How an Army Veteran is making health care more diverse and equitable

Disclaimer: The sharing of any non-VA information does not constitute an endorsement of products and services on the part of VA.

Yusuf Henriques, an Army Veteran and former combat medic, is the founder and CEO of IndyGeneUS AI, a genomics company on a mission to improve health equity by increasing representation of women and racial minorities in clinical trials. 

He’s also an alum of DAV Patriot Boot Camp, an entrepreneurship program for the military and Veteran community. Founded in 2012, DAV Patriot Boot Camp connects transitioning service members, Veterans and military spouses with invaluable start-up education, world-class mentorship and a supportive community to help them succeed as founders.

Applications for the next DAV Patriot Boot Camp, to be held Feb. 5-7 near Cincinnati, Ohio, can be found at patriotbootcamp.org. There are limited number of seats, so those interested are encouraged to apply early. Accepted applicants will also get the chance to participate in a pitch competition with no-obligation funding up for grabs.

Read the below Q&A with Henriques to learn more about his venture and how DAV Patriot Boot Camp helped him navigate an unexpected opportunity. Answers have been lightly edited for clarity.

What problem does IndyGeneUS help solve? 

Over the last 50-60 years, pretty much every medication that’s in your cabinet has been approved using 95% European white males in clinical trials.

So, if you use COVID vaccines as an example. Typically, in an FDA trial, that would require about 20- to 30,000 patients for a phase three trial that represents the demographic the vaccine is serving. But if you have 90–95% European white males in that phase three trial, you have a vaccine that was predominantly developed only for one population. And so, you can see how detrimental that could be. And you started seeing a little bit of it with one particular vaccine where women were developing blood clots. That’s how big of a problem it is.

IndyGeneUS AI is looking to increase diversity in clinical trials, but also drive better drug development for all.

How did military service prepare you to succeed as an entrepreneur? 

As a combat medic, I had to lead from the front. Most of the times, I’m the only one with the medical training amongst a group of elite soldiers, so I’m heavily relied on when it comes to medical. And so, having the discernment, making quick judgments in life and death situations… has really formed the way I look at the world and look at solving problems, which has been very advantageous.

How did DAV Patriot Boot Camp help you as an entrepreneur?

The big topic for me, and I was not even thinking about it, was mergers and acquisitions. As a startup, you don’t really even think about that yet, but DAV Patriot Boot Camp brought in some key individuals that were like, ‘You need to be thinking about this now because it could happen quickly.’

Right after we had that seminar, I was approached about a merger and acquisition, and they actually helped me. I was able to follow up with the gentleman that spoke on that panel. And we ended up walking away from the opportunity because I had the counsel and advice of seasoned people in mergers and acquisitions.

Learn what other DAV Patriot Boot Camp alums are doing and how the program helped them succeed as entrepreneurs.