The i4KIDS team travels to the United States to explore the paediatric and maternal health innovation ecosystem

The i4KIDS team has travelled to the United States with the aim of gaining first-hand insight into the country’s paediatric and maternal health innovation ecosystem. It has been an intense and enriching experience that allowed them to learn, be inspired, and strengthen connections with internationally renowned institutions and innovation professionals.

An agenda dedicated to health innovation

The first stop on this journey was California. There, the team visited Stanford University, including the facilities of Impact1 de Stanford Mussallem Center for Biodesign, a collaborating entity of the hub, and the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, the only health care network in the Bay Area exclusively dedicated to paediatric and obstetric specialties. They also had the opportunity to experience Intuitive technology first-hand, testing the Da Vinci surgical robot, as well as learning about the acceleration programmes at Fogarty Innovation and visiting El Camino Health Hospital,a non-profit hospital and the only centre in the San Francisco Bay Area to have received the Magnet® designation for nursing excellence on multiple occasions.

The agenda of this first part of the trip also included meetings with representatives of ACCIÓ San Francisco and professionals from Focus Innovation Studio, which opened the door to new synergies between the Catalan and Californian ecosystems.

Impact1 CEO Summit 2025

The second stage of the trip took place in Austin, Texas, the host city of the third Impact1 at Stanford Biodesign CEO Summit, an international forum that brings together leaders in maternal and paediatric health innovation. During the first day of the congress, i4KIDS presented the Impact4kids programme, developed jointly with Impact1, and shared an overview of the European paediatric health innovation ecosystem. The day also featured the participation of experts on the U.S. healthcare system (Medicare, Medicaid, and private health insurance), as well as panels focused on understanding the regulatory landscape.

The final day of the summit addressed more transversal topics such as access to funding, institutional relations with boards of directors, and leadership techniques and styles.

The experience in the United States has been an invaluable opportunity to gain first-hand knowledge of world-leading models, technologies, and strategies. With the insights gained and the new alliances established, i4KIDS takes another step forward in its mission to drive projects with a real impact on improving child and maternal health and wellbeing.