Gunnar Esiason, MBA, MPH

Vice President, Patient Strategy & Innovation, Blackbird

Gunnar Esiason is the Vice President of Patient Strategy & Innovation at Raven. Gunnar is a cystic fibrosis patient and an accomplished patient advocate who is passionate about early-stage drug development, patient empowerment, and health policy. Prior to joining Raven, Gunnar worked at both venture firms and startup companies, focusing on new company creation, early-stage growth, and patient adoption of novel healthcare technologies. He has also been the face of fundraising for the Boomer Esiason Foundation, which has raised close to $200 million in the fight against cystic fibrosis and is a founding board member of No Patient Left Behind. Gunnar holds an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, where he was a Wilson Scholar and received the Julia Stell Award, an MPH from the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice, and a BA from Boston College. His health policy opinions have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Hill, and STAT News. Gunnar’s life was profiled in the feature length documentary, ​“Second Wind: The Boomer and Gunnar Esiason Story,” which was produced by ESPN and premiered in December 2024.