Featured Bio: Catharine Grimes

Catharine Grimes

President of the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation

Catharine Grimes is the president of the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation (BMS Foundation), an independent charitable organization, where she leads their mission to improve global health. Catharine has 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry. She joined Bristol Myers Squibb in 1997, where she has served in many different roles in the commercial organization across multiple therapeutic areas, before transitioning her role to the BMS Foundation as Senior Director in 2010, and President in 2024.

With a relentless focus on tackling health disparities, Catharine’s leadership has forged partnerships with key stakeholders across the globe to bring innovative solutions to communities in need, driving sustainable change in the healthcare system. Catharine launched the BMS Foundation’s work to improve representation in clinical trials through the Robert A. Winn Excellence In Clinical Trials Award Program with an establishing grant of $100MM, and subsequently bolstered by an additional $22 million from Amgen and Gilead Sciences, to train more than 300 early-stage investigator physicians as community oriented clinical trialists in five years. Catharine also led the Foundation’s Global Cancer Disparities Initiative, which has strengthened cancer care systems and brought critical support services for heavily burdened populations.

As President, Catharine oversees all Foundation efforts to improve global health worldwide through key pillars and programs in adult and pediatric cancers, pediatric blood disorders, neuropsychiatry, and inclusion in clinical trials. With a vision to help create a world where everyone has the opportunity to achieve their optimal health, these signature programs work to improve access to healthcare for underserved populations by engaging in initiatives that build capacity and strengthen health systems in India, Brazil, ten countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, and across the United States. With a vision to help create a world where everyone has the opportunity to achieve their optimal health​, the BMS Foundation works to improve access to healthcare for underserved populations.

Catharine earned an MBA in Healthcare Administration from the Baruch College / Mt. Sinai School of Medicine Executive MBA program, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Accountancy from the University of Mississippi. Recently, Catharine was accepted into Fellowship at The New York Academy of Medicine. She is also a CPA.

Catharine resides in New York City with and her husband, Dr. Bruce Polsky.