Professor Abdullah H Baqui, a prominent researcher at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, has revolutionized newborn care through his groundbreaking work in Bangladesh. Since co-founding the Projahnmo Research Foundation in Sylhet in 2001, Baqui has demonstrated that life-saving interventions do not require expensive hospital infrastructure. By implementing community-based care and training local workers, his initiatives successfully reduced newborn deaths during the first month of life by over one-third. His research into simple antiseptic umbilical cord cleaning and improved care for premature infants has since been integrated into international health guidelines. Now an independent Bangladeshi foundation, Projahnmo continues to shape global health policies by prioritizing local leadership and community-led solutions. Baqui’s legacy, recently honored by the Johns Hopkins IH Legacy Series, proves that accessible, local healthcare models can transform maternal and neonatal outcomes worldwide.