During visits to the impoverished villages in India where her parents had grown up, Charitha Gowda was saddened by the dearth of available health care. Later, working with homeless youth in Boston, she was dismayed to find U.S. citizens whose health care was not much better.

“I met teens who were long overdue for a physical exam, badly in need of dental care and suffering from skin infections,” Gowda says. “But when offered free care, most refused.” She remembers one young man blurting out, “Do you think any doctor would want to see me?”

Gowda wants to resolve an insidious Catch-22 that arises whenever people try to expand health care coverage. “Getting public health and human rights to poor communities is often stalled until the people can demonstrate improved economic capacity,” Gowda says. “Yet the potential for economic development hinges on their access to health care, education and employment.”