Marilyn Grunzweig Geller

Chief Executive Officer @Celiac Disease Foundation

Marilyn G. Geller is Chief Executive Officer for the Celiac Disease Foundation, the nation\'s leading voluntary health organization for celiac disease. For 14 years, Marilyn’s son suffered with debilitating symptoms despite seeking help from innumerable health professionals. A chance blood draw revealed celiac disease was the cause of his suffering. Seeking to change this all too common narrative, Marilyn, a longtime healthcare executive, joined the Board of Directors. In 2012, Marilyn became the Chief Executive Officer. Founded in 1990, the Celiac Disease Foundation seeks to accelerate diagnosis, treatments, and a cure for celiac disease through strategic investments in biomedical research, patient and healthcare provider education, and public policy advocacy. Under Marilyn\'s guidance, the Foundation has seen unprecedented growth through the development of multiple online tools and programs to empower millions of patients worldwide to seek diagnosis and treatment. This includes iCureCeliac®, the nation’s only celiac disease patient registry, and iQualifyCeliac, the world’s only patient organization platform to speed recruitment for clinical trials. An appointee to the PCORI Patient Engagement Advisory Panel and a primary spokesperson for the patient and caregiver perspective on celiac disease, Marilyn has co-authored and presented numerous medical research papers and posters on celiac disease and its impact on patients. In 2019, she testified before the House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies. In 2020 and 2021, she testified before NIH on patient unmet needs in celiac disease. Marilyn brings deep management experience in healthcare and IT operations. A former Los Angeles County and University of California, Los Angeles, hospital administrator and clinical instructor, and a RAND Corporation researcher, Geller, is a lifelong Bruin, with MSPH and BA degrees from UCLA.