I learned from my father that tolerance, collaboration and respect for human rights are some of our best tools in fighting disease.

Zaire, 1984: Eleven-year-old Lydia Mann arrives in Kinshasa with her family. Her father is working on an epidemic that has exploded into the public's consciousness, the human immunodeficiency virus. Its victims are dying; the international atmosphere is rife with fear and prejudice. Lydia receives a powerful introduction to the challenges of global health.

As her family moved from Africa to Europe and back to the United States, she absorbed practical lessons in public health. Her father's untimely death in 1998 galvanized her desire to work in global health. In subsequent years, she worked on a peer education program to reduce HIV among Haitian teens, collaborated with young AIDS activists across Africa and developed techniques to improve developing countries' responses to health emergencies. "I hope to be a strong advocate for health needs and rights during humanitarian emergencies," she says. "Few public health issues are as complex as the myriad health issues affecting refugees and other forced migrants."