The Role of the Pediatrician to Promote Effective Approaches for Child and Adolescent Nutrition in Schools, Capacity Strain in U.S. Children’s Hospitals – Episode 302

Dr. Elizabeth Zmuda is a pediatrician and medical educator with a career-long interest in the systems and infrastructure that support child health and wellness. Her professional interests include the developmental aspects of nutrition and feeding, the role of parenting, and the ways schools can extend the supportive environment of the home, particularly for children with fewer resources. She views school meals as an essential part of the foundation children need to thrive, not only by providing nutrition, but also by supporting social connection, healthy development, and academic success. 

Dr. Zmuda has practiced in emergency medicine, primary care, and behavioral health and has worked throughout her career in both undergraduate and graduate medical education. She serves on the Executive Committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on School Health and has chaired the Ohio AAP Home and School Health Committee for many years. Through these roles, she contributes to policy, education, and resources that help pediatricians confidently advocate for children in schools. She currently serves as Associate Dean of Health Systems and Operations at the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, where she oversees clinical education and health system partnerships. 

Dr. Elizabeth Kuhn is an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and an attending hospitalist in the Division of General Pediatrics at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Dr. Kuhn's scholarly focus is in hospital operations and systems science, using quality improvement and research methods to understand how operational dynamics shape patient care and outcomes. Her current work is focused on capacity strain in children's hospitals, examining how institutions measure and respond to elevated demand for patient care. This work is situated within the broader context of regionalization of pediatric care and the evolving landscape of care delivery, including understanding shifts in where and how children receive care. She has led mixed-methods research characterizing measurement and mitigation of capacity strain in U.S. children's hospitals.