Summit 2025 Summit Plannning Committee Members
Marketing and Communication Team
George
Hello! My name is George, and I am a Senior at St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland, Ohio. As the President of the KIDS Rainbow Youth Council, I’ve learned how important it is for young people to have a voice in healthcare. Working with iCAN on the Summit Marketing and Communications Committee has shown me how powerful that voice can be when shared with the right people! Healthcare can be overwhelming, especially for kids who don’t always feel heard in conversations about their care. The iCAN Summit allows young people the chance to share their experiences directly with researchers, doctors, and industry leaders—people who can turn those perspectives into more patient-centered care. I’m proud to be part of a team that helps make healthcare more responsive to the needs of young patients everywhere.
Huiyun
My name is Huiyun. I am a freshman at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign studying bioengineering and part of the marketing committee for iCAN's summit this year. I learned a lot about the fundraising process and how different forms of media are interpreted differently by various audiences depending on their backgrounds. iCAN's mission to empower kids in their healthcare really resonates with me. This Summit is an event where patients can speak to providers and give feedback on pediatrics based on their lived experiences to make the future of pediatrics more kid-friendly. As a young person, I was really inspired by the hope that iCAN provides for kids, being part of the summit planning committee provides me a chance to ensure that more kids will be able to have this experience.
Leo
Leo has been a member of the International Children’s Advisory Network for three years and is currently involved with the KIDS Walter Payton Chapter, where he helps organize initiatives to promote youth engagement in pediatric healthcare. He enjoys reading, writing, and watching movies, but his passion is in ensuring that young people have a voice in the medical decisions that affect them.
Olivia
My name is Olivia, and I am from the United States. I am in my first year of college at Denison University, currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Biology (pre-med) and a Bachelor of Arts in Vocal Performance. This year, I am part of iCAN's Marketing and Communications team on the 2025 Summit Planning Committee. My experiences in working on this team have provided me with the knowledge of how to present interesting information regarding pediatrics in a clean and easily understood fashion. I love being a part of iCAN because I am very passionate about the mission of supporting the rights and wishes of pediatric patients. The iCAN summit is essential to the mission of uplifting pediatric patient voices and perspectives; it provides an invaluable opportunity for pharmaceutical companies, various healthcare organizations, patients, and their families and allies to come together and communicate face-to-face on what is best for the health and wellbeing of their patients.
Summit Logistics Team
Marketing and Communication Team
Mary Claire
I’m Mary Claire. I attend a college in Dayton, Ohio USA and am pursuing a degree in photography. I also like baking, kitties, dolphins, and travel. I’ve been a member of iCAN for 8 years. ICAN is important to me because it helps people. It helps doctors know what their patients are thinking so that they can make the experience better for them. Come join us to make it better for other kids!
Daniele
Hi I am Daniele Sciacqua, I am from Bari Italy, I am in my second year of a professional logistics course called "ITS MOBILITY ACADEMY". Last year I worked with an iCAN sponsor company called "CVBF", being part of the Bari summit organization team. This year I am part of the planning committee in the Logistics team. I have learned in these two years of working with iCAN different planning skills, it has helped me a lot to grow professionally.
Mary Rose
Mary Rose is in 12th grade continuing on to College in the medical field. She lives in the United States of America. She is working on the Logistics team of the iCAN Planning Committee. She is focusing on learning effective communication with businesses and team members, maintaining organization through delegation, and being aware of budget constraints when planning events. She has been a part of iCAN for 7 years and has been inspired by the people whom she has met and with whom she has collaborated. iCAN has helped her not only learn about nonprofits in healthcare but also in her daily life. This is why she thinks it is important for people to join and learn about iCAN. You should look into joining today as a participant, a parent, or as a medical professional.
Gabriela
Gabriela is a summit planning committee member from Warsaw, Poland. She is graduating elementary school this year, then she will attend high school. She is a leader of PolPedNet Kids. She's a part of iCAN since July 2024. She thinks that iCAN helped her to understand how clinical trials work and taught her so many real life skills like official mailing, organizing, work, ect. iCAN inspired her to develop her knowledge about medical science. In her free time she likes playing volleyball with her friends and drawing in her sketchbook.
Sponsorships and Partnerships Team
Muminah
My names Muminah! I’m a Bengali girl from London, I’m part of the sponsorship team and working to make the 2025 summit the best experience ever!! I got into iCAN through my role in the eye-ypag of Moorfields eye hospital and it’s the best event that came into my life! I’ve made friends. I’ve met different organizations all with one purpose. To help young children’s voices become heard, and it’s the most unity I’ve seen in a lifetime. Seeing all the effort put into young children’s innovative research shows how we have a huge impact into the future and its events. I even have my own video on Jumo health about my eye condition! It’s crazy how my journey has changed my life all because of my rare eye disease! iCANs inspired me to try to achieve the best opportunities for children who don’t get as fortunate as others. I believe all children deserve to have fair education rights and have access to the innovative research that I’ve been involved in, especially with iCAN! I think it’s important that children’s opinions are heard because we are the future and without our input we would have no progress or improvements in pediatric healthcare or generally the world. iCAN's helped me be part of a new community where I feel I belong and I want to help others feel that sense of belonging and plan out what they want for their future and their experiences as a young researcher is a significant role in that.
Joey
Hi, my name is Joseph, and I am from Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States. I am currently a sophomore in high school. During my service on the Kids Summit Planning Committee, I gained firsthand experience in spearheading fundraising events and in organizing large-scale international summits. I am driven to bring iCAN’s 2025 Summit to life, creating a space where pediatric voices, too often unheard, can rise—shaping a future where every young person’s story is honored in healthcare.
Eleri
Hey! My name is Eleri , I’m 16 and I am from London, England. I am currently in my last year of high school and am preparing for my GCSEs which are a set of very important exams. I am hoping to go to drama school then go onto study English literature and journalism at university. Alongside my academics I am a cheerleader and ballet dancer! This year I’ve have been so fortunate to get a place on the Ican summit committee and I’m currently on the Sponsorship and partnership team! From this I have learnt how vital sponsors our to summit and I have come to even more appreciate all their support. During my time on the committee I have had the opportunity to work with friends all around the world with the aim to bring to life yet another incredible Ican summit!
Anvita
Anvita Ambardekar is a high school junior from Southern California. After being diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease following a challenging diagnostic journey, she became passionate about improving healthcare for pediatric patients. Inspired by her experience, Anvita joined iCAN in 2023 to support patient-centered solutions and help reduce the invasiveness of medical procedures for children. She is a founding member of the CHOC iCAN Chapter and currently serves as the Funding Director. She is also a member of the KIDS Summit Planning Committee for the 2025 iCAN Summit in Montreal. Anvita is especially passionate about the connection between biotechnology, business, and advocacy. She hopes to develop pediatric-focused medical devices and pursue a career that combines biomedical engineering, business, and public policy to create innovative solutions that improve patients’ lives and make healthcare reachable to everyone.
Professional Volunteers
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Darryl
I'm Darryl Klein, a Summit Coordinator based in Ohio, USA. I’m a passionate parent helping kids 8-18 learn new skills in promoting research, medicine, and innovation. During my free time I work as the NA SIOP Manager and Product Manager for an International Wire Brush Company. Over the last 11 years, we have watched our kids and many others grow and learn from the medical experts, the community leaders, the leaders of iCAN, and most importantly from the other participants. We encourage you to support our efforts for our annual Summit, taking place this year in Montreal, Canada.
Chantale
Coming Soon!
Catherine
Catherine Wilhelmy, Patient Partner Co-Director of Experiences — Quebec Community of Patients, Caregivers, and Citizen Partners of the Quebec SSA Support Unit Co-Chair of the Strategic Patient Partner Committee of the CHUS Research Center Patient Partnership Lead for the CHUS Research Center Co-Scientific Direction of Quebec SPOR Unit to the Learning Health System Confronted with the serious illnesses of her parents from an early age, Catherine quickly learned the critical role of caregivers in illness and end-of-life care. Later, other loved ones, including her spouse, faced cancer. Parallely, she experienced the joy of becoming a biological as well as adoptive mother and later, grandmother. In 2018, it became her turn to face the reality of a cancer diagnosis with a grim prognosis. During this challenging time, an idea to improve the healthcare system led her to discover the field of patient partnership. Since then, Catherine has embraced her role as a patient partner within the healthcare system. Her involvement spans research, oncology care and services, teaching future clinicians, public outreach, and governance — all with the goal of amplifying the voice of experiential knowledge at every level and across all domains of healthcare. For her, this represents a genuine pathway to creating value in a system that urgently needs care and attention itself.
Why attend the iCAN 2025 Summit?
Sharing Kid Voices!
This event provides our youth members with an invaluable opportunity to learn from one another, and to network with leading professionals, including industry and clinicians, from around the globe. In turn, the iCAN Summit offers the scientific community an opportunity to engage directly with children and parents, so that they may learn about the value and the importance of the influence of children on research, medicine, and innovation.
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Since the inception of iCAN, an annual iCAN Summit has been offered to provide young people an opportunity to work with medical professionals, community leaders, scientists, and researchers in medicine, science, health, and technology to improve the health and well-being of all children, especially those with chronic conditions and rare diseases.
Summit 2024 Activity of the Week Video
Created by 2024 Summit Attendees!
