Meet Grit Zahn, PhD, TESS Scientific Advisory Board Member

Dr. Zahn has more than 20 years of experience in the biotech industry and is now the Head of Research at Eternygen, a privately owned biopharmaceutical company working in the area of drug discovery and preclinical development. Eternygen focuses on metabolic diseases caused by the sodium coupled citrate transporter, NaCT/SLC13A5. She is also a special issue guest editor together with Prof. Andreas Birkenfeld for the journal Metabolites and the special issue for SLC13A5 “I’m Not Dead Yet in Metabolic Regulation.”

Q: What is your role at TESS Research Foundation?
A: I am a member of the Scientific Advisory Board.

Q: How does the work you are doing have the potential to help children with SLC13A5 Epilepsy?
A: I am a scientist developing drugs affecting SLC13A5 function in organs other than the brain for the treatment of non-neurological diseases. This involves a lot of studies to better understand the general function of SLC13A5, which hopefully helps to accelerate the development of medicines for SLC13A5 Epilepsy.

Q: What inspires you to contribute your time and skills to TESS?
A: I see the huge medical need to find new medicines for SLC13A5 Epilepsy and I am inspired by the enthusiasm, energy, and success of the TESS team. I would like to support TESS as much as I can.

Q: Have you learned anything through your work with TESS Research Foundation that you’d like to share?
A: I am really inspired by Kim and the TESS team and seeing what can be achieved by continuously pushing and motivating scientists and clinicians, with the goal of research and development in very rare diseases that will help affected kids and their families.