Enawgaw Mehari, MD

Ethiopian-born Enawgaw Mehari, MD, came to the US in 1995 to fulfill his dreams of becoming a neurologist, enrolling in the University of Kentucky for a neurology residency. But he never forgot the medical turmoil in Ethiopia after moving to the US. In 1999, while wrapping up his residency, he founded People to People USA (P2P), a nonprofit organization that aims to improve health care and reduce AIDS in Africa, particularly in Ethiopia.

After graduating, he began practicing neurology with specialties in pain management and neuro-AIDS at the Morehead Clinic and St. Claire Regional Medical Center in Kentucky, where he is now chief of the neurology department.

He has since expanded the services of P2P, including opening the People's Free Clinic in Morehead, KY, in 2005 for the working poor who have no health insurance — an estimated 500,000 — and a clinic online for anyone anywhere in the world.

In 2006 Dr. Mehari won a distinguished services award from the Society of Ethiopians Established in the Diaspora, and in 2007 he was nominated as a CNN Hero, awarded by the cable network to everyday people around the globe who have made a major impact on the world.

In 2008, P2P and Dr. Mehari were officially honored and presented with a Certificate of Recognition by the Senate of the Commonwealth of Kentucky for his work in Morehead and Ethiopia.