TEDDY Leading the Way in Paediatric Care Innovation at PHIS 2025
The 2025 Pediatric Healthcare Innovation Summit (PHIS), held on November 5-6 in Atlanta, Georgia, was a pivotal event for global leaders in paediatric healthcare. Organized by the International Society for Pediatric Innovation (iSPI), the Georgia Institute of Technology (GT), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-funded Pediatric Device Consortia (PDC), the summit brought together experts, innovators, and key stakeholders to address the most urgent challenges and opportunities in paediatric healthcare innovation.TEDDY was one of the event’s main sponsors, reinforcing its dedication to driving innovation in paediatric care. On the second day of the PHIS, at Academy of Medicine, in the session on “Patient Engagement through International Children’s Advisory Network (iCAN)”, Dr. Donato Bonifazi, member of TEDDY Board of Directors, Chair of the TEDDY Working Group (WG) on Children Empowerment and Engagement and member of the iCAN Advisory Board, highlighted TEDDY’s ongoing efforts in promoting patient empowerment, particularly through its focus on the voices of young people in clinical research. At the following LINK, you can find the full program with the agenda and you can find Dr. Donato Bonifazi’s presentation HERE.
TEDDY’s Impact Through the TEDDY KIDS Network
Central to TEDDY’s mission in promoting children’s well-being and ensuring their protection is the TEDDY KIDS Network, which includes several Young Person Advisory Groups (YPAGs) spread across Europe. TEDDY has been a strong advocate for the creation of YPAGs, and since 2017, has established several such groups: KIDS Albania, KIDS Bari, KIDS Umbria, KIDS Kosova, KIDS rare Hellas, POLPEDNET (KIDS Warsaw), Eye YPAG London, RAiN Ireland, ANDO Portugal. These groups are also members of the iCAN and guarantee that young people perspectives are integrated into decision-making processes. At the iCAN Summit held in Bari, Italy, on July 2024, where over 100 young patients ages 8-18 from more than 15 countries contributed to discussions about the future of clinical trials and paediatric care, TEDDY worked closely with iCAN’s Parents Committee and the TEDDY KIDS Network facilitated ice-breaking activities, contributed to the design of the summit’s logo.
TEDDY KIDS actively participated also at the iCAN Summit in Montreal, Canada, on July 2025, where TEDDY’s involvement was instrumental in ensuring that the voices of young patients were heard and taken seriously in clinical research dialogues. Daniele Sciacqua (KIDS BARI) and Gabriela Szymańska (POLPEDNET) were an integral part of the Logistics Team; please, find more details at the following LINK.
HERE you can watch a short introductory video.
Promoting Peadiatric Healthcare Innovation through European projects
TEDDY is heavily involved in European project aimed at improving biomedical paediatric research. The INVENTS project optimizing study designs through innovative approaches like in silico trials and Real-World Data (RWD). TEDDY has played a key role in INVENTS in the set-up of the Patients Expert Group (PEG) , and fostering the empowerment of patients living with chronic conditions. Valentina Jalby, a 12-year-old patient with such Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) and an active member of the PEG, has recently participated in several initiatives. For more information, you can visit TEDDY YouTube channel at the following LINK. The OrphaDev4Kids (OD4K) project focuses on addressing the shortage of orphan medical devices for children and unites a multidisciplinary consortium of nine European partners, including TEDDY and European Paediatric Transnational Research Infrastructure (EPTRI). EPTRI provides integrated services through Thematic Research Platforms (TRPs), one of these platforms, the Paediatric Medical Devices (MD) TRP, advances the development and accessibility of medical devices tailored for children. HERE you can find more information about TEDDY membership to EPTRI. The kick-off meeting of the Patient Expert Committee (PEC) of the OD4K project was held on March 2025 in Bologna, Italy, for collecting feedback from young people, including those from KIDS Bari and KIDS Albania, through the revision of a survey, ensuring that their concerns were reflected in the development of new medical devices, such a wearable biosensor that will improve the quality of life for children living with Cyanotic Congenital Heart Disease (CCHD). Within the European Rare Diseases Research Alliance (ERDERA) project and in collaboration with Rare Diseases Greece and with the support of KRIKOS ZOIS, TEDDY organized the ERDERA Young Patients Training on May 2025, in Athens, to equip young people with the knowledge and skills to understand and actively contribute to research on paediatric rare diseases. TEDDY fostered an interactive and inclusive dialogue among TEDDY KIDS, researchers, and healthcare professionals, promoting awareness of patients’ rights. For more information about the training, click on the following LINK.
Empowering Young People in Clinical Trials
TEDDY’s dedication to empowering children in clinical research is exemplified by its innovative educational materials, such as “A Spoonful of Info Helps the Medicine Go Down”, the child-friendly clinical trial videos “The Mystery of the Clinical Trial” and “What is a Clinical Trial?”. TEDDY’s work in this area aligns with broader European efforts, including the Council of Europe’s child-friendly guides on participation in healthcare decision-making, which incorporate contributions from TEDDY KIDS Bari and Albania; watch the video made by children for children on TEDDY YouTube channel! KIDS Bari and KIDS Albania also designed a digital game: “My Clinical Trial Center Serious Game“ (android and APPLE) with an educational purpose for teaching children about the clinical trial process in an engaging way. TEDDY created informational materials, such as booklets, lay summaries, and consent/assent forms, within clinical trials like MODERATO, that aims to evaluate the efficacy of higher-concentration atropine eye drops in slowing myopia progression in European children, Deferiprone Evaluation in Paediatrics (DEEP) which optimising the use of deferiprone in children with chronic iron overload, and GAbapentin in Paediatric Pain (GAPP), a project to develop and test a new liquid formulation of gabapentin for the treatment of chronic neuropathic pain in children, tailoring the content to different age groups and varying levels of knowledge to ensure appropriate knowledge needed to make informed decisions about clinical trials. In addition, MODERATO study logo has been designed from YPAGs during iCAN 2024 Summit!
Continuing the Work for Paediatric Healthcare Innovation
TEDDY is committed to ensuring that children’s voices are not only heard but actively integrated into the development of new treatments and healthcare solutions. The PHIS 2025 provided an opportunity to showcase TEDDY’s contributions, through the TEDDY KIDS Network, its involvement in iCAN, and participation in global projects, TEDDY is at the forefront of empowering both patients and researchers. Moving forward, TEDDY will continue to foster collaboration to build a more inclusive, responsive, and innovative paediatric healthcare system.
