It all started with a baby named Theodore.
In 2016, George and his wife Olesya were preparing for the birth of their first child. The young couple felt overwhelmed by the amount of information they were expected to remember during childbirth education.
In order to support his wife, George scanned all the hospital handouts into a Dropbox folder, so if Olesya had a pain or question, he could quickly search for an answer to help her.
When she was going through labor, however, he didn’t have time to look up notes and despite their best efforts, they both felt unprepared and stressed.
Thankfully, both Mom and baby were healthy. The couple took a deep sigh of relief as they believed the hardest part was over.
Upon returning home, they had a million questions they hadn't even thought to ask before giving birth. And now, there was a crying baby in the apartment. On top of sleep deprivation, dealing with physical recovery, and caring for Theodore the couple spent hours searching online for credible answers to their questions.
George thought, “There has to be an easier way for new parents to get instant access to evidence-based information.”
Soon after, George and Atin met at General Assembly in NYC. Atin was a UX designer who had worked in education and upon interviewing new moms, found that many women struggle during postpartum due to lack of access to immediate and credible information. The duo teamed up to reimagine the postpartum experience for new moms.
Our Team
George Samoylov, Co-Founder - Business Development
George uses his experience as a father and husband to help support other families through Ellie. He holds a BA in Finance and Management from Long Island University and has worked in international asset management for the last decade. The birth of his first son, Theodore changed the lives of both George and his wife and inspired him to pursue building products for new and expecting parents. When he's not working, George spends most of his time chasing down little Theodore or skating on the Long Island City waterfront.
George on LinkedIn
Email: george@checkwithellie.com
Atin Mittra, Co-Founder - Product
Atin is a designer passionate about helping new moms access information to make confident decisions. He holds a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park. Before co-founding Ellie, Atin worked as a UX lead at the venture-funded startup, Meeteor, an adjunct professor in Design Thinking at the University of Maryland, College Park, and Founder of the financial education company, MADE. When not working, Atin volunteers with the non-profit, Impact NYC and sits on the board of The Creativity Foundation. For fun, Atin likes to play drums, shoot photography, and bike.
Atin on LinkedIn
Email: atin@checkwithellie.com
Dr. Sara F. Voit, MD, PhD, MSPH - Curriculum Lead
Sara is a recognized leader and entrepreneur in the healthcare learning & organizational development space. She has over 15 years of global experience in leading large scale organizational transformational change through the building and implementation of learning programs for organizations including the NYC Department of Education and Planned Parenthood. Sara was instrumental in the development of the first mobile medical simulator for training for Bayer, Teva, and Planned Parenthood. Sara holds an MD and PhD in Education and Organizational Strategies and MSPH in Outcomes Analysis. Sara is a published researcher and former competitive dogsled racer.
Sara on Linkedin
Email: Sara@checkwithellie.com
Medical Advisors
Dr. Natasha K. Sriraman, MD MPH FAAP FABM
Pediatrician, Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters
Dr. Natasha Sriraman is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Eastern Virginia Medical School, researcher, and mother of three. She has spoken nationally on breastfeeding and postpartum depression and published extensively on these topics. Natasha sits on the Board of Directors of Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine (ABM) and is Chair of the Education Committee. She has previously served as Education Chair for the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Section on Breastfeeding and on the Board of Directors of Postpartum Support Virginia and advocates nationally for postpartum depression screening within the pediatric setting.
Dr. Sriraman holds a B.S. in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania, an M.P.H. from University of Pittsburgh, and a M.D. from St. George's University School of Medicine. She completed her pediatric internship and residency at Westchester Medical College/New York Medical College, and completed a 3- year fellowship in Academic Pediatrics at Columbia University. She later attained her IBCLC certification and worked in a lactation practice.
When not working, Natasha enjoys running, yoga, boxing, traveling, and reading. She lives in Virginia with her husband, three kids, and dog.
Dr. Diana Ramos, MD, MPH, FACOG
Medical Director for Reproductive Health, Los Angeles Public Health Department, OB/GYN
Dr. Ramos is an Associate Clinical Professor in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Keck University of Southern California School of Medicine. She is a physician in obstetrics and gynecology at the Anaheim/Baldwin Park Kaiser Permanente.
Prior to these roles, Dr. Ramos was the medical director of Alpha Medical Center and was a clinical attending physician at Sepulveda Veterans Administration where she served as a preceptor and conducted research on women’s health and strategies for improving health care delivery.
Dr. Ramos is board certified in obstetrics and gynecology and a Fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She is the Chair of the American Medical Association’s Minority Affairs Consortium; serves on the steering committees for the National Hispanic Leadership Fellowship and National Commission on Healthcare Disparities and is a March of Dimes board member.
She is also a spokesperson for cervical cancer awareness and emergency contraception for the Los Angeles County office of Women’s Health and was appointed to the California Women’s Health Council Commission in 2006. She joined the CMA Foundation Board of Directors in 2008.
Dr. Jeremy N. Krell, DMD, MBA
Director of Dental, Quip
Dr. Krell is an experienced healthcare entrepreneur and dentist. He holds a BS in Biology, Chemistry, and Business from Brandeis University, a DMD from Tufts University, and a MBA from University of Chicago. Jeremy has advised, started, led, and worked for startups in the dental, medical, health insurance, venture incubation, e-commerce, and web and graphic design industries. During his free time, Jeremy enjoys watching and playing tennis, spending time with his family, and has a penchant for pugs.
Consulting Experts
Máire Clements, BSN, RN, IBCLC
Máire holds a BS in Nursing from Columbia University and has been serving new families in NYC and the metropolitan area for more than three decades in both the hospital and community settings.
Allegra Gatti Zemel, RN, IBCLC
Allegra holds a BA in English from UC Berkeley as well as a BS in Nursing from Columbia University. She has 15 years of experience in hospitals, classrooms, and in-home care and instruction around Maternal/Child Health and specifically breastfeeding.
Danielle Jackson, RN, BSN, IBCLC
Danielle is an Australian trained midwife who has worked in Maternal Child Health for 24 years. She has experience in NICU, labor and delivery, and for the last 12 years has worked in the midwife-based “Birthing Center” at New York City’s Mt. Sinai West Hospital.
Janet Bogardus, LCCE, CD(DONA), CLC
Janet is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and is currently on faculty at Mt. Sinai West (formerly known as Roosevelt Hospital) in New York City, where she has been teaching group classes for over the last decade.