Cornell Sloan team wins first place at national health care case competition

A team from Cornell University's Sloan Program in Health Administration earned first place at the Cornell Sloan Program in Health Administration National Case Competition hosted by the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

The competition brought together graduate students from across the country to develop strategic solutions addressing contemporary issues in healthcare delivery, taking on a complex real-world healthcare strategy challenge at one of the nation's leading cancer centers.

"Our team focused on developing recommendations that were financially sustainable, operationally feasible, and aligned with the rapidly evolving landscape of digital health and interstate care delivery," said winning team member Tom Li MHA '27. "The competition reinforced the importance of data-driven decision-making, cross-functional collaboration, and implementation planning in healthcare leadership."

Unlike many traditional case competitions, Cornell Sloan's competition emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration, experiential learning, and direct engagement with the host institution. The inaugural event was also entirely organized and managed by Sloan MHA students Justin Herzfeld MHA '26, Victor Wu MHA '26, Serene Cha MHA '27, and Austin Davis MHA '27, who assembled a diverse panel of judges representing expertise across healthcare strategy, finance, operations, and academia and worked with leaders and administrators at MD Anderson on the operational logistics of the competition.

"It was a true pleasure working with the MD Anderson team," said Dr. Michael Richards, Faculty Director of the Sloan MHA Program. "It is a world class institution at the leading edge of cancer care delivery. Importantly, MD Anderson challenged the students with a highly complex and timely case that really brought out the best out of every student team participating. This is exactly the way a case competition should be."

Preparation for the competition began during the first week of the academic year in August, with students engaging in months of case preparation, budgeting analysis, and strategic planning. The competition is distinctive in several ways: it does not require teams to pay a participation fee, welcomes students from a broad range of disciplines-including MHA, MBA, JD, MPH, MD, DO, and MPA programs-and features a two-part case format in which advancing teams receive an additional packet of information as the competition progresses.

The competition also offered participants an immersive on-site experience with the host organization. This year, competitors visited MD Anderson facilities, including a tour of its proton therapy accelerator and treatment center.

"What made the MD Anderson Case Competition especially meaningful was the opportunity to apply what we learned in the Cornell Sloan MHA program to a real-world strategic challenge facing one of the nation's leading cancer centers," said Li. "The experience pushed us to critically approach the case not only from an operational perspective, but also through the lens of current healthcare industry trends."

For teammate Harsha Boddu MHA '27, the experience highlighted the resilience and trust built throughout months of preparation and collaboration.

"Standing in front of the MD Anderson executives, I felt the weight of the moment," Harsha said. "I realized then that the best solutions don't spring from a single person's genius, but from the grit and friction of a team that refuses to settle for 'good enough.'"

"It was about the trust we built in those late hours when we were tired, challenged and pushing each other to be better," Harsha added. "In the end, the competition was a test of our resilience and our shared heart for the mission as much as it was about healthcare strategy."

MD Anderson Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Omar Sultan, a Sloan alum, said the collaboration demonstrated the value of connecting academic training with practical healthcare leadership challenges.

"It was exciting to bring the Annual Cornell Sloan Program in Health Administration National Case Competition to UT MD Anderson for the first time. Presenting participants with a real-world healthcare challenge and engaging with them was enjoyable for our team," Sultan said.

"What stood out most was the strength of their thinking, collaboration, and professionalism," he added. "The teams brought creativity, rigor, and purpose to complex problems, and their presentations were clear, confident, and compelling. Competitions like this help bridge academia and practice, and I'm excited about the potential for future collaborations between UT MD Anderson and the Sloan Program at Cornell University."

The competition reflects Cornell Sloan's emphasis on preparing future healthcare leaders through hands-on, interdisciplinary experiences that combine analytical rigor with real-world impact. Next year's competition will take place in early September in partnership with Vanderbilt University.