trained more than 600,000 people in seizure recognition and first aid. The Epilepsy Foundation continues to focus on serving the epilepsy community through advocacy, education, direct services, and research for new therapies. To learn more visit epilepsy.com or call 1.800.332.1000; in Spanish at 866.748.8008 or laepilepsia.org. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, and YouTube.