BUILDING RESILIENCE AND HOPE DURING CHILDHOOD ILLNESS

Jeanine served pediatric patients with oncology, hemophilia, thalassemia and other chronic conditions for over two decades as a Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS) within a large metropolitan children’s hospital. During this time, she provided hands-on services to patients and families including medical education, procedural preparation and support, legacy and bereavement services, and reintegration to home and school life.

Ms. Clapsaddle has also led an interdisciplinary team of Child Life Specialists, Child Life Assistants, Recreation Therapists, and Music Therapists in her role as Clinical Supervisor within a pediatric hospital. Within this role she promoted clinical skill development, collected data for program growth, participated in research studies, collaborated to develop new patient services, supervised students and partnered with organizational administration to facilitate optimal patient and family services.  

Currently, she serves as the Program Director for the Child Life and Pediatric Psychosocial Care masters degree program at the University of Minnesota. As part of this role, Jeanine provides academic advising and guidance to future clinicians, instruction for courses, and guidance for program direction to meet the advancing needs of the child life profession.  

Jeanine’s global engagements range from America, India, South East Asia and Africa. She co-led the development and implementation of the first accredited Child Life internship outside of North America and continues to provide onsite supervision for global child life students. She has provided hands-on child-friendly healthcare practices for medical staff to improve patient and family experiences, and lectures internationally on psychosocial factors impacting pediatric patient healthcare outcomes.  

Ms. Clapsaddle holds a bachelor's degree in Human Development from Stephens College and a master's degree in Counseling Psychology and Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of St. Thomas in the United States.

Ms. Holly Clark is dually certified as a Child Life Specialist and Therapeutic Recreation Specialist.

Holly served pediatric patients with hematology, oncology, and acute medical rehabilitation needs for over eleven years as a Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS) in the United States. Amid her tenure as a clinician, she provided a variety of psychosocial care interventions, led community re-integration programs, implemented support groups, and cultivated external donor and partner relationships.

Holly’s global expertise spans from America, India, Southeast Asia, Africa,the Middle East, and Europe. For the past fifteen years, she has dedicated her career to promoting culturally responsive psychosocial care, as a professional consultant, governing board member, researcher, guest lecturer, author, and medical mission volunteer.

Ms. Clark implemented Qatar’s first sustainable Child Life Service and directed pediatric psychosocial care for the state’s public healthcare system for over four years. While in Qatar, she successfully advocated and co-authored professional licensure requirements for the Child Life Specialist, which are officially recognized by the country’s Ministry of Public Health (MOPH). She then later led Germany’s first Child Life Specialist program, guided by the principles agreed to in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

Currently, she works for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) as a Play Specialist Consultant, providing technical expertise as a referent to support the design, validation, and rollout of MSF’s Play Therapy Toolkit, aimed at strengthening psychosocial care for children in humanitarian and low-resource settings.

A topic of particular interest for Ms. Clark is Patient Experience, and she previously contributed to the Association of Child Life Professionals (ACLP) and the European Children's Hospitals Organisation's (ECHO) Patient Experience committees.

Ms. Clark holds a bachelor's degree in Management and Marketing from the University of Oregon and a master's degree in Recreation Administration with concentration in Therapeutic Recreation from San Francisco State University in the United States.

Dr. Morsi is a lead consultant of Quality of Life (QoL) and psychosocial care, who served pediatric, teenage and young adult patients with hematological and oncological malignancies for over ten years in the UK and Qatar. During this time, he provided personalized and tailored cancer, QoL and psychosocial care to cancer patients and their families, led normalizing life programs and headed a community QoL non-governmental supportive program for cancer patients.

In his current management position, Dr. Morsi runs multi-disciplinary activities based on a specialized research program, evidence-based practice and state-of-the-art developmental psychology assessment tools. He is bridging the gaps between extreme psychosocial circumstances and psychopathologies so that healthy individuals, who are under severe pressure of extreme life circumstances, can thrive without being labeled and treated as psychological patients. Moreover, he is working to empower teenage cancer patients to take charge of their health conditions and management via employing innovative e-health systems in collaboration with reputable international establishments such as Kingston University in the UK and The Hospital for Sick Children in Canada.

Dr. Morsi holds a bachelor’s degree in Medicine from the University of Alexandria in Egypt, a Certificate of Developmental Psychology from NVCC in the United States, a master’s degree in Psychiatry from Cardiff University and a PhD in Molecular Biology from Kingston University in the UK, for which he is also affiliated. He has authored books, articles, offered presentations and provided strategic workshops in medical and social studies in both English and Arabic.

Dr. Paulina Pérez-Duarte Mendiola, MD, MSc, is a clinical pediatrician and medical anthropologist. She has dedicated her professional career to improving the holistic outcomes of children’s health and addressing healthcare inequalities. She completed her PhD at the University of Cambridge within the PEDAL Hub (Play in Education, Development and Learning), where her doctoral research focused on children’s perspectives and experiences of play within hospital settings. Most recently, she joined ORCHID (Centre for Outcomes and Experience Research in Children’s Health, Illness and Disability) as a Research Fellow at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children.

During her medical career, Paulina has passionately served pediatric patients while continually refining her clinical, academic, and leadership skills. She completed her Pediatric Residency at Children’s Hospital of Mexico Federico Gómez (Hospital Infantil de México Federico Gómez), where she later worked for over a decade as a member of the Emergency Department. In parallel,she served as a university professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), teaching both undergraduate and postgraduate medical students. Her work has consistently emphasized improving healthcare delivery, patient experience, and professional well being within pediatric settings.

While working in rural, remote, indigenous, and underserved communities throughout Mexico, Dr. Pérez-Duarte Mendiola developed a deep interest in the environmental, social, and cultural factors shaping children’s healthcare experiences. These experiences informed her research into health-related quality of life, healthcare inequalities, and children’s rights, contributing to the development of more contextually responsive pediatric care approaches and reinforcing her decision to pursue a career in Medical Anthropology.

As a ‘Play and Health’ researcher, Paulina’s work centers on the role of play in supporting hospitalized children’s development, learning, coping, and meaning-making processes. Her master’s research at University College London provided qualitative evidence of the impact of play in pediatric healthcare and highlighted the value of Health Play Specialists (Child Life Specialists)within hospital settings, particularly in the United Kingdom. She has presented at international conferences and authored publications advocating for anthropological approaches to pediatric healthcare, hospitalized children’s human rights, and play-based interventions. She is the Founder and Director of Semana JIM® – World’s Play in Hospital Awareness Week.

Paulina holds a bachelor’s degree in Medicine and Surgery from Universidad Anáhuac del Norte, a Pediatric Specialty postgraduate degree from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and a master’s degree in Medical Anthropology from University College London. She has authored and presented work in both English and Spanish.

Ms. Kirsten Black is a Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS) and also holds a certification in pediatric massage therapy. She has experience working in the United States, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom. As a Child Life Specialist, Kirsten has worked in and developed Child Life programs in both community and hospital settings. She has served pediatric patients and child family members in the emergency department, pediatric cardiac intensive care, cardiac and general inpatient, surgical services, outpatient clinic, palliative care, hospice, specialty camps, and support groups. In her clinical work, Kirsten has provided developmentally-appropriate disease education, coordinated atraumatic care for procedures, assisted adolescents with chronic illnesses transition with the adult care team, and implemented legacy-building and memory-making activities.  

Prior to becoming a Child Life Specialist, Ms. Black worked for various non-profit organizations. These activities included fundraising, special event planning, volunteer management, and grant writing. Kirsten has served on the Association of Child Life Professionals (ACLP) Community Based Practice Committee and the Florida Association of Child Life Professionals (FACLP) Executive Board. As the Development Coordinator she worked to increase sponsorships and financial partners for the organization to enhance member benefits, education opportunities and improve the annual conference.  

Ms. Black also has a background in instructional design, which she applied to her work in academia. Kirsten developed and taught the first graduate course in therapeutic play in Saudi Arabia. She has also developed an asynchronous online graduate-level course on children’s perspectives of death, dying and grief. Kirsten has shared her knowledge of psychosocial care and the pediatric health experience at various conferences, in webinars, and as a guest on podcasts with child life specialists, healthcare professionals, parents, and caregivers. She regularly serves as a guest lecturer for child life, emergency medical services, and nursing classes at various institutions.  

Ms. Black holds a bachelor’s degree in Individual and Family Development from the University of Kentucky, a master’s degree in Instructional and Human Performance Technology from Boise State University, and a Master’s degree in Child Life from the University of La Verne in the United States.

Mrs. Maria Gabriela Maggi is a Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS) with over a decade of experience, providing compassionate and effective care to children and their families. With expertise in child life and a strong commitment to holistic psychosocial support, Maria Gabriela has worked in diverse settings, including hospice, inpatient units, ICUs, outpatient clinics, and long-term rehabilitation centers.

Throughout Maria Gabriela's career, she has honed skills in program development, care management, risk assessments, strategic initiatives, and team leadership. This expertise has enabled her to optimize resource allocation, drive strategic initiatives, and enhance operational efficiency. Maria Gabriela's ability to foster meaningful connections with patients, families, and stakeholders has consistently contributed to positive outcomes and a thriving healthcare environment.

As a results-oriented leader, Maria Gabriela has held successful roles such as Bereavement Services Manager at Vitas Healthcare and a Child Life Specialist at Vitas Healthcare and Nicklaus Children's Hospital in the United States. In these positions, she has demonstrated her ability to develop and implement child life programs in various settings, streamline operations, improve patient experience, and drive positive change.

Mrs. Maria Gabriela holds an Executive MBA in Health Management and Policy from the University of Miami and a master’s degree in Developmental Disabilities from Nova Southeastern University in the United States, which have equipped her with the knowledge and skills to navigate complex healthcare challenges and make informed decisions. Additionally, she holds certifications in Six Sigma Champion Belt, HFMA Business of Healthcare, and Google Project Management.

Ms. Sheila Palm is a Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS) and has been involved with the Association of Child Life Professionals (ACLP), formerly the Child Life Council, as a Past-President, Past-Treasurer, and Executive Board Committee Member. Her service to the ACLP includes strategic planning, academic and clinical standards, certification, financial management, international relationships, membership initiatives and child program review and development.

Sheila served as the Manager/Director of the Child Life Department at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota for over forty years. After completing her child life internship at Johns Hopkins Children’s Hospital, she led the Minnesota child life program in a multi-campus pediatric organization including two pediatric hospitals, a surgical center, community-based hospitals, and self-standing emergency services. Music therapy, the healing/expressive arts, and sibling programming are vital components within this sixty-member child life department. She retired from this leadership position in 2018.

Sheila’s interest and support for developing and strengthening international pediatric psychosocial services grew from her clinical practice and work experience. As a founding board member of The Priyanka Foundation, Sheila supports the work of Pediatric Potential in advancing and achieving its mission for children and their families in a global world.

Ms. Palm holds a bachelor’s degree in Child Development and Family Relationships from Colorado State University and a master’s degree in Human Developmental and Counseling from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota in the United States.

Dr. Miller served pediatric patients and their families with intensive care needs, chronic, and acute conditions for over three decades as a Pediatric Intensive Care nurse, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Advanced Practice Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, Nurse Scientist, and Program Manager for Nursing and Special Projects. Areas of specialization include neonatal and pediatric critical care, neonatal and pediatric pain management, bioethics, research, and evidence-based practice. She has volunteered as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner in Kenya to aid children with primary care needs.

Dr. Miller holds a bachelor’s degree in Nursing, a master’s degree in Nursing with specialization as a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Acute and Critical Care, a post-master’s certificate as an Advanced Practice Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, and a PhD in Nursing with a minor in Bioethics from the University of Florida in the United States. She has conducted research studies, authored articles, and offered presentations focusing on the care of children and their families.

Tooba Nadeem Akhtar is a children’s mental health researcher, who is interested in refining the way children and young people are cared for, the world over. Tooba is originally from Pakistan, and brings to Pediatric Potential several years of work experience from public health and clinical settings.  

Tooba’s work experiences highlighted wide discrepancies between Eurocentric mental health interventions and her own clinical and field experiences in working with underprivileged families in Pakistan. Hence, Tooba advocates for development or adaptations and evaluations of mental health interventions that respond to the distinctive needs of cultures outside the global North, and increased accessibility to quality mental healthcare, with a focus on promoting well-being and stability in the lives of children and youth.  

Tooba has two years of experience as a Research Associate and Project Coordinator at a public health organization in Pakistan, where she worked on mental health research and service delivery through internationally funded projects. Once she recognized an inattention towards child mental health and well-being, she sought training as a children’s counselor at the pediatric psycho-social department of a private, non-profit, tertiary care hospital.

Tooba attended an observership at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids); this is where she learnt the importance of personalizing psychosocial care according to children’s developmental levels and needs and respecting their autonomies. She used her training to set up art-based and play-based procedural preparation sessions for frequent visitors (children) at the Indus Hospital and Health Network. This won her an International Scholarship to attend the Association of Child Life Professional’s (ACLP) Annual Conference in 2019. Together, these eclectic experiences fortified her desire to pursue a specialization in children’s mental health care and research.  

Tooba’s research experience includes a review on psychological interventions for children and young people with intellectual disabilities, program implementations and evaluations, leading Pakistan’s first hospital-based school Indus Kay Sitaray at Indus Hospital and Health Network, a large-scale survey of mental health knowledge, attitude and practices in Karachi, and qualitative inquiries of lived experiences of parents of children with cancer in Pakistan and experiences of mothers of children with intellectual disabilities and genetic disorders during the coronavirus pandemic in the United Kingdom. Specializations within psychology are still uncommon in Pakistan and pediatric psychosocial care lags far behind global standards, hence Tooba hopes to build on her clinical and research experiences through a doctorate where she will delve deeper into understanding the multifaceted challenges and moderators associated with child development amidst adverse childhood experiences. Her research will not only seek to identify barriers but also explore the factors that moderate and facilitate healthy development in children facing adversity. She is committed to developing innovative strategies and evidence-based interventions that can be adapted and implemented in diverse humanitarian contexts in developing country settings to support children's mental health and well-being.

Miss Akhtar holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Psychology from the University of Karachi, and a master's in Child and Adolescent Mental Health from University College London. At present, Tooba is a PhD researcher in Psychology at Trinity College Dublin’s School of Psychology, Centre for Global Health in Ireland, with a focus on child development in humanitarian crises, such as extreme weather events.

Verena del Valle Mattsson is a Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS) and psychologist. In 2001, she was appointed as the first psychologist to work in the pediatric oncology unit at the University Hospital Inselpital in Bern, Switzerland.

Her passion for traveling led her to volunteer in Guatemala, where she met a pediatrician that had changed careers to work as a Child Life Specialist. This encounter changed Verena’s life since, for the first time, she heard about a profession that was in line with supporting the psychosocial needs of pediatric patients.  

Verena completed a Child Life Fellowship at Children’s Medical Center of Dallas in the United States, where her medical experience and her Spanish knowledge were greatly appreciated. In 2007 Verena del Valle became a Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS) and one year later joined the psychosocial program at Hôpital de l'enfance de Lausanne, in the French speaking part of Switzerland. Verena has been since then sensitizing multidisciplinary medical teams on the importance of preparation and procedural support.

Verena has had the honor of presenting in several university hospitals in Switzerland (mostly German side), she lead a weekend workshop in Budapest, Hungary, and has conducted several virtual trainings during the pandemic. Verena wishes to put her language knowledge (Spanish, Catalan, English, French and German) to help spread the word on the importance of psychosocial support in pediatric hospitals.

Verena holds a bachelor's in psychology from the Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB) in Spain.

Anna Tu is a Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS) currently residing in Vancouver, BC, Canada. She is passionate about supporting, educating and advocating for the psychosocial needs of children and families during their healthcare experiences. Using evidence based and developmentally appropriate interventions, Anna aims to minimize anxiety and stress while maximizing coping, confidence and control. She practices with a trauma-informed, strengths-based and family-centered approach.

Anna has worked at the Alderwood Family Development Centre, a school program with day treatment services for children with complex developmental and behavioral needs. The program helps to foster resilience, self-regulation, recovery from trauma, and social-emotional development, as well as core academic and school readiness skills.

In 2017, Anna volunteered at Lao Friends Hospital for Children (LFHC) to help develop the early stages of a sustainable Child Life program. The Lao Child Life Therapist and hospital staff received ongoing training on child life topics. Anna, alongside other volunteers, had the privilege of introducing sucrose for infant pain management, numbing cream for invasive procedures, positions of comfort, procedural preparation tools, coping kits, legacy building and many other child life interventions.

Since volunteering in Laos, Anna has worked at Victoria General Hospital, BC Children’s Hospital and Surrey Memorial Hospital in British Columbia, Canada. She covered for various departments including: inpatients, medical imaging, anesthetic care unit, medical day unit and pediatric emergency. Most recently, she transitioned into a full-time position working with outpatients coming through surgical daycare, oncology and the HEAL clinic - a Health Evaluation Assessment Liaison clinic for maltreated children.

Anna holds a bachelor's degree in Psychology with a minor in Counseling and Human Development from Simon Fraser University in Canada. From the University of the Fraser Valley, Anna received a certificate of extended studies in Child and Youth Care. Upon completing her child life internship at the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, CA, Anna received her certification status in 2015.

Asma Naheed is an Associate Clinical Psychologist with a growing focus on pediatric palliative care, grief support, and quality-of-life interventions for children and families navigating serious illness. Her professional journey has been shaped by the belief that emotional and psychological care should be an integral part of medical treatment; not an afterthought, especially in pediatric settings.

Over the past few years, she has worked in both clinical and hospital-based settings,with a special interest in psycho-oncology and palliative care. She has organized and facilitated multiple workshops and trainings on pediatric palliative care for healthcare providers, aiming to build awareness and practical skills around compassionate, family-centered care.

Her observership at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital with the Psychosocial Services and Quality of Life Care teams served as a turning point -strengthening her interest in developmental, age-appropriate care, grief work, and legacy-building in children with life-limiting illnesses. Back in Pakistan, she has helped initiate bereaved parent mentor program  services at Indus Hospital & Health Network, including structured condolence calls, sibling grief camps, condolence visits and remembrance efforts to support grieving families through shared experience and community.

She has also contributed to the planning and implementation of psychosocial components within pediatric oncology care, while advocating for the integration of psycho-oncology as a standard component of care in Pakistan’s healthcare system. Alongside her clinical efforts, she is actively working to build her research capacity with the goal of developing evidence-based, locally relevant psychosocial interventions tailored to the needs of children and families in low-resource settings.

Her long-term vision is to create sustainable psychosocial care models that are embedded within healthcare institutions, culturally sensitive, and responsive to the emotional realities of serious illness ; not just for patients, but for their families and caregivers as well.

Asma is currently pursuing a PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Karachi in Pakistan, and holds a Bachelor’s degree from Islamia University Bahawalpur and a Master’s degree in Psychology from the University of Karachi.  She has authored articles and offered presentations is English, Urdu, and Punjabi.

As a recipient of intensive psychosocial care services for her daughter, Priyanka, Leela knows first-hand the impact and benefit of these services on hospitalized children and their families. Having witnessed hospitals that are unable to provide these essential services inspired Leela to establish The Priyanka Foundation in 2007 in honor of her daughter who succumbed to leukemia.

As the founder of The Priyanka Foundation, the catalyst for Pediatric Potential, Leela understands the value of working to provide all children, globally, with access to psychosocial care services to minimize emotional trauma and promote optimal development.

Ms. Rao holds a master’s degree in Philosophy and Ethics from University of Mumbai in India and a Mini MBA in Non-profit/Public/Organizational Management from the University of St. Thomas in the United States.

Dr. Belani is a distinguished Professor of Medicine - Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Minnesota and Pediatric Anesthesiologist-in-Chief at the M Health Masonic Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis, MN in the United States.

He is an honorary International Professor at St. John’s Medical College and Narayana Health in India and serves as Honorary Dean of the Indian College of Anesthesiologists. Dr. Belani is an active member in the Society for Pediatric Anesthesiology, and has been President of the Society for Ambulatory Anesthesia and the Minnesota Society of Anesthesiologists.

Dr. Belani’s support for developing and strengthening international pediatric psychosocial services evolved from his clinical practice and interest in understanding the science of pain relief, both pharmacological and psychological. As a founding board member of The Priyanka Foundation, Kumar supports the work of Pediatric Potential in advancing and achieving its mission for children and their families engaged in the healthcare environment.

Dr. Belani holds a MBBS from St. John’s Medical College in Bangalore, India. He completed his anesthesiology residency and research fellowship at the University of Minnesota. He completed a specialization in pediatric anesthesiology and critical care at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania and was a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of California San Francisco in the United States.