Meet Our 2025 ESPRIT Award Winner: Piotr Kapela

Little things matter to Piotr Kapela. As a Statistical Programmer/Analyst at VNS Health’s Center for Home Care Policy & Research, he often goes over things twice just to make sure nothing is missing. “A compulsive personality is good for my profession, because it’s all about the details,” he explains.

For nearly four years, Piotr has helped to make life-changing research possible. He builds custom solutions—data pipelines, security protocols, privacy protections—for the Research Center’s unique needs. “We’re very grateful that we’re able to use patient data, because it is so instrumental in the research,” he says. “At the same time, with health care data, we are very mindful of protecting privacy, and a lot of effort goes into this.”

Piotr’s meticulous approach extends to his collaborations. When implementing a new database system, Piotr sets up regular meetings with project managers and analysts, gathering input and redesigning entire forms. He’s also created learning workshops and tutorials, sharing knowledge freely across the team. On an NIH-funded study supporting dementia caregivers, he guided an early-career researcher through VNS Health’s systems, programming interfaces and building core databases while troubleshooting obstacles along the way.

Colleagues call Piotr the Research Center’s “go-to person,” noting his pleasant demeanor and willingness to help. Over his tenure, he has transformed how the Center operates, leading implementation of secure platforms that “simplified and streamlined the Research Center’s data collection tremendously.”  When consent forms hit technical snags, he partnered with IT to resolve them. “He is constantly looking for new ways to improve existing processes,” a colleague notes.

In fact, the ESPRIT Award is one of the few times at VNS Health that he’s been caught off guard. “I’m kind of speechless—I never expected this honor,” Piotr admits. “It motivates me to do even better work, to be worthy of it.”