The 2026 Academy Scholars cohort is made up of an incredible group of individuals ready to translate vision into action! Please comment below to introduce yourself, your background, and what you hope to gain from the program this year.
The 2026 Academy Scholars cohort is made up of an incredible group of individuals ready to translate vision into action! Please comment below to introduce yourself, your background, and what you hope to gain from the program this year.
10 Comments
Suwarna Tilak
I am a pediatrician in Jacksonville Florida with over 25 years of experience as an owner ,leader of a busy practice and currently work at University of Florida as a pediatrician caring for medically complex children. Over the years I have studied and gotten Board certified in Lifestyle Medicine as well as Obesity medicine and have certifications in Culinary Medicine and Ayurvedic Courdework. I wanted to get another valid evidence based education regarding integrative pediatrician medicine so as to be able to apply it to my current and future patients,
Danielle Tran
Hello all, I am a general pediatrician in a mall rural town in maine. I have been in practice for 27 years, 25 of those at my current place of employment. I have been interested in integrative medicine for a long time but wanted to make sure I had a solid evidence-based education before implementing those principles in my practice. I am particularly interested in nutrition, supplements and other modalities to help children with mental health issues or chronic diseases. I am also the school physician for our district. On the days I am not in the office I work at the high school in the music department as their pianist; I find great joy in also participating in community and school musicals !
Kristen Smaldone
Hi! I am Kristen Smaldone – pediatric dietitian. I have been an RD for a little over 10 years. My background started in clinical and have recently mostly moved away to my private practice. I work at Yale New Haven Children’s hospital very part time still. I previously covered inpatient pediatric heme/onc and bmt as well as various inpatient floors. I later transitioned to outpatient peds in GI covering general gi, aerodigestive and feeding clinics. Since starting my private practice I see children of all ages but specialize in pediatric feeding disorders/picky eating, weight management and getting into sports nutrition. I have a passion for whole child nutrition and health and so excited to be along side everyone learning. I cannot wait to dive into this course and take my knowledge and practice to the next level using evidence based practices to support my patients more. Outside of work I am a mom of 8 and 5 year old boys who keep me very busy. I am also excited to learn about how to best support my kids for live long health.
Carolyn Astrup
Hi all! I am a family nurse practitioner working at an integrative family practice in Nashville, TN. I worked as an RN in pediatric emergency departments for 6 years, and transitioned to working outpatient primary care just last year. I see both adults and children, but our practice is working to expand our pediatric care and therefore I am excited to be able to do so with the strong foundation of integrative education on my side. I am looking to gain clinical knowledge that is easily translatable to routine pediatric care, and confidence in utilizing integrative tools – especially pediatric supplements and integrative approaches to treating chronic disease and behavioral concerns. I am excited to learn and grown with this group!
Bridget
Hi Everyone- I began my career as a pediatric RD and have been adding layers of varying clinical perspectives ever since! Currently I am a clinically practicing Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (PNP), Pediatric Mental Health Specialist (PMHS), working in primary care at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. My clinical practice is based in the largest primary care office in the country (we have 30,000 kids capitated to our site) and more than 80% of our population utilizes Medicaid. My current project is building an integrative health consult clinic for children ages 8-18 with anxiety, depression and/or ADHD. We’re piloting a variety of ways to increase access to services including group medical visits for teens. Looking forward to being a part of this group and connecting with folks that are interested in advocating for integrative health in pediatric healthcare.
Areeba Basit
Hello all. I am a Pediatric neurologist working in South Florida for the past 8 years. I see a wide variety of disorders where I feel the opportunity to provide integrative care would be immense. We have several patients with difficult to control epilepsy, headaches, ADHD, Autism, neuroimmunological disorders, where there is plenty of opportunity to expand on conventional medicine, and provide more comprehensive care. I am a mom to an 8 yo girl and 5 yo boy who keep me busy. I am excited to learn evidence-based practices to employ them both at work and at home with prevention of chronic diseases as the main goal. I am honored to be a part of such a wonderful group of intelligent folks and look forward to learning with all of you.
Krystle Balduzzi
HI all, I’m Krystle, a general pediatrician in Northern Cali. I have a DPC concierge practice for the past 6 years and love the flexibility and fun I get to have with my patient families and my own family. With this course I am looking to add to my repertoire as I love learning.
Melody
I am a private practice pediatrician in Texas. I am hoping to gain more knowledge in some of the healing modalities that I didn’t get to delve into during med school or residency. Having done this now for over 20 years, I know that my regular medical training doesn’t always have the answers. I feel like I already use integrative medicine, but in a piecemeal sort of way and am looking forward to gaining evidence based knowledge that I can use in a more practical and credible way.
Colleen Bolls
Hi all! I am a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner in Boulder, Colorado. I have been a PNP for about 20 years. Although I started in primary care, I worked at Children’s Hospital Colorado ED for 13 years and have now found my way back to primary care. I am currently working at a growing DPC practice with another pediatrician. I also have a background in Nutrition and Exercise Physiology and have been a life long athlete and coach. I am excited to learn more about the integrative/hollistic approach to caring for children and families and create evidence based care plans for my patients. I love spending time with my husband Rod, 13 yr old daughter and 11 yr old son in the outdoors, traveling and keep up with all if their own sports/passions.
Kinjal Suryawala
Hi all!
My name is Kinjal Suryawala. I am a Pediatric Gastroenterologist in Naples, FL. I have been part of a Pediatric Subspecialty group for the past ~ 10 years and have recently taken the leap to open my own private practice focused on personalized, thoughtful care for children and families. Over the years, I’ve found that many of the challenges my patients face, – chronic abdominal pain, obesity, and functional disorders- don’t always fit into traditional medical models. Families are often looking for deeper answers, but they also want evidence-based , safe and practical guidance. I am excited to be part of this community and learn evidenced based tools that I can use with my patients! My goal hoping to build a stronger foundation in integrative and lifestyle approaches for pediatric GI conditions and learn practical tools I can implement in a busy clinical setting. I am excited to connect with like-minded physicians who are also trying to change the way we care for children. I look forward to learning from all of you and sharing ideas. Thank you for welcoming me into this space!