Geraldine Acuña-Sunshine, JD, MPP

Geraldine Acuña-Sunshine, JD, MPP, is Co-Founder of the Collaborative Center for X-Linked Dystonia-Parkinsonism (CCXDP) at the Massachusetts General Hospital and President of the Sunshine Care Foundation, Inc (SCF). She leads both organizations in their joint mission to find a cure for X-Linked Dystonia Parkinsonism (XDP) while providing comprehensive support for affected patients and their families. Geraldine has been a US NIH National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes Nonprofit Forum Executive Committee member since 2021.

Geraldine completed an undergraduate degree (AB) at Harvard College, a master's degree in public policy (MPP) at Harvard Kennedy School, and a juris doctor degree at Columbia Law School. Before working in the social impact space, she practiced corporate law in New York and Boston before becoming Senior Counsel in Derivatives and Alternative Investments at Bracebridge Capital in Boston. She currently applies this background in law, finance, and public leadership to her current focus on public health, humanitarian medical aid, and facilitating biomedical research.

In addition to her work with CCXDP and SCF, Geraldine serves on many boards, including the Massachusetts General Hospital Board of Trustees (where she chairs the Patient Quality and Safety Committee), The Asian American Foundation Board of Trustees, the Women's Foundation of Boston Board of Trustees, and the Harvard Medical School Board of Fellows. She also most recently served for six years on the Harvard University Board of Overseers, both as Vice-Chair of the Board and as Chair of the Institutional Policy Committee. During her time on the Harvard Governing Boards, Geraldine was a member of the Joint Committee on Inspections, the Joint Committee on Alumni Affairs and Development, the Committee on Natural and Applied Sciences, and was on each of the Visiting Committees to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and Harvard College.