She addresses healthcare concerns. Dr. Annie De Groot is CEO and founder of EpiVax, Inc.; co-chief editor and founder of Infectious Diseases in Corrections Report; scientific director and founder of GAIA Vaccine Foundation, and interim medical director and founding member of Clinica Esperanza/Hope Clinic. She designs new vaccines for diseases, offers healthcare in Providence and HIV care in Africa, and advocates for HIV care on a national/international level.

Dr. Annie De Groot is tireless in her efforts to improve access to healthcare

Whether she is managing the operations of EpiVax a biotechnology start-up organization, working on vaccine development, creating a worldwide health organization focused on the AIDS epidemic in Africa and building a clinic there, treating women infected with HIV and AIDS in US prisons, or raising millions of dollars in National Institutes of Health research dollars, Dr. Annie De Groot is tireless in her efforts.

De Groot has dedicated much of her medical career to improving access to quality healthcare for women living at the margins of society, particularly serving women who are incarcerated and those living in developing nations. After 16 years of providing care and treatment of HIV infected women in prison, De Groot sought new challenges; working to improve access to quality healthcare to some of the poorest populations in the world. So, with a group of concerned citizens in Providence, De Groot founded the Global Alliance to Immunize against AIDS (GAIA) Vaccine Foundation and created a clinic that would provide mother-to-child HIV transmission prevention. The clinic, called the Hope Center, provides care to a population of 35,000 villagers living in one of the poorest neighborhoods of Bamako, the capital city of Mali, one of the poorest countries in the world.

"I am engaged in the struggle against health inequality because I live, breathe and identify with those individuals who cannot always advocate for themselves, have little or no access to vital information and care, and who are impoverished and victims of abuse. I see myself in their struggles, and the individuals I have assisted along the way have given me the greatest gift - making me a better researcher, scientist, activist, CEO, mother and daughter."