Latinos are three times as likely as non-Hispanic whites to suffer from potentially life-threatening diabetes. They are far more likely to be plagued by asthma and hypertension too. Aida Giachello, 59, founded the Midwest Latino Health Research, Training and Policy Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The center has since become a national model for engaging community leaders, rather than outside “experts,” in collecting data, assessing medical needs and developing plans for combatting health problems that disproportionately affect Latinos.

Among its programs are three diabetes-focused self-care centers in struggling Chicago neighborhoods, each serving roughly a thousand residents a month, many of them undocumented and uninsured.