The Health Technology Podcast

Steve Pantilat, Chief of the Division of Palliative Medicine at UCSF and a pioneer in patient-centered care, shares his profound insights on improving the quality of life for those facing serious illnesses. He reflects on his journey shaped by the AIDS crisis and challenges misconceptions surrounding palliative care. The dialogue emphasizes embracing life amidst grief and the importance of addressing emotional well-being. Exciting innovations, particularly telemedicine, are also discussed, highlighting a future where compassionate care is accessible to everyone.

Laura Jensen, Director of Manufacturer & Provider Business Development at Amazon, shares her revolutionary journey in pharmacy innovation. She discusses the common struggles patients face with medication management and advocates for a more transparent and accessible system. From her time at PillPack to Amazon, she emphasizes the importance of technology in simplifying care. Jensen also reflects on her upbringing in a nursing family and the profound influence that experience had on her commitment to patient advocacy.

Imagine this: a patient arrives in the ER, their life hanging in the balance. The clock is ticking, and the pressure is overwhelming. But here’s the thing—it’s not just about having the right knowledge or tools. It’s about how a team, often strangers to each other, can come together in seconds to deliver the right care at the right moment. This “last mile” problem—getting critical care to the patient when and where it’s needed—is one of the most urgent challenges in healthcare. This is where Dr. Dan Dworkis comes in. Dan is an emergency physician, researcher, and the Chief Medical Officer of the Mission Critical Teams Institute. With a background in molecular medicine and emergency care, Dan has spent his career studying how individuals and teams perform under pressure. His work isn’t just about saving lives in the ER—it’s about understanding the science of stress, resilience, and teamwork, and applying those lessons to high-stakes environments everywhere. Dan’s journey started with a love for science and technology, but it was in the emergency department where he found his calling. There, he saw how systemic issues—like access to care, poverty, and social inequities—intersected with medicine. But what really grabbed his attention was the art of performance under pressure: how people and teams rise to the occasion in the most demanding moments. Through his work at the Mission Critical Teams Institute, Dan has collaborated with organizations like NASA, fire departments, and space programs to rethink how teams prepare for and respond to crisis. His insights are helping reshape how we think about stress, teamwork, and delivering results when it matters most. Do you have thoughts on this episode or suggestions for future guests? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at hello@rosenmaninstitute.org.

Every day, in many communities without enough resources, millions suffer from blindness that could be prevented. A lack of proper eye care, old training methods, and few modern tools leave many in the dark. In places where a simple cataract surgery could bring back both sight and hope, big challenges and a shortage of new ideas block the way. Inspired by these problems, an amazing journey spans continents and changes lives. Born in a small town in Virginia, Dr. Hunter Cherwek—Vice President, Clinical Services and Technologies at Orbis International—took a path from the halls of Duke and Emory Universities to remote parts of the world. What began as a simple interest in medicine grew into a strong promise to end preventable blindness. A life-changing experience in Kenya set him on a course that reshaped his mission in eye care and pushed him to find better solutions for communities in need. Dr. Cherwek is a well-known eye doctor and he is also a visionary who mixes the latest technology with a deep passion for teaching. His work at Orbis International, especially on the famous Flying Eye Hospital, has helped perform surgeries that restore sight in over 20 countries. He also created a prize-winning online learning and remote care program that supports health workers around the world. His six years as Medical Director of Strategic Markets in Beijing show his steady drive to change old ways and bring better eye care all over the world. In this episode, Dr. Cherwek explains how a lucky scholarship and early global experiences shaped his promise to end preventable blindness, the challenges of providing modern eye care in low-resource areas, and how using tools like remote care and training simulations can change how we teach and treat patients. Here is our conversation. Do you have thoughts on this episode or suggestions for future guests? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at hello@rosenmaninstitute.org.

Yoni Shtein, CEO of Laguna Health, transformed personal tragedy into a mission to revolutionize post-hospital care. He shares the challenges of bridging care gaps that patients face after discharge. With Laguna's AI-driven support for care managers, Yoni discusses the significance of human-centric technology. He emphasizes the importance of strong company culture and intentional decision-making in startups. Their innovative approach earned accolades, including TIME's Best Inventions Award, highlighting the potential for meaningful change in healthcare.

Meeting Jason McKeown was like watching someone quietly change the future of healthcare. I first met him through the Rosenman Innovators program—where his company, Neurovalens, was honored in 2022—and it quickly became clear that his vision goes beyond ordinary medicine. A UK-trained doctor with a PhD in non-invasive neurostimulation, Jason is not only a doctor or a researcher; he’s a forward-thinking leader who has spent more than a decade combining brain science with technology to help people manage anxiety, insomnia, and metabolic disorders. As the founder and CEO of Neurovalens, Jason has developed devices like Modius Sleep and Modius Stress. Both devices have received FDA approval and work by using gentle electrical signals to adjust the brainstem—the part of the brain that controls stress and sleep. His journey wasn’t easy, though. In our conversation, Jason explained how he balanced working as a doctor in the UK with building a startup until 2017, when he made the big decision to focus entirely on Neurovalens. What began as a project inspired by NASA research at UC San Diego has now grown into a mission to make advanced brain therapies available worldwide. What impressed me most was Jason’s determination to challenge the norm. Whether he was sharing how veterans can now access Modius devices through the VA or describing how his team’s use of remote clinical trials sped up FDA approvals, his work is all about changing the way patient care is delivered. In this episode, Jason explains the science behind non-invasive neurostimulation, discusses the challenges of growing a medtech startup, and tells how a NASA study on astronauts’ metabolism led to his obesity-focused device. He also shares why treating investors as key customers early on was a game changer for him. Listening to him, you’ll see there is still so much to learn about the brain—and that we might be closer than ever to unlocking its secrets. Do you have thoughts on this episode or suggestions for future guests? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at hello@rosenmaninstitute.org.

In this engaging discussion, Krista Drobac, a founding partner of Sirona Strategies and a leader in innovative healthcare models, shares her journey from a determined newcomer in D.C. to a powerhouse in healthcare policy. She dives into the evolution of telehealth and home-based care, advocating for chronic disease management. The conversation highlights the need for bipartisan approaches to healthcare reform and explores the intricacies of costs and legislation. Krista emphasizes the importance of addressing root causes of health issues through community and policy changes.

When I first spoke with Dr. BJ Miller, I felt the weight of his experiences transform into something unexpectedly hopeful. BJ is a palliative care physician and he’s also a storyteller of life’s hardest truths, a triple amputee who turned personal tragedy into a mission to redefine how we approach suffering, dignity, and mortality. Years ago, I watched BJ Miller’s TED Talk on What Really Matters at the End of Life, I was struck by his bold challenge to healthcare’s design—how it was built around diseases rather than people. He spoke with a clarity that cut through the clinical detachment of modern medicine, emphasizing that suffering is not just something to be erased but an intrinsic part of being human. He invited us to see death and illness not as failures but as natural, even meaningful, parts of life. When my husband, Dan Rosenman, died suddenly of a heart attack while mountain biking 11 years ago, BJ’s words became a lifeline. His reflection on the difference between necessary and unnecessary suffering helped me shift my perspective: rather than trying to “fix” my grief, I learned to live alongside it and open my eyes to see the beauty of grief. That’s why I invited him here—to share how we might reshape our approach to life’s most difficult realities with creativity, presence, and compassion. Known globally for that groundbreaking talk, he co-founded Mettle Health, a telehealth service providing support for patients and caregivers. His journey began with a life-altering accident at Princeton, where he lost three limbs—an event that reshaped his understanding of vulnerability and resilience. Through his work at UCSF, the Zen Hospice Project, and now Mettle Health, he has challenged medicine to prioritize humanity over cure rates, integrating art, spirituality, and raw honesty into care. Do you have thoughts on this episode or suggestions for future guests? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at hello@rosenmaninstitute.org.

The obesity epidemic demands solutions that go beyond temporary fixes or single-medication approaches. While drugs like GLP-1 agonists dominate headlines, lasting change requires reimagining care delivery, addressing systemic inefficiencies, and tackling root causes. Enter Sloan Saunders, a former investment banker turned healthcare innovator, whose company FlyteHealth is pioneering a holistic model for obesity treatment—one that merges financial strategy, advanced technology, and patient-centered care. After a 15-year career in banking and private equity, Sloan co-founded FlyteHealth to confront the gaps he saw in obesity care: outdated clinical practices, fragmented insurance coverage, and an over-reliance on short-term interventions. Selected for the UCSF Rosenman Innovators Program in 2022, FlyteHealth now partners with employers, payers, and health systems—including a groundbreaking initiative with the state of Connecticut—to deliver scalable, cost-effective care that prioritizes long-term health over quick fixes. In this episode, Sloan shares his unconventional leap from finance to healthcare entrepreneurship, the lessons that shaped FlyteHealth’s mission, and how technology tackles clinical inefficiencies to personalize care and address root causes. He also offers insights into the future of obesity treatment, from employer partnerships to redefining health investments. Tune in for a candid conversation about disrupting norms, overcoming founder challenges, and building solutions that prove sustainable obesity care is possible—when we look beyond the prescription pad. Do you have thoughts on this episode or suggestions for future guests? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at hello@rosenmaninstitute.org.

Joanna Strober, Founder & CEO of MIDI Health, is a trailblazer in women’s health innovation. With a career marked by resilience and vision, Joanna has consistently driven meaningful change across industries. From her early days in venture capital to founding Kurbo Health—a digital therapeutic for childhood obesity that served tens of thousands of adolescents worldwide before being acquired by Weight Watchers in 2018—Joanna has always sought to make a lasting impact. Today, she leads MIDI Health, a groundbreaking platform dedicated to transforming women’s midlife health. Selected as a Rosenman ADAPT finalist, MIDI Health joined the prestigious Rosenman Institute cohort, solidifying its role as the only holistic women’s health platform for perimenopause and menopause care covered by insurance. Inspired by her own experiences with hormone transition and its profound effects on sleep, energy, weight, and mood, Joanna created MIDI Health to make expert midlife care accessible, equitable, and comprehensive. In this episode, Joanna shares her unconventional career journey, the lessons she’s learned from each pivot, and how her personal experiences shaped the mission of MIDI Health. She delves into the challenges of scaling a virtual healthcare platform for menopause, the importance of insurance coverage in digital health, and her vision for a future where women receive the care they deserve. Listeners will gain valuable insights into resilient leadership, healthcare innovation, and the power of turning personal challenges into transformative solutions. Do you have thoughts on this episode or suggestions for future guests? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at hello@rosenmaninstitute.org.