Innovation Acceleration Program
The Innovation Acceleration Program Team
 Naomi Fried, PhDChief Innovation Officer |
 Dr. Pedro Del NidoChief of Cardiac Surgery |
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 Kristen VerdeauxProgram Coordinator & Executive Assistant |
 Paola Abello, MBAProgram Manager |
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 Sarah Mahoney, MPHCommunity Manager SPARC |
 Melinda Tang, MEngDeveloper FIT |
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 Alex Pelletier, MBATelehealth Program Specialist |
Sha wn Farrell, MBATelehealth Program Manager |
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 Gajen SuntharaLead Developer FIT |
Naomi Fried, PhD
Naomi Fried, Ph.D. is Children's Hospital Boston's first Chief Innovation Officer. Her mission is to build and develop a program in clinical innovation, aimed at improving care quality and assisting the hospital in shaping the future of healthcare.
Previously, she was the Vice President of Innovation and Advanced Technology at Kaiser Permanente (KP) where she led an effort to identify and assess new and emerging technology and trends in the delivery of care; chaired the board of its internal Innovation Fund for Technology, which provided funding for innovative technology projects within KP; formed and chaired KP's Telehealth Working Group, which developed strategy for Kaiser in the emerging area of telehealth; and was involved in the start-up and governance of KP's Innovation laboratory, the Sidney R. Garfield Center for Healthcare Innovation. Prior to this position, she was Managing Director of KP's Archimedes Project.
Before KP, Naomi advised two venture capital firms on life science and healthcare information technology investments; served as the General Manager and Vice President for Business Development of 1747, Inc., which conducts online clinical trials for new drugs; and was instrumental in the formation of the medical informatics internet start-up company (e-SKOLAR, formerly SHINE) spun out of Stanford School of Medicine, serving as interim President for its first year.
Naomi has a BS in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley and a Ph.D. in Materials Science from MIT.
@NaomiFried on Twitter
Pedro Del Nido, MD
Dr. Pedro J. Del Nido is the clinical founder of the Innovation Acceleration Program and serves on the Innovestment Grant Governance Board and on the FastTrack Innovation in Technology (FIT) Board.
Dr. Del Nido is currently the Chairman of the Department of Cardiac Surgery at Children’s Hospital Boston and the William E. Ladd Professor of Child Surgery at Harvard Medical School. Previously, he served on the Surgical Faculties of the University of Illinois in Chicago and the University of Pittsburgh.
Dr. Del Nido is a pioneer in the development of robotic tools used during cardiac surgery. Through his research, he was awarded a United States patent for “Process for Preserving An Organ and Organ Preservation Solution" in April 1995.
Dr. Del Nido has published over 258 peer reviewed articles in numerous medical journals. He has also served on many distinguished boards including Chair of the NIH-NHLBI Surgery-Bioengineering Study Section and Chair of the American Heart Assoc. - National Affiliate Study Section C. Dr. Del Nido was named as one of the 100 most influential members of the Latino community by El Planeta newspaper for three consecutive years.
Dr. Del Nido has a BA in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and a MD from the University of Wisconsin Medical School.
Kristen Verdeaux
Kristen Verdeaux is the Innovation Acceleration Program Coordinator and Executive Assistant to the Chief Innovation Officer at Children’s Hospital Boston.
As Program Coordinator, Kristen supports the five Innovation Acceleration Programs in their mission to provide resources to Children’s innovators.
Kristen has extensive experience in event planning, coordination, office management, marketing and budgeting. Previously, she worked at the Education Development Center coordinating national conferences and managing program websites. Kristen also worked as an event coordinator for Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Boston Ballet.
Kristen has a BA in English from the University of Connecticut.
Paola Abello, MBA
Paola Abello is the Innovation Acceleration Program Manager at Children’s Hospital Boston.
As Program Manager, Paola facilitates the monthly Innovators' Forums designed to inspire and educate the Children’s community around innovation. She also runs the Innovestment Grant program which seed funds clinical innovation in the Hospital.
Paola’s expertise is in providing strategic guidance in developing new business models. Paola brings over 15 years of experience launching and expanding business opportunities in the area of commercial real estate, venture philanthropy, asset management and healthcare. Previous to joining Children’s Hospital Boston, Paola was a General Partner at Spartacus Capital where she was an early contributor to the design and fundraising of a socially responsible private equity fund.
Paola has a B.S. in Finance and Economics from Boston College and a Master’s of Business Administration from Babson College.
Elizabeth Phillips, MSHI
Elizabeth Phillips is the Project Manager for the FastTrack Innovation in Technology Awards at Children’s Hospital Boston.
As the Project Manager, Elizabeth coordinates and supervises a team of software developers in the creation of custom clinical software solutions for Children’s Hospital Boston. In addition, she facilitates a forum designed to enable internal communication and collaboration in the development of clinical mobile applications within Children’s.
Her previous work at Children’s focused on clinical improvement projects for ambulatory and inpatient populations. Prior to joining Children’s, Elizabeth provided guidance in the evaluation, creation, customization and delivery of inpatient electronic medical record systems to 15 hospitals throughout the country. Her background in clinical care brings a level of understanding and compassion to the clinicians she works with to design systems to meet their needs.
Elizabeth has a BA in Art History and Architectural Restorations from Boston University and a Master’s of Health Informatics from Northeastern University.
Gajen Sunthara
Gajen Sunthara is the Lead Developer for the Innovation Acceleration Program at Children’s Hospital Boston. He has been with Children’s for 11 years.
Gajen has direct experience in design, architecture, and implementation of Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems. He is also specialized in Cerner EHR, MPages, CCL, Databases (RDBMS), Web 2.0, UNIX Operating Systems, Application Programming, Apple Mobile iOS programming and Photography.
Gajen has a BS in Computer Science from Wentworth Institute of Technology.
Sarah Mahoney, MPH
Sarah is a member of the Innovation Acceleration Program team as Community Manager of Children’s Hospital Boston internal collaboration and social networking site, SPARC.
Sarah has several years of experience in the social media and digital collaboration space. Previously, she worked as a social media strategist at an Omnicom marketing agency where she was responsible for developing social media and emerging digital media strategies for healthcare and Fortune 500 companies.
Sarah also worked at a public health consulting firm where she was the new media associate for AIDS.gov. In addition, she blogged for a global social networking initiative designed to encourage healthcare marketing/communications professionals to further their education, collaborate
and share knowledge.
Sarah has a BS in Health Ecology from the University of Nevada, Reno and a Master’s of Public Health from Boston University concentrating in health communications and social marketing.
@SarahMMahoney on Twitter
Melinda Tang, MEng
Melinda Tang is a software developer for the Innovation Acceleration Program at Children’s Hospital Boston.
Melinda has direct experience in data visualization, user-centered design, mobile technology and pervasive computing. She also plays violin with the Cambridge Symphony Orchestra.
Melinda has a BS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Master’s of Engineering from MIT.
Shawn Farrell, MBA
Shawn Farrell is Children's first Telemedicine and Telehealth Program Manager.
Prior to joining Children's Hospital Boston, Shawn spearheaded the development of an enterprise-wide telemedicine strategy at Massachusetts General Hospital, including the development of core technology and business service platforms which will enable multiple clinical services to integrate telemedicine into their clinical practice.
Shawn also served as Executive Director of the Acute TeleNeurology and TeleStroke Program at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) from 2009 through 2011, where he created a financially sustainable program that provided telemedicine-based clinical support to thirty (30) rural, suburban and urban hospitals throughout New England. In addition, he developed a turnkey telemedicine solution that could be rapidly implemented by other academic or tertiary medical center "hubs" wishing to deliver teleneurology services. Programs in Washington, Oklahoma, Connecticut, and Virginia have implemented the solution.
From 2000 through 2009, Shawn served as the Executive Director for the Department of Neurology MGH. In this role, he was responsible for the day-to-day operations, financial management, and strategic direction of the Department's teaching, clinical and research functions. Before joining MGH, Shawn was a member of the strategic and business planning team at Tufts Health Plan in Waltham, MA, and a consultant and finance manager for the international health group at John Snow, Inc. in Boston, MA.
Shawn has a BS in Marketing from Lehigh University and an MBA in Health Care Management from Boston University.
Alex Pelletier, MBA
Alexandra Pelletier is Children's first Telemedicine and Telehealth Program Specialist.
Prior to joining Children's Hospital Boston, Alex worked at Partners’ Center for Connected Health, where she managed an interdisciplinary team to develop innovative and sustainable health solutions for patients and providers. In her role, she established and supervised budgets, managed the technology and clinical partner relationships, and guided the team to provide excellent customer service and achieve high quality results.
Alex oversaw the following initiatives while at Partners: building a remote monitoring program for blood pressure and diabetes management; expanding Partners’ online consultation service internationally; developing a multi-lingual text messaging service to engage women in their prenatal and post-partum care in urban community health centers; and launching an elementary school-based physical activity competition for children in Dorchester.
Prior to joining Partners Healthcare System, Alex was a consultant in the knowledge and content management practice at IBM Global Services and a Knowledge Management Analyst at Deloitte & Touche, Canada where she created the first customer transaction management system for the Corporate Finance group. Throughout her professional career, Alex has been a champion for innovations that harness technology to deliver value to organizations.
Alex has a BA in Psychology from the University of Western Ontario, Canada and a MBA from Simmons College.
@acpelletier on Twitter.
