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. 5d ago

    Language, AI, and the Business of Care

    What does it cost when a patient can't understand their discharge instructions? What does it cost when a healthcare system hasn't adapted its business models to the tools now available? In this episode, two very different conversations shed light on where healthcare is losing people, and what's being done about it. Julie Wilner and Joe Corkery of Jaide Health, recently acquired by AMN Healthcare, share how their AI-driven medical interpretation and translation platform is closing one of the most consequential and underaddressed gaps in healthcare equity: the failure to communicate with patients in their own language. A discharge summary that used to take 90 minutes for a language services team member to produce at CHLA now takes five minutes to review and finalize. And as regulatory requirements under the ACA push hospitals toward translated written materials, AI is becoming not just valuable, but necessary. Nikhil Krishnan, founder of Out-Of-Pocket and one of healthcare's most distinctive voices for making the business of healthcare understandable, shares his perspective on pediatric healthcare as a business, the next wave of AI in clinical workflows, the emerging tension between patients who trust AI more than their providers, and why prevention remains the most underfunded opportunity in the entire system. Episode Resources: AMN Healthcare Affordable Care Act (ACA) Tribeca Pediatrics: We Care for Your Kids in NYC ACA Section 1557: Ensuring Meaningful Access for Individuals with Limited English Proficiency Connect with Julie Wilner & Joe Corkery: Julie Wilner LinkedIn Joe Corkery LinkedIn Jaide Health Website Jaide Health LinkedIn Jaide Health Instagram Connect with Nikhil Krishnan: Nikhil Krishnan LinkedIn Nikhil Krishnan X Out-Of-Pocket Website Out-Of-Pocket LinkedIn Out-Of-Pocket 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

    Language, AI, and the Business of Care

  2. Aug 18

    Glasses and Good Nurses

    Before a child can learn, they need to be able to see. And before a nurse can care for a complex pediatric patient, they need to have experienced something close to it. In this episode, two leaders at the intersection of innovation and workforce development share how they are closing two very different but equally foundational gaps. Dr. James Dickhoner, Chief Medical Officer of Vision to Learn and Associate Director of Digital Health at CHLA, describes how a mobile clinic model is providing free eye exams and glasses to between two and four million children across the United States who need vision correction and can't get it, and the surprisingly apolitical case for why every school district should want this. Dr. Jennifer Baird, Associate Chief Nursing Officer for Professional Practice at CHLA, shares how the Pediatric Pathway Program is transforming how nursing students experience pediatric care, tripling and quadrupling clinical hours in pediatric settings, integrating simulation, and sending nurses into the workforce with a depth of preparation that the traditional generalist model simply doesn't provide. Episode Resources: Pediatric Pathway Program CHLA RN Residency in Pediatrics CHLA Las Madrinas Simulation Center CHLA Eyeglasses for School Kids Boost Academic Performance, Study Finds Dr. Megan Collins - Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Gifts You Can Give That Save Lives Effect of a Randomized Interventional School-Based Vision Program on Academic Performance of Students in Grades 3 to 7 - A Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial Vision To Learn DONATE Connect with Dr. James Dickhoner: James Dickhoner LinkedIn James Dickhoner CHLA Vision To Learn Website Vision To Learn LinkedIn Vision To Learn Instagram Vision To Learn DONATE Connect with Dr. Jennifer Baird: Dr. Jennifer Baird LinkedIn Dr. Jennifer Baird 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

    Glasses and Good Nurses

  3. Aug 11

    What We Carry

    Healthcare treats the diagnosis, but what about everything else a family carries alongside it? In this episode, two innovators share their work on the parts of the care experience that clinical medicine often misses. Dr. Megan Visser, hospital chaplain, sociologist, and postdoctoral research fellow at The Saban Research Institute at CHLA, describes what spiritual care looks like across the spectrum of pediatric illness, from the acute crisis of a terminal diagnosis to the long, quiet grief of learning to live with a chronic condition like diabetes. She shares what surprises her about families' resilience, what parental guilt looks like across conditions and cultures, and why naming grief is often the first step to processing it. Aashish Mehta, CEO of TacnIQ, describes Backy™, a wearable device that uses tactile sensors to detect high-risk postures and movement patterns in real time, delivering vibrational feedback to the wearer. Currently deployed in hospital settings to support nurses, Backy™ is also being piloted in pregnancy-related back pain support and post-surgical recovery programs. Episode Resources: Diabetes Care & Education SingHealth: Singapore Health Services Connect with Dr. Megan Visser: Dr. Megan Visser Design with Adolescents and Young Adults for Self-Management and Health (DASH) Lab Children's Hospital Los Angeles: The Saban Research Institute Connect with Aashish Mehta: Aashish Mehta LinkedIn TacnIQ.ai Website TacnIQ.ai LinkedIn Backy™ - a wearable developed by TacnIQ 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

    What We Carry

  4. Aug 4

    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

  5. 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

  6. 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

  7. 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

  8. 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
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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
    47
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 A Dose of Optimism
  • Show Website
    A Dose of Optimism