Welcome to Pulse Summer 2026, where Louise and George revisit the Pulse Pod archives to bring you a curated set of interviews which will challenge and inspire.

Back in late 2024, we were joined in the studio by Dr Karen DeSalvo — Chief Health Officer at Google, former US National Coordinator for Health IT, public health leader, clinician, and one of the most thoughtful voices globally on how technology, policy and equity intersect in healthcare.

We covered a lot of ground in this conversation — from Karen’s journey as a physician and public health leader, to why patient access to their own health information still matters deeply; from AI’s role in drug discovery and clinical practice, to how generative AI could transform public health, prevention, and global health equity at scale.

 “Dr Google”, herself personifies what it means to be human and to put people first in everything she does.

Follow Karen on LinkedIn Link

Google Resources:

AI in Action: Accelerating Progress Towards the Sustainable Development Goals Link

Transforming Public Health Practice with GenAI. Health Affairs Link

Google Open Health Stack Link

Google for StartUps Growth Academy Link

The Keyword Blog: AI and Health collection Link

The Check Up with Google Health Link

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Welcome to Pulse Summer 2026, where Louise and George revisit the Pulse Pod archives to bring you a curated set of interviews which will challenge and inspire.

Louise & George talk with Liz Salmi, Communications & Patient Initiatives Director for OpenNotes at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in the US about her research and patient advocacy work, and what happens when patients get bad health news from reading it in online first

Paper: When Bad News Comes Through the Portal

Keynote: Getting Ready for Open Everything, MedInfo 2023

Follow @TheLizArmy on LinkedIn | BlueSky

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Welcome to Pulse: Year in Review, where Louise and George unpack the big stories from Pulse+IT’s 2025 Year in Review series.

Segment 3: AI and the rise of Virtual Care

Resources:

• Pulse+IT 2025 Year in Review: Australian digital health Link
• Pulse+IT 2025 Year in Review: New Zealand digital health Link
• Pulse+IT 2025 Year in Review: Allied health breaking new ground Link
• Pulse+IT 2025 Year in Review: Community and Aged Care Link

Visit Pulse+IT.news to subscribe to breaking digital news, weekly newsletters and a rich treasure trove of archival material. People in the know, get their news from Pulse+IT – Your leading voice in digital health news.

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Welcome to Pulse: Year in Review, where Louise and George unpack the big stories from Pulse+IT’s 2025 Year in Review series.

Segment 1: Aged Care’s Digital Reckoning

Segment 2: Allied Health’s Breakthrough Year

Resources:

• Pulse+IT 2025 Year in Review: Allied health breaking new ground Link
• Pulse+IT 2025 Year in Review: Community and Aged Care Link

Visit Pulse+IT.news to subscribe to breaking digital news, weekly newsletters and a rich treasure trove of archival material. People in the know, get their news from Pulse+IT – Your leading voice in digital health news.

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Welcome to Pulse: Year in Review, where Louise and George unpack the big stories from Pulse+IT’s 2025 Year in Review series.

Segment 1: AI goes mainstream

Segment 2: Modernisation, Standards, and the Path to Integration

Segment 3: Risk, Governance & its Relationship to Innovation

Resources:

• Pulse+IT 2025 Year in Review: Australian digital health Link
• Pulse+IT 2025 Year in Review: New Zealand digital health Link

Visit Pulse+IT.news to subscribe to breaking digital news, weekly newsletters and a rich treasure trove of archival material. People in the know, get their news from Pulse+IT – Your leading voice in digital health news.

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Welcome to Pulse: Hot Topics, where Louise and George unpack the big shifts shaping healthcare right now - from billion-dollar hype to human-level trust.

Are AI Scribes The Billion-Dollar Burnout Band-Aid?

Doctors adore them, investors can’t stop funding them - We dig into the paradox of technology that makes clinicians happy but might not be improving productivity—and why transparency is becoming urgent as these tools expand into agentic workflows.

Chatbots in Therapy: When AI Joins the Session

From therapists secretly using ChatGPT mid-session, to patients uploading their medical records for advice, and one founder shutting down his AI therapy app over safety fears — can AI-mediated care ever truly be therapeutic?

New Zealand’s Digital Déjà Vu

After a tough 2024, New Zealand’s back with a 10-year digital health plan, a new Centre for Modernisation, and a promise of one innovation a month. But with no funding announcement and an election looming, is this genuine commitment or just another round of hopeful planning? Tender watch is on.

MIT’s Top 10 Breakthrough Technologies

MIT Technology Review’s annual list has brain–computer interfaces voted readers’ #11 pick. Are BCIs about to finally enter their translation era? And would George drill a hole in his head for the tech?

The BMJ vs. TikTok Medicine

What happens when money, marketing, medicine, and misinformation collide? Raffael Heiss can tell you as he’s mapped it. Spoiler alert: it’s not god. Tina Purnat argues we can't regulate this away—we need to recognise the information environment as a determinant of health.

Resources:

• AI Scribes paper, NEJM AI Link
• NZ DH Strategy, Pulse+IT Story Link
• MIT Technology Review’s Breakthrough Tech List Link
• Public health challenges of ‘medical influencers’ BMJ Link

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Welcome to Pulse: Amplify, where we sit down with the leaders and changemakers shaping the future of health. 

What happens when AI becomes a valued third party in the clinical consultation between a clinician and the patient? George and Louise sit down with author and postdoctoral research fellow Dr David Fraile Navarro to discuss the British Medical Journal special on generative AI in the clinical encounter.

Resources:

• Connect with David on LinkedIn Link
• BMJ special on Generative AI and the Clinical Encounter Link

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Welcome to Pulse: Hot Topics, where Louise and George unpack the big shifts shaping healthcare right now. 

From Elon Musk’s claim that Tesla’s Optimus robot will soon have superhuman surgical skills, to scientists who are quietly making real breakthroughs with microscopic nanorobots, we separate spectacle from science. 

We look at the rise of at-home blood testing, unpack OpenAI’s accelerating push into healthcare, and celebrate Rahma Health’s double win at the Telstra Business Awards.

Along the way, Louise and George explore what’s hype, what’s helpful, and what’s actually happening behind the headlines — with their usual blend of sharp analysis, laughter, and a touch of existential dread about superhuman AI.

Resources:

• Microscopic medical robots Nature article
• At home blood tests, Dr Bertalan Mesko Medical Futurist article
• Rhama Health innovation win Pulse+IT article
• TGA Digital mental health survey Link

Visit Pulse+IT.news to subscribe to breaking digital news, weekly newsletters and a rich treasure trove of archival material. People in the know, get their news from Pulse+IT – Your leading voice in digital health news.

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Welcome to Pulse: Amplify, where we sit down with the leaders and changemakers shaping the future of health. 

What happens when a paediatric surgeon who grew up programming on green-screen computers decides to create an AI version of himself? In this fascinating episode, George and Louise sit down with Associate Professor Bhavesh Patel, a senior paediatric surgeon in Brisbane who isn't waiting for AI to transform healthcare—he's actively building it

Resources:

• Connect with Bhavesh on LinkedIn Link
• Bhavesh’s website Link
• See Bhavesh’s AI Avatar in action YouTube Link 

Visit Pulse+IT.news to subscribe to breaking digital news, weekly newsletters and a rich treasure trove of archival material. People in the know, get their news from Pulse+IT – Your leading voice in digital health news.

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Welcome to Pulse: Hot Topics, where Louise and George unpack the big shifts shaping healthcare right now. 

Australian MedTech Innovator Wins PM’s Prize
A Perth-based researcher-engineer-pathologist wins the Prime Minister’s Prize for New Innovators with two real-world solutions — one that makes finding veins as easy as using a stud finder, and another putting “heart health in a box.” Proof that Australian innovation is alive, practical, and personal. Congrats Dr Nikhilesh Bappoo!

ChatGPT Loses Its ‘Medical License’
OpenAI has clipped ChatGPT’s wings, banning personalised medical advice after legal and ethical backlash. We unpack what really changed, the mental health controversies driving the decision, and whether we’re throwing out the baby with the bathwater when it comes to AI in healthcare.

AI Drug Development: Promise, Progress, or Just Hype?
Billions have poured into AI-driven drug discovery — yet the much-touted pipeline of miracle medicines still hasn’t arrived. We look at why biology keeps humbling the algorithms, why hype outruns results, and what needs to change before AI truly delivers its pharmaceutical revolution.

Femtech: The Oura Ring’s Pregnancy Breakthrough
A study of over 10,000 pregnancies using data from the Oura Ring gives us the most detailed physiological map of pregnancy ever — all from wearable tech. We explore what this means for women’s health, early warning signs, and whether constant monitoring brings comfort or anxiety.

NHS AI Blueprint: Regulation Before Revolution

The UK’s NHS unveils a new AI regulation blueprint promising safer, faster adoption of AI across the health system. We discuss whether the world’s most-watched health service has found the right balance between innovation and accountability.

NHS Digital Safety Scandal

A jaw-dropping study finds that more than 70% of digital health tools in the NHS have no documented safety assurance. We break down what that means for patients, why safety can’t be optional, and what other countries — including Australia — should learn from this wake-up call.

Resources:

• Prime Minister’s Science Prize Winner Pulse+IT story link
• Dr Nikhilesh Bappoo LinkedIn
• AI Drug Development – turns out it’s hard! Sick Economics article
• FemTech: Oura Ring & Pregnancy study Research Paper
• NHS Digital Safety Crisis study: JMIR link
• Global Health Connector Online Summit 18-19 November. FREE to register Link

Visit Pulse+IT.news to subscribe to breaking digital news, weekly newsletters and a rich treasure trove of archival material. People in the know, get their news from Pulse+IT – Your leading voice in digital health news.

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Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric