Why we chose Daniel as a Fellow

Daniel Zoughbie was an Oxford PhD student who was happily sidetracked by the prospect of spreading health through social networks. After his diabetic grandmother died trying to get from Bethlehem to the hospital, Daniel saw firsthand the value of health education and information about life-savings behaviors. In 2005 he founded Microclinic International, a nonprofit that is revolutionizing how deadly diseases are prevented and managed worldwide.

Many modern epidemics -- AIDS, cardiovascular disease, and adult-onset diabetes, to name a few -- are grounded in behavior. They are often affected by social forces and the only lasting way to treat them is through behavior change. Daniel knew behavior can be communicable and he reckoned that with a little help, healthy behavior could be just as contagious as unhealthy behavior. Self-recruited groups of diabetics enter diabetes education and behavior change workshops together. These "micro-clinics" share what they learn and do with their families and communities to help spread the health behavior.