Seven VA employees are joining the next cohort of VA Innovation Fellows. These new fellows will utilize VHA Innovation Ecosystem’s (VHA IE) community and resources to expand their innovations’ capabilities.

The Innovation Fellowship Program is an opportunity for emerging leaders with presence, passion and vision to gain the experience and skills necessary to make a positive contribution. They will lead and spread their existing innovation to additional sites.

The Senior Innovation Fellowship is for mature, large-scale innovation projects that are ready to scale. The Entrepreneur in Residence is for emerging projects that are ready to be tested for real-world impact.

Senior Innovation Fellows:

  • Jacquelyn Paykel and Dr. Candis Connell will work to bring THRIVE to a national scale in their roles as Senior Innovation Fellows. THRIVE (Transforming Health and Resiliency through Integration of Values-based Experiences) is a multi-faceted program. The goal is to bring a transformational health care experience to Veterans and staff.
    • Jacquelyn Paykel is a Navy Veteran and currently serves as the chief of the Whole Health Service at James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa, Florida.
    • Candis Connell is a clinical psychologist. At the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital and Clinics in Tampa, Florida, she is the Health Behavior coordinator.
  • Melissa Tran is a Marriage and Family therapist and a Military Sexual Trauma coordinator at Orlando VA Healthcare System. She leads the Perinatal Reproductive Education Planning and Resources (PREPARe)

Entrepreneur in Residence Fellows:

  • Priya Joshi is the chief Health Informatics officer and physician at the San Francisco VA Medical Center. She is also an assistant professor at the University of California, San Francisco.
  • Akshar Abbott is a physician who works with the Technology-based Eye Care Service to bring critical retina subspecialty services to veterans across the rural Midwest.
  • Taylor Hooker is a certified recreation therapist and health coach serving as a Health Systems specialist for the Office of Health Equity in VA. Her Recreation Therapy (RT) Innovation Project will support the formation of an integrative program.
  • Stacey Lewis is a Health System and Improvement specialist at the VA New England Center for Innovation Excellence. She has been a practicing certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt since October 2016.

Learn more about the Fellowship Program.

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3 Comments

  1. Michael Charzuk December 12, 2022 at 06:37

    Whole Health. Mind/Body. The Future.

  2. Pierce Bishop, PhD December 11, 2022 at 22:45

    I’m glad they are here to help and I’m sure they’ll do a good job. I hope they make it possible for me to talk to a Psychologist. In 1972, after being told I had a Dissociative Disorder that was part of PTSD from Vietnam but together with my Neurologist and the Chief of Psychiatry, they were not allowed to to give PTSD as a diagnosis as it wasn’t recognized. After a few visits with a Dr. Mark Koenig ( or Honig), I was given Valium 30-40 mgs. in divided doses of 10 mgs and when my symptoms became worse to come back to the VA or a good Psychiatrist at Stanford University where I was working on my Master’s degree in English/English Literature/Creative Writing. My symptoms got worse and I felt embarrassed not only about the PTSD but what it was doing to my life. I had been molested by my Company Commander in Basic Training along with another E-7 on 2 occasions but nobody wanted to hear it and because “why did I wait so long” to come forward with my answer of being too embarrassed and just wanted to move on with my education and life. Little did I know that my experience in the field with the 1st Infantry Division for which I volunteered and possibly the result of being of that experience in Basic Training would ruin my life and cause problems despite having a good education. Day Treatment was no better as the treating Doctor didn’t treat except for Group Therapy for an hour or less a few days a week. When I approached him about talk therapy so I could discuss for the first time the degradation caused by the Basic Training molesters. He said he would try to find a Doctor but they were short staffed. I hope whoever handles Molestation issues for Vets now do not get dismissed as I did.

  3. Paula Minger December 11, 2022 at 16:06

    You need one who specializes in geriatrics

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