Improving children’s health requires more than medical care alone. It depends on access to nutritious food, early learning support, trusted information, and healthcare systems designed around families.

In this episode of A Dose of Optimism, Omkar Kulkarni speaks with three leaders working across different parts of the pediatric ecosystem. Sam Polk, CEO of Everytable, shares how food access and affordability shape health outcomes and why he believes nutritious meals should be available in every community. Patti Miller, Director of Too Small to Fail (Clinton Foundation), discusses the role of early childhood development, media, and caregiver support in building lifelong health and learning foundations. Laura Wood, EVP, Patient Care Operations and System Chief Nurse Executive at Boston Children's Hospital brings the perspective of a nurse leader, highlighting how care delivery models, professional practice environments, and digital tools can better support children and families.

Together, they explore how cross sector collaboration can help address complex challenges in children’s health and why optimism comes from practical, people centered solutions already taking shape.

Episode Resources:

Compton Unified School District

CLA, The Laundry Association

American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)

California Department of Social Services

Read: Early Literacy Policy Statement

Read: Univision Communications, Inc. and Too Small to Fail

Read: Spotify launches a new Kids category with a focus on learning activities, language development

Epic Corporation

American Academy of Nursing (AAN)

Read: The CAMEO tool: Capturing the complex nature of pediatric nursing

Connect with Sam Polk:

Everytable Website

Everytable LinkedIn

Everytable Instagram

Feast Website

Feast LinkedIn

Sam Polk LinkedIn

Sam Polk Instagram

Connect with Patti Miller:

Clinton Foundation Website

Clinton Foundation LinkedIn

Clinton Foundation Instagram

Too Small to Fail

Too Small to Fail Instagram

Patti Miller LinkedIn

Connect with Laura Wood:

Boston Children's Hospital Website

Parents want fast, credible answers about their children’s health, and asynchronous care is opening a new path to get there.

In this episode, Omkar Kulkarni speaks with two leaders shaping how families access pediatric care. Ellen Da Silva, Founder and CEO of Summer Health, explains how message based pediatric support can deliver answers from real physicians within minutes. She shares how parents use text, photos, and videos to get both urgent and everyday questions addressed without needing live appointments. Then, designer and digital health leader Arna Ionescu Stoll describes how Wavely Dx is turning the smartphone into a diagnostic tool, starting with ear infection detection through sound analysis and expanding to concussion screening. Together, they explore how asynchronous care can reduce unnecessary visits, improve access, and give parents confidence in moments of uncertainty.

Connect with Ellen Da Silva:

Summer Health Website

Summer Health LinkedIn

Summer Health Instagram

Ellen DaSilva Instagram

Ellen DaSilva LinkedIn

Connect with Arna Ionescu Stoll:

Wavely Diagnostics Website

Wavely Diagnostics LinkedIn

Wavely Diagnostics Instagram

Arna Ionescu LinkedIn

Connect with us:

KidsX Website

KidsX LinkedIn

Children's Hospital L.A. Website

Children's Hospital L.A. Instagram

Children's Hospital L.A. LinkedIn

Learn more about our sponsor:

Nabla Website

Nabla LinkedIn

Once a year, a very special group gathers in person: the behind-the-scenes innovators, operators, clinicians, policymakers, and digital health leaders shaping the future of children’s healthcare. This year, that group met in Chicago at the KidsX Pediatric Health Innovation Summit, and we recorded the entire experience.

In this unique live episode, Omkar shares highlights from the day: inspiring stories from leaders like AVIA CEO Clay Holderman, discussions on patient experience and digital tools from Stacy Zoucha, insights into pediatric AI from Ali Nasser, and conversations about policy, innovation pathways, device development, and the role of federal agencies with Stephen Konya and Dr. Juan Espinoza.

It’s a rare look at the community of “innovation enablers” working to make healthcare better for children, the people who build connections, remove barriers, and help new ideas find their way into practice.

Episode Resources:

Cancer Moonshot℠ - NCI

MAHA report

CTIP - FDA-funded MedTech accelerator

FDA Pediatric Device Consortia (PDC) Grants Program

Connect with summit speakers:

Clay Holderman - CEO at AVIA

Stacy Zoucha - Director of Digital Health and Innovation at Children's Nebraska

Ali Nasser - Manager, Insights & Advisory at AVIA

Stephen Konya - Chief, Innovation and Strategic Partnerships for the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Dr. Juan Espinoza - Chief Research Informatics Officer at Lurie Children’s Hospital

Connect with us:

KidsX Website

KidsX LinkedIn

Children's Hospital L.A. Website

Children's Hospital L.A. Instagram

Children's Hospital L.A. LinkedIn

KidsX Summit was sponsored by:

AVIA Health Website

AVIA Health LinkedIn

Gozio Health Website

Gozio Health LinkedIn

Learn more about today’s podcast episode sponsor:

Q-rounds Website

Q-rounds LinkedIn

Learn more about our podcast sponsor:

Nabla Website

Nabla LinkedIn