A Dose of Optimism

Omkar Kulkarni
  • 4.9 (31)
  • Medicine

A Dose of Optimism is a podcast dedicated to exploring the world of healthcare innovation and the optimists driving meaningful change.  Hosted by Omkar Kulkarni, this show shines a light on bold ideas, transformative solutions, and the passionate individuals working every day to make healthcare better for children and their families. Each episode dives into the real-world challenges facing the healthcare industry and highlights the people and organizations pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. From tackling mental health and food allergies to reimagining hospital care and harnessing Artificial Intelligence for better outcomes. Listeners will discover game-changing solutions, hear stories of creativity and resilience, and gain inspiration from leaders who believe in building a healthier, more hopeful future.  From medical professionals and entrepreneurs to patients and community advocates, the podcast brings together diverse voices united by a shared commitment to improving healthcare delivery. Whether you’re working inside the industry or simply curious about the innovations shaping tomorrow’s care, A Dose of Optimism offers insight, connection, and inspiration. “The content, views, opinions, and information presented on this podcast do not reflect the views of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles or of the sponsors of the podcast. CHLA does not endorse the views, opinions and information presented on this podcast and CHLA specifically disclaims any legal liability or responsibility for the podcast’s content.” 

  1. 6d ago

    Ultra Processed, Under Mentored

    Two things children need more of: someone who shows up for them, and food that doesn't harm them. In this episode, two innovators share their work on both sides of that equation. Amy Braun, President and CEO of HealthCorps, describes how her organization deploys college-age mentors into middle and high schools across 12 states to deliver health and wellness programming, and why the near-peer relationship is the most powerful driver of real health behavior change in teenagers. 84% of students in HealthCorps make at least one measurable health behavior change. Students are 50% less likely to experience poor mental health days than their national peers. And 73% are more likely to connect with an adult on campus, meaning they stay more connected to school and more likely to graduate. Dr. Michael Goran, Program Director for Nutrition and Obesity at CHLA and the Saban Research Institute at USC, shares findings from a recently published birth cohort study: children consuming higher amounts of ultra-processed foods from birth to age six show significantly smaller volumes in specific regions of the brain. He also shares striking research on infant formula, over half of which in the United States is now made with corn syrup rather than lactose, and what continuous glucose monitoring at six months of age reveals about how different formula compositions affect infant blood sugar stability. Episode Resources: Ultra-Processed Foods Linked to Brain Differences in Young Children The UN Decade of Nutrition, the NOVA food classification and the trouble with ultra-processing New US dietary guidelines call for more protein, less processed food Diabetes & Obesity Research Institute (DORI) USC & Children’s Hospital LA Team Up with Eat Real to Study How Real Food Fuels Student Success Big Brothers Big Sisters of America Connect with Amy Braun: Amy Braun LinkedIn HealthCorps Website HealthCorps LinkedIn HealthCorps Instagram Connect with Dr. Michael Goran: Dr. Michael Goran CHLA Dr. Michael Goran LinkedIn Connect with us: KidsX Website KidsX LinkedIn Children's Hospital L.A. Website Children's Hospital L.A. Instagram Children's Hospital L.A. LinkedIn

    Ultra Processed, Under Mentored

  2. Jul 28

    The Great Frontier: Innovations from Canada and Alaska

    What happens to the patients the system never quite finds? In this episode, two teams share how they are using technology to reach children who have been invisible to specialist care, whether because of geography, or because the signs of their rare disease didn't add up to a referral. Dr. Carl Rosen, Alaska's only board-certified oculoplastic and neuro-ophthalmology surgeon, describes how he built MyEyesAI, a teleophthalmology platform that uses AI-assisted triage, image capture on consumer devices, and video consultation to extend specialist eye care to patients across a state with virtually no ophthalmology subspecialists outside Anchorage. Having already seen more than 300 patients through the platform, he believes it will change the model of how eye care is delivered in remote and underserved settings. Ivan Terekhov and Alexandre White-Brown of Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario share the story of ThinkRare, an algorithm that scans their active patient population daily, identifies children who are likely to have an undiagnosed rare disease, and alerts the most responsible provider so the patient can be referred to genetics before years of diagnostic odyssey accumulate. With a diagnostic yield of 70% (compared to 35% for standard genetics referrals) and patients now being identified as young as two months old, ThinkRare is beginning to scale across Canada. Episode Resources: CHEO Research Institute’s breakthrough ThinkRare algorithm launches national expansion MyEyesAI - Instant Ophthalmology Expertise – Anywhere, Anytime The Global Commission to End the Diagnostic Odyssey recommendation Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA) Olleyes Virtual Visual Field Connect with Dr. Carl Rosen: Carl Eli Rosen, M.D. Ophthalmic Associates Website Ophthalmic Associates Facebook Connect with Ivan Terekhov and Alexandre White-Brown: Ivan Terekhov LinkedIn Alexandre White-Brown LinkedIn CHEO Research Institute Website CHEO Research Institute LinkedIn CHEO Research Institute Facebook Connect with us: KidsX Website KidsX LinkedIn Children's Hospital L.A. Website Children's Hospital L.A. Instagram Children's Hospital L.A. LinkedIn

    The Great Frontier: Innovations from Canada and Alaska

  3. Jul 21

    Workplace Violence in Hospitals

    Healthcare workers are facing a crisis that rarely makes headlines, and it's getting worse. In this episode, three innovators share what's really happening to nurses and other frontline clinical staff, and what's being done about it. Sandy Hall, Executive Director, PCS Quality, Safety, and Patient-Centered Services at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, describes the landscape of workplace violence in pediatric settings, from verbal harassment by families under stress to physical injury from neurodivergent and behavioral health patients who can't control their actions. She explains why pediatric settings have a particular underreporting problem (the "pediatric pass") and why the behavioral health crisis is making conditions for frontline staff dramatically more difficult. John Bracaglia, CEO and co-founder of Marvin, shares how his company is working to address the $70 billion healthcare workforce crisis by providing mental health support specifically designed for healthcare workers, through counselors who understand clinical culture, an opt-out model that removes the stigma of asking for help, and outcomes data showing a 94.5% retention rate among nurses who engage with the program, compared to a national baseline of 79%. Ali Al Jabry, CEO of Kwema, describes a deceptively simple solution to one of the most urgent safety needs in healthcare: a smart badge reel with a silent panic button that lets a nurse or clinician call for help without escalating a dangerous situation, and that integrates with existing hospital IT infrastructure to geolocate the person in need in real time. Episode Resources: AHA Workplace Violence Resources Connect with Sandy Hall: Sandy Hall LinkedIn Connect with John Bracaglia: John Bracaglia LinkedIn Marvin Website Marvin LinkedIn Marvin Instagram Connect with Ali Al Jabry: Ali Al Jabry LinkedIn Kwema Website Kwema LinkedIn Kwema Instagram Connect with us: KidsX Website KidsX LinkedIn Children's Hospital L.A. Website Children's Hospital L.A. Instagram Children's Hospital L.A. LinkedIn

    Workplace Violence in Hospitals

  4. Jul 14

    Digital Tools for Kids' Health and Minds

    What would it mean to catch a problem earlier, whether it's a child missing therapy between sessions, a student whose mental health needs are going unidentified, or a promising young researcher who never gets the mentorship to find their path? In this episode, three innovators share how they are working to close the gaps that appear before the crisis. George Frey of Cognishine and Arie Melamed from ALYN Hospital (Cognishine’s design partner) describe Cognishine’s digital therapy platform, used by more than 5,000 therapists across 10 countries, that gives occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, and psychologists the tools to deliver, and extend, therapy across synchronous, asynchronous, and teletherapy settings. They also share how AI is beginning to personalize the platform in ways that support therapists rather than replace them. Kenzie Butera Davis, CEO and Founder of Maro, explains how her company is addressing a striking gap in pediatric mental health: an average of 11 years between a child's first symptom and their first treatment. Maro's universal mental health screening platform is helping schools identify students earlier and connect them to care more efficiently, including working within new state policies in Illinois and California that are expanding school-based mental health infrastructure. Dr. Rohit Kohli, Chief, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at CHLA, reflects on three decades in pediatric academic medicine and what it takes to build the next generation of clinician-researchers, including the critical role of mentorship, sponsorship, and protecting the time and conditions that allow academic pediatricians to generate new knowledge. Episode Resources: Illinois 1st state to require universal mental health screenings at schools The Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI) Connect with Adi Topaz and George Frey: George Frey LinkedIn Cognishine Website Cognishine LinkedIn Cognishine Instagram Arie Melamed LinkedIn ALYN Hospital Website ALYN Hospital LinkedIn ALYN Hospital Instagram Connect with Kenzie Butera Davis: Kenzie Butera Davis LinkedIn Kenzie Butera Davis Instagram Maro Website Maro LinkedIn Maro Instagram Connect with Dr. Rohit Kohli: Dr. Rohit Kohli CHLA Connect with us: KidsX Website KidsX LinkedIn Children's Hospital L.A. Website Children's Hospital L.A. Instagram Children's Hospital L.A. LinkedIn

    Digital Tools for Kids' Health and Minds

  5. Jul 7

    The Power of Avatars

    What if technology could make a frightened child feel safer, less alone, or better understood, without replacing the human beings who care for them? In this episode, three innovators share how they are using avatars, robots, and wearable sensors to improve the pediatric care experience. Erin Bogdanski, licensed therapist, CEO and Founder of THERA VR, describes how virtual reality with customizable avatars is creating new possibilities for therapy with traumatized and hard-to-reach children, giving young patients the ability to choose what their therapist looks like, and to engage in ways that Zoom and traditional in-person sessions haven't been able to achieve. Karen Khachikyan, CEO and Founder of Robin the Robot, shares how a socially assistive robot deployed across more than 40 pediatric facilities is giving hospitalized children something the clinical environment rarely provides: a friend. Robin uses human-assisted AI to engage children during procedures, reduce fear, and bring some much-needed joy into hospital stays. Dr. Molly Easterlin, neonatologist at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, explains how a multidisciplinary research team is exploring wearable motion sensors on NICU b abies as a potential tool for earlier sepsis detection and long-term neurodevelopmental prediction, adding movement as a quantitative data point alongside existing clinical assessments. Connect with Erin Bogdanski: Erin Bogdanski LinkedIn THERA Inc. LinkedIn THERA Inc. Instagram Connect with Karen Khachikyan: Karen Khachikyan LinkedIn Robin the Robot Website Robin the Robot LinkedIn Robin the Robot Instagram Connect with Dr. Molly Easterlin: Dr. Molly Easterlin CHLA CHLA Fetal and Neonatal Institute Connect with us: KidsX Website KidsX LinkedIn Children's Hospital L.A. Website Children's Hospital L.A. Instagram Children's Hospital L.A. LinkedIn

    The Power of Avatars

  6. Jun 30

    Pigs, Texts & Sim

    Three very different innovations. Three very different settings. One shared direction: pediatric care moving closer to children and families. Dr. John Cleveland, Associate Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, shares the science and the hope behind xenotransplantation, the use of genetically modified pig hearts as a bridge to human heart transplantation for infants dying on the waiting list. With baboon models now surviving over two years with pig hearts, and human trials potentially one to two years away, this may be the most significant breakthrough in pediatric cardiac care in a generation. Dr. Katie Richardson, CEO of Lantern, describes a deceptively simple but genuinely valuable solution to one of pediatrics' oldest problems: parents don't get enough guidance between well visits. Lantern delivers free, expert-vetted, age-specific child development information directly to parents via text message (in English, Spanish, and Arabic) paired with hyperlocal resources linked to the family's zip code. Dr. Todd Chang, Pediatric Emergency Medicine physician and simulation expert at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, explains why simulation matters more in pediatrics than almost anywhere else, because pediatric emergencies are rare, which means clinicians never get enough practice unless they simulate. He also shares a compelling vision for what AI and advanced technology could do for healthcare simulation, and for parent education, in the years ahead. Episode Resources: Children's Hospital Los Angeles: Heart Institute Las Madrinas Simulation Center at CHLA The Society for Simulation and Healthcare Aaron Kornblith, MD, MS LinkedIn Connect with Dr. John Cleveland: Dr. John Cleveland CHLA Connect with Dr. Katie Richardson: Dr. Katie Richardson LinkedIn Dr. Katie Richardson Instagram Lantern Website Lantern LinkedIn Lantern Instagram Connect with Dr. Todd Chang: Dr. Todd Chang CHLA Dr. Todd Chang LinkedIn Connect with us: KidsX Website KidsX LinkedIn Children's Hospital L.A. Website Children's Hospital L.A. Instagram Children's Hospital L.A. LinkedIn

    Pigs, Texts & Sim

  7. Jun 23

    Diabetes & Obesity Management

    For too long, diabetes and obesity in children have been treated as failures of willpower, by the child, by the parent, by the family. In this episode, three innovators share how they are rewriting that story. Dr. Jennifer Raymond, Division Chief of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at CHLA, describes her community-based research with Latinx families living with type 1 diabetes, and what she has learned about the role of spirituality, peer support, language, and parental guilt in diabetes management. She also shares a striking clinical observation: that GLP-1 medications, most often discussed for their metabolic effects, are producing dramatic improvements in mental health and food anxiety in some of her young patients. Dr. Alaina Vidmar, Medical Director of the Obesity Medicine and Bariatric Surgery Program at CHLA, makes a clear and evidence-based case: obesity is a complex chronic disease, it is not the child's fault or the parent's fault, and the toolkit for treating it, including GLP-1 medications and bariatric surgery, is more effective, more accessible, and more underutilized than most people realize. Since launching the bariatric surgery program at CHLA in August 2023, her team has completed 150 surgeries with no insurance denials. Shireen Abdullah, founder of Yumlish, shares how she built a culturally adapted, web and text-based diabetes prevention platform for low-income Hispanic communities, after her own doctor told her to "eat healthy" without any meaningful guidance. Yumlish has achieved CDC full recognition, with at least 60% of completers achieving weight loss or A1c reduction, and recruits 95% of participants through federally qualified health centers. Episode Resources: Weight Management for Adults with Obesity - Wegovy® Teen-Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery (Teen-LABS) National Diabetes Prevention Program When Should Kids Get Bariatric Surgery? Obesity Medicine Experts Share the Science CHLA Bariatric Surgery Program Peer Support Lowers HbA1c in Adolescents and Young Adults With Diabetes Connect with Dr. Jennifer Raymond: Dr. Jennifer Raymond CHLA Dr. Jennifer Raymond LinkedIn Connect with Dr. Alaina Vidmar: Dr. Alaina Vidmar CHLA Dr. Alaina Vidmar LinkedIn Connect with Shireen Abdullah: Shireen Abdullah LinkedIn Yumlish Website Yumlish LinkedIn Yumlish Instagram Yumlish: Diabetes and Multicultural Nutrition Podcast Connect with us: KidsX Website KidsX LinkedIn Children's Hospital L.A. Website Children's Hospital L.A. Instagram Children's Hospital L.A. LinkedIn

    Diabetes & Obesity Management

  8. Jun 16

    Phone Calls, Home Visits, and Virtual Hearts

    What does it look like to meet a child where they are, not just physically, but technologically, emotionally, and clinically? In this episode, three innovators share how they are redesigning pediatric care delivery around the child rather than around the hospital. Dr. Caitlin Sayegh, clinical psychologist and researcher at CHLA and USC Keck School of Medicine, describes her work using cell phone coaching to help teenagers with chronic illness take their medications. The insight that drives it: a small dose of human accountability (a phone call or text from a coach who sees a teen as a whole person) can produce meaningful improvements in medication adherence across a wide range of conditions, from HIV to sickle cell disease to organ transplants. Taylor Beery, co-founder of Imagine Pediatrics, shares how his company is delivering integrated medical, behavioral, and social support to children with complex special healthcare needs (at home, virtually, and at no cost to families) through value-based contracts with Medicaid health plans. His personal story of losing his son Walker to pediatric brain cancer, and founding Imagine Pediatrics a week after his funeral, is one of the most powerful origin stories in this podcast's history. Dr. Sassan Hashemi, Assistant Professor at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Heart Institute, explains how virtual surgical planning (using 3D models derived from imaging data, viewed in virtual and augmented reality) is changing how surgeons prepare for complex congenital heart procedures, enabling interventions that once seemed impossible, and building toward an AI-enabled future of pediatric cardiac care. Episode Resources: ▶️Randomized pilot trial of cell phone support to improve medication adherence among adolescents and young adults with chronic health conditions ▶️Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine CHLA ▶️Kids Join The Fight: Nonprofit ▶️Heart Institute | Cincinnati Children's Connect with Dr. Caitlin Sayegh: Dr. Caitlin Sayegh LinkedIn Dr. Caitlin Sayegh CHLA Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California Website Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California LinkedIn Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California Instagram Connect with Taylor Beery: Taylor Beery LinkedIn Imagine Pediatrics Website Imagine Pediatrics LinkedIn Imagine Pediatrics Instagram Connect with Dr. Sassan Hashemi: Dr. Sassan Hashemi LinkedIn Cincinnati Children's Hospital Website Cincinnati Children's Hospital LinkedIn Cincinnati Children's Hospital Instagram Connect with us: KidsX Website KidsX LinkedIn Children's Hospital L.A. Website Children's Hospital L.A. Instagram Children's Hospital L.A. LinkedIn

    Phone Calls, Home Visits, and Virtual Hearts
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Trailer

4.9
out of 5
31 Ratings

About

A Dose of Optimism is a podcast dedicated to exploring the world of healthcare innovation and the optimists driving meaningful change.  Hosted by Omkar Kulkarni, this show shines a light on bold ideas, transformative solutions, and the passionate individuals working every day to make healthcare better for children and their families. Each episode dives into the real-world challenges facing the healthcare industry and highlights the people and organizations pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. From tackling mental health and food allergies to reimagining hospital care and harnessing Artificial Intelligence for better outcomes. Listeners will discover game-changing solutions, hear stories of creativity and resilience, and gain inspiration from leaders who believe in building a healthier, more hopeful future.  From medical professionals and entrepreneurs to patients and community advocates, the podcast brings together diverse voices united by a shared commitment to improving healthcare delivery. Whether you’re working inside the industry or simply curious about the innovations shaping tomorrow’s care, A Dose of Optimism offers insight, connection, and inspiration. “The content, views, opinions, and information presented on this podcast do not reflect the views of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles or of the sponsors of the podcast. CHLA does not endorse the views, opinions and information presented on this podcast and CHLA specifically disclaims any legal liability or responsibility for the podcast’s content.” 

Information

  • Creator
    Omkar Kulkarni
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    44
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 A Dose of Optimism
  • Show Website
    A Dose of Optimism