Challenging the status quo to improve mobility care

Marissa Koscielski ’17, ’18 M.S.

Founder, Enlighten Mobility; Clinical Director, 3Spine

MAJORS: MATHEMATICS, ESTEEM

Not walking again was not an option for Marissa Koscielski ’17, ’18 M.S. That was the prognosis she received in 2013 following a procedure to remove a mass from her spine. The surgery had left her paralyzed from the waist down on her left side. Determined to recover, but faced with a lack of effective equipment to facilitate it, Koscielski set out to create her own medical device to get her back on her feet.

Koscielski is not only walking — and running — again, but she has used her experience to fuel her entrepreneurial pursuits in the health care space. As a student in Notre Dame’s ESTEEM program, she founded Enlighten Mobility, which offers patient-driven early intervention solutions in mobility care. In addition to Enlighten Mobility, she has founded three healthcare ventures and has held a leadership role in another successful medical device startup. Koscielski is a mentor to Mayo Clinic Pediatric Rehabilitation, where she was treated, and a former intern for A Rosie Place respite care hospital for medically fragile children.

In 2017, Koscielski graduated from Notre Dame with her bachelor’s in mathematics. She pursued the ESTEEM program for its emphasis on the intersection of innovation and entrepreneurship, with an intent to disrupt existing healthcare delivery models and improve patient outcomes. Her company, Enlighten Mobility, was one of two grand prize winners in the 2018 McCloskey New Venture Competition.