Health Venture Studio: From Vision to Reality
Transforming Veteran Care through Innovation and Collaboration
Health Venture Studio: From Vision to Reality
Tampa remains at the forefront of Veteran health care innovation, driven by visionary leadership, advanced technology, and a highly engaged community. Anchored by the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital, Tampa’ s innovation programs are producing measurable outcomes across VA.
At the heart of Tampa’ s innovation community |
is Indra Sandal, PhD, MBA, Chief Innovation |
Officer and Center Director of the |
National |
Center |
for |
Transformational |
Innovation |
( NC4TI). |
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From L to R, David Dunning, Marc MacDonald, Waco Hoover, Indra Sandal, Freddy Nguyen, and Dan Magoon
As the founder and visionary leader of Veterans Health Venture Studio( VHVS), Dr. Sandal spearheads a coordinated suite of initiatives that together form a powerful engine delivering scalable, Veteran-centered solutions.
The first year of the Veterans Health Venture Studio( VHVS) concluded in July 2025 with 34 Fellows graduating after developing AIpowered prototypes tackling critical Veteran health care challenges. Building on this momentum, the 2025 VHVS Hackathon took place in August, engaging over 400 participants from 47 states, Guam, and Puerto Rico, representing 17 VISNs and more than 100 VA and non-VA organizations. This highenergy event generated 282 problem statements and formed 51 interdisciplinary teams, laying a strong foundation for innovation aligned with VA priorities.
Following the Hackathon, the VHVS Make-athon launched in December 2025, where 17 selected teams began an immersive 10-week program focused on refining their concepts into functional prototypes through expert mentorship and technical training.