Think of a mother living in a remote village in Alaska. It’s a cold morning, temperatures well below freezing, and she needs urgent medical care for her child—but there’s no road connecting her village to any hospital. Her only hope is a plane or a boat, neither of which might arrive in time. Across America, thousands of Native Americans face similar hurdles every day—lack of access to basic healthcare, clean water, and enough nutrition. This is not a challenge of the distant past; it’s happening today, in the wealthiest country in the world.

I first met Roselyn Tso at last year’s Rosenman Symposium, where her talk left a profound impression on me. Her insights into the healthcare barriers that tribal communities face struck a deep chord, highlighting an urgent issue that many of us rarely think about.

Stepping forward to tackle these issues head-on is Roselyn, a proud Navajo Nation citizen who has dedicated her life to improving healthcare for American Indians and Alaska Natives. As Director of the Indian Health Service (IHS) from 2022 to 2025, Roselyn managed healthcare delivery to approximately 2.8 million individuals, becoming the first Navajo citizen and second woman to ever hold this role. Her career spans more than four decades, each day driven by a deep personal commitment shaped by her own upbringing on the Navajo reservation.

Roselyn believes real solutions require more than just medicine—they demand community engagement, cultural sensitivity, and innovation. Under her leadership, Indian Health Service championed initiatives addressing food insecurity, transportation challenges, and infrastructure gaps, fundamentally reshaping what healthcare means in tribal communities.

In our conversation, Roselyn shares her powerful personal journey, the realities faced by Native communities, and her visionary approach to leadership and collaboration. She offers compelling insights into the systemic changes needed to make healthcare truly equitable and effective.

Do you have thoughts on this episode or ideas for future guests? We’d love to hear from you.

Email us at hello@rosenmaninstitute.org.

It’s late at night, and you’re sitting in a hospital room, holding the hand of a loved one who’s just been diagnosed with a serious illness. The doctor has explained the treatment options, but the weight of the diagnosis feels overwhelming. Questions swirl in your mind: How do we make the most of the time we have? How do we ensure they’re comfortable, supported, and able to live well, even in the face of illness?

This is where palliative care steps in—a field dedicated to improving the quality of life for patients and their families during some of life’s most challenging moments. And few people understand this better than Dr. Steven Pantilat, a pioneer in palliative care and a leading voice in redefining how we approach serious illness.

As the Chief of the Division of Palliative Medicine at UCSF, Steven has spent decades advocating for patient-centered care, focusing on symptoms, values, and emotional support. His work began during the AIDS crisis in San Francisco, where he saw firsthand the importance of honoring patients’ wishes and providing compassionate care, even when a cure wasn’t possible.

In this episode, Steven shares his journey from those early days to becoming a national leader in palliative care. We’ll explore the challenges he’s faced, the lessons he’s learned, and his vision for a future where palliative care is an integral part of healthcare for everyone facing serious illness.

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.

Managing medications shouldn’t be this hard. For millions of people, it’s a daily struggle—juggling prescriptions from multiple doctors, refilling at different pharmacies, and trying to keep track of what to take and when. Copays are confusing, refill schedules don’t align, and the stress of managing it all often falls on caregivers. This isn’t just an inconvenience—it’s a crisis. Missed doses, medication errors, and the sheer administrative burden can lead to worse health outcomes and unnecessary stress for families.

This is the problem Laura Jensen has spent her career tackling. Laura is the Director of Manufacturer & Provider Business Development at Amazon, where she worked to make pharmacy care more transparent, affordable, and accessible. Her journey began at PillPack, where she helped pioneer a model that brought the best of long-term care pharmacy into the homes of everyday patients. At Amazon Pharmacy, she built on that foundation to create a seamless, patient-centered experience that leverages technology to simplify medication management.

She continues to drive innovation in healthcare, building on her deep expertise and passion for patient advocacy.

In this episode, Laura shares her journey from PillPack to Amazon Pharmacy, the challenges of rebuilding pharmacy systems from the ground up, and her vision for a future where accessing medications is as easy as clicking “buy now.” She also opens up about how her upbringing as the daughter of a nurse shaped her perspective on healthcare and why patient advocacy is at the heart of everything she does.

This is a conversation about innovation, empathy, and the power of technology to transform lives. Whether you’re a healthcare professional, a caregiver, or someone who’s ever struggled to manage medications, Laura’s insights will inspire you.

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.

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.

When patients leave the hospital, they often face a dangerous gap in care—a system where outdated methods and heavy paperwork leave them at risk for complications, repeat visits, and needless stress. Every day, many worry about returning home without the clear, compassionate support they need, and the burden falls on both patients and overworked care teams.

In this episode, we highlight a leader who turned personal loss into a mission for change. Yoni Shtein, the CEO and co-founder of Laguna Health, brings a blend of technical skill and business insight—from his early days in software engineering and high-stakes finance to confronting very human challenges. After the sudden loss of his mother-in-law, a tragedy that sparked his drive to improve post-hospital care, Yoni set out to build a solution that bridges the critical gap between hospital discharge and complete recovery.

Laguna Health has earned special recognition as the ADAPT awardee from the UCSF Rosenman Institute for its innovative approach to care management. Their breakthrough AI-powered co-pilot has also been honored with the Time Best Inventions Award. In addition, their work has been validated through strong clinical research partnerships with renowned institutions like Mayo Clinic and UCSF, and their collaboration with Elevance Health underscores their growing impact on care transitions.

Tune in as we explore Yoni’s journey from personal loss to healthcare leadership, discuss the evolution of Laguna Health’s groundbreaking technology, and uncover the insights that are changing how we think about post-hospital recovery.

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.

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.

Note: This episode was recorded on December 17, 2024, and reflects the policy landscape and political context of that time.

When Krista Drobac arrived in Washington, D.C., fresh out of college, she had no car, no connections, and no clear path—just a determination to make a difference in politics. What began as a leap of faith quickly turned into a lifelong mission to transform healthcare policy. Today, as a founding partner of Sirona Strategies, Krista is a driving force behind some of the most innovative approaches to care delivery—from telehealth to home-based models.

Her career took root in the late 1990s, when she led a groundbreaking campaign for stem cell research, uniting patient groups to advocate for life-changing treatments. Since then, Krista has become a trusted voice in healthcare policy. She is a true leader focused on spotting growth opportunities and mitigating risks stemming from policy changes at both federal and state levels. By merging market dynamics with regulatory shifts in Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial care, she guides companies—from startups to Fortune 10 giants—in building models of care that capture new opportunities. With deep relationships across both industry and government, and a rich history in the United States Senate, the Obama Administration, the National Governors Association, and state government, she is uniquely qualified to spot trends that drive change. In addition, she founded three coalitions dedicated to ensuring patients have access to telehealth, more home-based care, and integrated social services.

In our conversation, Krista takes us behind the scenes of her journey—from her early days advocating for stem cell research to her current efforts to revolutionize care delivery. She opens up about the challenges of balancing innovation with affordability, the importance of addressing the root causes of chronic disease, and why now is the time for bold, transformative ideas in healthcare.

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.