A Masterclass in Pediatric Innovation and Patient-Centric Design

In this high-impact episode of Wednesdays with Wade, host Wade Delk sits down with Leanne West, a nationally respected leader in pediatric health innovation and patient-centered healthcare design to discuss how the healthcare industry can and must do better by centering the voices of young patients. 

Leanne leads groundbreaking work across two critical domains: 

• Empowering youth and families to co-design healthcare systems through the International Children’s Advisory Network (ICAN) 
  
• Accelerating real-world pediatric innovation at Georgia Tech, where clinician-informed engineering turns problems into scalable healthcare solutions 

Their conversation is a powerful call to action for health tech executives, policy makers, and clinical leaders to rethink how healthcare is designed, starting not with assumptions, but with lived experience and empathy. 

“Kids are so altruistic. If you ask them why they participate in ICAN, they will give you two reasons. One, to take back control over something that has had control over them. And two, to help another child. They know that being in a trial may not help them, but they hope it will keep other kids from having to go through what they have been through.” 

Leanne West, President, iCAN Research (International Children’s Advisory Network)

This episode illustrates why co-creation, early inclusion, and personalized design aren’t just best practices, they are moral and strategic imperatives for the future of medicine. 

Key Takeaways 

Patient-Led Design Isn’t a Trend; It’s a Competitive Advantage 
Discover how integrating patients and caregivers into the full product lifecycle, from device design to FDA feedback loops drives better health innovation outcomes and regulatory alignment. 

A New Model for Pediatric R&D Collaboration 
Leanne shares a new framework for pediatric research and development that brings together clinicians, engineers, startups, and universities to deliver real-world solutions without duplicating effort or wasting limited pediatric funding. 

Rethinking Engagement: Training Tomorrow’s Advocates Today 
Learn how ICAN equips youth and young professionals with leadership, storytelling, and clinical literacy skills, helping them become changemakers and advocates across pharma, public health, and policy. 

The Power of Empathy-Driven Engineering 
See how Leanne’s work at Georgia Tech helps transform clinician insights into deployable health tech, from wearable medical devices to AI-driven care models using real clinical workflows as a blueprint. 

What Industry Still Gets Wrong About Consent, Trials & Inclusion 
Understand why most clinical trial protocols fail pediatric recruitment and how patient-informed timing, language, and accessibility can change everything. 

If you are a health tech executive, policy strategist, clinical trial lead, or healthcare investor, this episode offers a rare lens into how early inclusion, interdisciplinary collaboration, and designing with, not for patients will shape the next decade of global health innovation.