Dr. Ernest Chijioke Madu believes that people in the developing world have a right to world-class health care. At his three Heart Institute of the Caribbean clinics --in Kingston and Mandeville, Jamaica, and in the Cayman Islands -- he delivers more than $1 million a year in free or reduced-care treatment, a significant contribution in an area where 56% of hospital deaths are caused by cardiovascular disease.

Now Dr. Madu is hoping to transfer HIC's mission and achievements into other low-resource nations. His next target is Nigeria, his home country, where the Heart Institute of West Africa is scheduled to open in 2009. Though AIDS and malaria are huge factors for Africa, Dr. Madu emphasizes the importance of treating cardiovascular disease, which is the second leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa, after HIV/AIDS, and the leading cause of death for people over 30.

Dr. Madu's work on noninvasive evaluation of coronary artery disease in obese individuals has become a standard evaluating tool.