Michael Graglia’s son Tony was diagnosed with SYNGAP1 in 2018, he was 4. Together with his wife, Ashley Evans, he founded the SynGAP Research Fund, 501(c)(3), to accelerate science around SYNGAP1 in order to make sure there is a therapy developed in a time frame that matters for his son, and children like him. SRF expects to have granted over $3.5M to scientific research by the end of 2022.
In the broader Rare Neuro community, Mike serves on the Executive Board of COMBINEDbrain and is a member of the AES Epilepsy Research Benchmarks Stewards Committee. Mike also represents SRF on the Personalized Medicine Coalition, Global Genes Foundation Alliance, Everylife Foundation Community Congress, Rare Epilepsy Network, and Epilepsy Leadership Council.
Mike comes from a career in public policy, international development and strategy. Previous roles have included establishing a new program at New America, a DC think tank, Budget & Planning at both the Gates Foundation and Emerson Collective, healthcare consulting at BCG, supporting African Universities at the World Bank Group, managing a refugee program for the UNHCR via the ICMC in Zimbabwe, and teaching math in Peace Corps Namibia.
Graglia has an MBA from Columbia where he was a Bronfman Fellow, an MA from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies where he was a Soros Fellow, and a BS in mathematics from Gonzaga University, S.J.
Graglia lives with his wife Ahsley and two sons in Palo Alto, California.
