Dr. Vandana Gopikumar is co-founder of The Banyan, a Chennai-based organization in India that addresses mental health illness and homelessness. She has enabled thousands of individuals to reintegrate into society and established long-term hospice centers for ongoing treatment.

During her IVLP, Dr. Gopikumar first saw the cross-disciplinary model to address care, treatment, and rehabilitation, which she adopted in India. She has traveled back to the United States to engage contacts with ongoing research to improve her methodís impact on patients.

Gopikumar is working to reform the mental health care system and lobbies to influence policy on a national scale to improve overall mental health approaches in India.