Recorded in November, 2024, Meg welcomes Dr. Monica Soni, Chief Medical Officer of Covered California, a free service that connects Californians with brand name health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. 

Dr. Monica Soni is the Chief Medical Officer of Covered California and a practicing primary care physician. She is a board member at Mercy Housing California and previously served on the Los Angeles County Hospital and Healthcare Delivery Commission. Dr. Soni holds a medical degree from Harvard Medical School and is deeply committed to improving population health, reducing disparities, and ensuring healthcare is accessible and affordable for all.

In this episode of Game-Changing Women of Healthcare, Monica speaks about driving meaningful healthcare reform from within one of the country’s largest health insurance marketplaces. With nearly 1.8 million Californians enrolled, Covered California is tackling some of the system’s toughest challenges: provider shortages, cost barriers, health plan accountability, and fragmented care. Dr. Soni opens up about launching statewide initiatives that link financial incentives to quality improvement, reducing deductibles for enrollees, and holding health plans to a higher standard.

A practicing primary care physician and former commissioner for the Los Angeles County Hospital and Healthcare Delivery Commission, Dr. Soni brings a unique, on-the-ground perspective to policy leadership. This is a must-listen for anyone passionate about the future of equitable, high-quality, and sustainable care.

Further Reading:

-Dr. Monica Soni’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmonicasoni/

-Covered California: www.coveredca.com

-Mercy Housing California: https://www.mercyhousing.org/california/

-The California Kids Investment and Development Savings Program (CalKIDS): https://calkids.org/about/

-California Child Savings Account Program: https://www.capta.org/child-savings-account

-UCLA: https://www.ucla.edu/

-Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science: https://www.cdrewu.edu/

Episode Credits: 

The Game-Changing Women of Healthcare is a production of The Krinsky Company. 

Hosted by Meg Escobosa. 

Produced by Meg Escobosa, Calvin Marty, Chelsea Ho, and Wendy Nielsen.

Edited, engineered, and mixed by Calvin Marty. 

All music composed and performed by Calvin Marty. 

©2025 The Krinsky Company

In honor of Rare Disease Day, Meg Escobosa is joined by Kinnari Patel, President, Head of Research & Development, and Chief Operating Officer of Rocket Pharmaceuticals.

Meg and Kinnari discuss the significant impact of genetic testing and drivers for finding cures for rare diseases, the demands and rewards that come with spearheading Rocket Pharmaceuticals, and how true passion has solidified her unwavering commitment to creating a positive impact for rare disease patients.

Kinnari Patel, PharmD is President, Head of Research & Development and Chief Operating Officer of Rocket Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage company seeking gene therapy cures for patients with rare diseases. Kinnari has more than 20 years of pharma experience, including stints at Bristol Meyers Squibb, Novartis, Roche, and Pfizer.

Kinnari graduated with a BS in Biology and a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. She completed an Executive MBA from NYU Stern School of Business and the C-Suite Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program.

Outside of Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Patel is a member of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine’s (ARM) Board of Directors and serves on the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA) Global Advisory Board.

Further Reading: 

• Kinnari Patel’s LinkedIn
• Rocket Pharmaceuticals
• Rocket Pharmaceuticals' LinkedIn
• National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD)
• Rare Disease Day
• Rady Children’s Institute for Genomic Medicine
• Invitae Unlock™ Immunology Program
• Alliance for Regenerative Medicine
• Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association

Episode Credits: 

The Game-Changing Women of Healthcare is a production of The Krinsky Company. 

Hosted by Meg Escobosa. 

Produced by Meg Escobosa, Calvin Marty, Chelsea Ho, Markala Comfort, and Wendy Nielsen.

Edited, engineered, and mixed by Calvin Marty. 

All music composed and performed by Calvin Marty. 

©2025 The Krinsky Company

Meg welcomes Dr. Kelly LeBlanc, Chief of Anesthesia and President of the Medical Staff at Houston Methodist Baytown Hospital. Dr. LeBlanc is also a physician partner with U.S. Anesthesia Partners (USAP), a physician-owned, clinician-led organization providing anesthesia services in more than 700 inpatient and outpatient facilities across the country, serving more than 2 million patients annually.

At USAP, Dr. LeBlanc is part of the Clinical Operations Committee, focusing on enabling great patient outcomes, developing exceptional clinical leaders, and creating a positive clinical culture, which includes a healthy work-life balance. 

Meg and Dr. LeBlanc discuss USAP’s role in addressing staffing shortages within health systems. Dr. LeBlanc highlights the importance of creating a positive clinical culture and improving the employee experience. She shares how USAP is implementing innovative strategies, such as a culture committee and surveys, to listen to and address the needs of their team members. Dr. LeBlanc reflects on her journey into medicine and anesthesia, emphasizing the importance of mentorship and caring for patients. The importance of representation and mentorship in attracting and retaining more women, especially minorities, in medicine is highlighted as well. Dr. LeBlanc’s experiences overcoming barriers speak to the the importance of creating a supportive and inclusive culture within the healthcare industry. 

Further Reading: 

• USAP
• Houston Methodist
• DEI and Anesthesiology Residents
• Inspirational Black Men and Women in Medicine: Dr Kelly LeBlanc of Houston Methodist Baytown Hospital On 5 Things You Need To Create A Successful Career In Medicine
• Health: Houston Methodist Baytown Hospital taking patient care to new levels

Episode Credits: 

The Game-Changing Women of Healthcare is a production of The Krinsky Company. 

Hosted by Meg Escobosa. 

Produced by Meg Escobosa, Calvin Marty, Chelsea Ho, Markala Comfort, and Wendy Nielsen.

Edited, engineered, and mixed by Calvin Marty. 

All music composed and performed by Calvin Marty. 

©2024 The Krinsky Company

Meg welcomes Dr. Amy Hauck Newman, the Scientific Director and the Chief of Molecular Targets and Medications Discovery Branch and Medicinal Chemistry Section of the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s Intramural Research Program also known as “NIDA” IRP. It is one of the 27 institutes and centers of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and it is dedicated to understanding the causes, consequences and treatment of substance use disorders. 

On today’s show, Dr. Amy Hauck Newman discusses her work in developing novel medications to treat substance use disorders. She explains the lengthy process of drug development and the importance of intellectual property and partnerships. Dr. Newman also highlights the role of AI and machine learning in healthcare and drug design.

Amy shares her journey into chemistry and the challenges and rewards of starting and leading her own laboratory. The use of drugs like Ozempic is touched on as well as various aspects of substance use disorder and the challenges associated with its treatment. Amy talks about the challenges in treating cocaine and methamphetamine use disorder and the emotional weight of working in this field. Finally, the conversation gets into the challenges in engaging the pharmaceutical industry when it comes to fighting substance use disorders.

Further Reading:

Molecular Targets and Medications Discovery Branch at NIDA 

Presynaptic and Postsynaptic Mesolimbic Dopamine D3 Receptors Play Distinct Roles in Cocaine Versus Opioid Reward in Mice

NIH Postbac Program

NIH Summer Internship Program (SIP)

Episode Credits: 

The Game-Changing Women of Healthcare is a production of The Krinsky Company. 

Hosted by Meg Escobosa. 

Produced by Meg Escobosa, Calvin Marty, Chelsea Ho, Medina Sabic, Markala Comfort, and Wendy Nielsen.

Edited, engineered, and mixed by Calvin Marty. 

All music composed and performed by Calvin Marty. 

©2024 The Krinsky Company

Meg welcomes Kathryn Bowsher, managing director of ActOne Healthcare, a consulting firm focused on commercializing healthcare innovations. Kathryn developed this expertise by launching more than 40 products and initiatives across a wide range of therapeutic areas, sites of care, and business models over the course of 25 years.

Kathryn is the co-founder, advisor to, and previous Chair of the Board of Pocket Naloxone, an over-the-counter opioid overdose treatment. 

In this episode, Meg and Kathryn discuss the challenges of getting Pocket Naloxone to market and the innovative delivery mechanism they developed. Kathryn emphasizes the importance of improving access, lowering cost, and reducing stigma associated with naloxone. She digs into the need to put patients at the center of healthcare by reducing complexity and cost for healthcare providers, and Meg asks Kathryn to share her extensive experience raising capital across her storied career.

Also discussed are many of Kathryn’s insights on healthcare challenges and opportunities such as issues with appointment scheduling and workflow, patient-centric approaches, information-sharing, telehealth, medication access, the persistence of old models of care, and educating stakeholders to further positive change. 

Further Reading:

• Consumer Meets Healthcare: Ted Talk
• Critical Questions for Rethinking Healthcare

Episode Credits: 

The Game-Changing Women of Healthcare is a production of The Krinsky Company. 

Hosted by Meg Escobosa. 

Produced by Meg Escobosa, Calvin Marty, Chelsea Ho, Medina Sabic, Markala Comfort, and Wendy Nielsen.

Edited, engineered, and mixed by Calvin Marty. 

All music composed and performed by Calvin Marty. 

©2024 The Krinsky Company

Meg welcomes Liz Kwo, MD, MBA, and Masters in Public Health (all from Harvard). Dr. Kwo is the Chief Commercial Officer at Everly Health, a personalized diagnostic-driven care-at-home solution. She is an experienced healthcare executive specializing in P&L management, B2B/B2C marketing and sales, strategic partnerships, and post-merger integration. Dr. Kwo is an expert at building and scaling digital health products, leveraging predictive and prescriptive analytics to improve outcomes.

In this episode, Liz shares her experience as a healthcare executive, investor, physician, and company builder, and how those can tie the market and community needs together to reach more patients. She discusses her personal inspiration, experience bringing companies to market, getting the right investors, and teaching resilience across generations.

Dr. Kwo’s new book, Digital MD: Revolutionizing the Future of Health Care is available for pre-order now! Link below…

Further Reading:

• Digital MD: Revolutionizing the Future of Health Care
• Current state and future potential of AI in occupational respiratory medicine
• The Promise of Liquid Biopsies for Cancer Diagnosis
• Evaluating the Clinical and Cost Effectiveness of Musculoskeletal Digital Health Solutions

Episode Credits: 

The Game-Changing Women of Healthcare is a production of The Krinsky Company. 

Hosted by Meg Escobosa. 

Produced by Meg Escobosa, Calvin Marty, Chelsea Ho, Medina Sabic, Markala Comfort, and Wendy Nielsen.

Edited, engineered, and mixed by Calvin Marty. 

All music composed and performed by Calvin Marty. 

©2024 The Krinsky Company

Meg is joined by Shruti Kothari, Director of Industry Initiatives at Blue Shield California, an independent member of the Blue Shield Association with 4.7 million members, 7,800 employees, and $22.9 billion in annual revenue that provides health care service plans to residents of California. Shruti is also the founder of Women of Community, an organization focused on increasing representation of women of color in healthcare leadership, as well as the co-founder of the start-up Crown Society. She serves as a Board Member/Advisor for several organizations, including the Family Caregiver Alliance, Reverence, and Asian Pacific Fund. 

In this episode, Shruti dives into her role as an equitable health care transformation advocate with experience working as a health educator, community mobilizer, quality improvement leader, early stage startup operator, and in venture capital. Meg and Shruti explore topics ranging from scaling transformative concepts, such as value-based payment models, to her career path and experiences as a woman of color in the healthcare sphere.

Further Reading:

• Blue Shield of California Annual Mission Report
• Rock Health’s 2023 Honoree - Shruti Kothari — Top 50 in Digital Health
• Named a US Best Managed Company for the fifth straight year and as a Gold Standard honoree for the second time (Sponsored by Deloitte Private and The Wall Street Journal)
• Recognized as one of the most #CommunityMinded companies in the U.S. by Points of Light, the world’s largest nonprofit dedicated to accelerating people-powered change. This is the third time we have been honored for our commitment to Stand for What’s Right.
• New Advisory Council Member Spotlight: Shruti Kothari
• Industry Initiatives Director Shruti Kothari Named to Business Insider "30 Under 40" Transforming Health Care
• Founder | Women of Community
• Why Health Data Sharing Needs To Be A Priority For LGBTQ+ Advocacy
• California’s homelessness crisis highlights need for optimized data sharing - Capitol Weekly
• Debunking Misconceptions: Health Plans Play A Crucial Role In Data Sharing
• What Health Plans Wish the Healthcare Innovation Ecosystem Knew
• Opinion: We Need to Balance Innovation with Equity in the Rush to Reimagine Primary Care
• The Exec: Blue Shield’s Kothari on Co-opetition and Intersectionality | HealthLeaders Media

Episode Credits: 

The Game-Changing Women of Healthcare is a production of The Krinsky Company. 

Hosted by Meg Escobosa. 

Produced by Meg Escobosa, Calvin Marty, Chelsea Ho, Medina Sabic, Markala Comfort, and Wendy Nielsen.

Edited, engineered, and mixed by Calvin Marty. 

All music composed and performed by Calvin Marty. 

©2024 The Krinsky Company

Meg is joined by Caitlin Donovan, Global Head of Uber Health, which focuses on delivering a “better patient experience with transportation, same-day prescription, and home delivery for groceries and over-the-counter items, enhancing benefit coordination.”

Caitlin explains Uber Health’s services: transportation, prescription delivery, and grocery and over-the-counter benefits. Meg and Caitlin dive into the challenges of executing Uber Health’s vision, the importance of aligning incentives, and the critical task of understanding the healthcare ecosystem at large. Caitlin shares insights on engaging health plans and providers, as well as the future plans and innovations of Uber Health. Lastly, Caitlin discusses the key factors in successfully bringing new solutions to the healthcare market and leading well-balanced teams.

Further Reading: 

2020 product update, Uber Technologies reported that Uber Health grew 300% in two years.

2021, Uber Health and Surgo Ventures partnered with two federally qualified Washington, D.C. health centers to launch the Rides for Moms program

2023: Uber’s Revenue Up 29% as U.S. Ride-Hailing Business Improves

“How Uber Health Is Addressing The Maternal Health Crisis”

Episode Credits: 

The Game-Changing Women of Healthcare is a production of The Krinsky Company. 

Hosted by Meg Escobosa. 

Produced by Meg Escobosa, Calvin Marty, Chelsea Ho, Medina Sabic, Markala Comfort, and Wendy Nielsen.

Edited, engineered, and mixed by Calvin Marty. 

All music composed and performed by Calvin Marty. 

©2024 The Krinsky Company

Meg welcomes Natalie Douglas, an award-winning healthcare specialist, an experienced entrepreneur, CEO, board director, and investor. She is the founder of Lucidity LLC and RealiTi Health, as well as chairman of the board for Entia Ltd and TidalSense. She is also an investor and advisor for many portfolio companies, such as Ceek Women’s Health, RwHealth, Vitaccess. 

In this episode, Natalie shares her experience in various leadership roles in life sciences, pharma services, medical devices, digital, SAS, and data analytics. She discusses various challenges and some of the innovative solutions she’s led as a private equity-backed CEO, building a global market, fem tech, and the next era of the healthcare landscape.

Natalie was honored with “Pharma Voice Top 100,” “Health Investor Power Top 50,” “Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award (Finalist),” “First Woman in Business Services Awards,” and “The Sunday Times Fast Track in the following categories over multiple years:  Top Track, Buyout Track, Profit Track.”

Further Reading:

• https://www.lucidityllc.com/#Founder
• PharmaVoice: Exploring New Frontiers
• Managing Data From Disparate and Siloed Sources

Episode Credits: 

The Game-Changing Women of Healthcare is a production of The Krinsky Company. 

Hosted by Meg Escobosa. 

Produced by Meg Escobosa, Calvin Marty, Chelsea Ho, Medina Sabic, Markala Comfort, and Wendy Nielsen.

Edited, engineered, and mixed by Calvin Marty. 

All music composed and performed by Calvin Marty. 

©2024 The Krinsky Company

Meg welcomes Nancy G. Brinker, the founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure and The Promise Fund of Florida. Nancy was also United States Ambassador to Hungary from 2001 to 2003 and Chief of Protocol of the United States from 2007 to the end of the George W. Bush administration. 

Nancy walks us through her personal experience with her sister Suzy's battle with breast cancer and how that great loss inspired her to dedicate her life to fighting the disease, creating Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Meg and Nancy discuss Nancy’s current work with the Promise Fund of Florida, a nonprofit dedicated to improving access to breast and cervical cancer screenings. She explains her restlessness and desire for faster progress, leading her to create a new model of care that focuses on early detection and treatment for underserved populations. Nancy highlights the importance of patient navigators and partnerships with federally qualified healthcare centers in providing comprehensive care.

Further Reading:

• https://nancybrinker.com/about/
• Promise Fund of Florida
• Susan G. Komen
• Promise Me: How A Sister’s Love Launched The Global Movement To End Breast Cancer
  EditSign
  EditSign
• Forty is the new 50 when it comes to breast cancer screening for women

Episode Credits: 

The Game-Changing Women of Healthcare is a production of The Krinsky Company. 

Hosted by Meg Escobosa. 

Produced by Meg Escobosa, Calvin Marty, Chelsea Ho, Medina Sabic, Markala Comfort, and Wendy Nielsen.

Edited, engineered, and mixed by Calvin Marty. 

All music composed and performed by Calvin Marty. 

©2024 The Krinsky Company