Epidemiologist with several years' research experience in public health, health inequalities, quality and safety, and patient experience. She has published extensively on these subjects. She joined The King's Fund in April 2009, having spent more than seven years at CHI/Healthcare Commission as a fellow in information policy, working on information analysis, policy and research issues, and leading on analyses of patient experience data, safety indicators and inequalities for example.

She is a member of several national committees (the Department of Health's Scientific Reference Group on Health Inequalities, the health inequalities review led by Professor Michael Marmot, the Department of Health's expert group on international quality comparisons, and was also on the Department of Health's Expert Reference Group responsible for developing the Diabetes NSF). In recognition of her contribution to health research, Veena was awarded a Fellowship of the Faculty of Public Health in 2005, and a Fellowship of the Royal Society of Medicine in 2007.