Kate Jones, a registered nurse, remembers vividly the day she was making a house visit with an elderly patient in her home, and had an overwhelming sense that the extra time she had taken with the woman had probably been more important than the medical care she had provided.

When Molly Dougall first acquired her vaccine certification five years ago, she had no idea how significant that skill would prove to be. A pharmacist by training, Molly, 34, initially became certified to provide vaccinations with the pharmacy residency program that took her to rural Virginia in the heart of Appalachia.

As a boy, Mark Mayson was in constant motion. He was the kid who asked, “Why?”

“Why, why, why, why and why,” Mark recalled asking. As he matured and followed his interest in science, he discovered that the field’s systematic, methodical processes often led to answers. He liked that.