Kathryn "Brooke" Baxter, 32, medical volunteer

Kathryn "Brooke" Baxter, 32, formerly of New Hope, a student at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine,  died Sunday in a bus accident in Tanzania.

Ms. Baxter was in Africa for the summer as a volunteer for the Lwala Community Alliance in Kenya, working with pregnant women infected with HIV and malaria.

She was commissioned as an Army lieutenant last summer, and had completed her first year of medical school on an Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship.

"Brooke was a gifted and compassionate young woman who changed lives through her advocacy and education efforts," University of New England president Danielle Ripich said. "In Kenya she was doing what she loved most - reaching out to others, making the world a better, healthier place."

Before enrolling in medical school, Ms. Baxter worked in several positions in the Philadelphia area, including one for Carelift International, a provider of medical equipment and supplies in Bala Cynwyd, and one at the University of Pennsylvania. From 2004 to 2005, she processed research data for the rheumatology division in Penn's department of medicine. From 2005 until last summer, she collected data and recruited patients for clinical trials at the Penn Center for AIDS Research.

Her passion was volunteering with  health agencies in Third World countries, her sister Jennifer Baxter Weil said. Ms. Baxter had been to Africa twice before, her sister said, and had also volunteered in Thailand.

Her desire was to helping expectant mothers, especially those in their early teens, who were facing medical and societal challenges.  She decided to become a physician, Weil said, to be better able to care for  pregnant women and their babies.

While working in Philadelphia, Ms. Baxter lived in Center City and traveled everywhere by bicycle. She was always picking up trash on roadsides and was "green" before it was popular, her sister said.

Ms. Baxter grew up in Florida and Pennsylvania and attended Bear Creek Camp in the Poconos, where she was later a counselor. She graduated from New Hope-Solebury High School and earned a bachelor's degree in cultural anthropology and African studies from the University of Florida. She earned a master's degree in public health from Tulane University and studied at the World Health Organization Center for International Health Economics at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand.

In addition to her sister, Ms. Baxter is survived by her parents, Harry and Jeanne; another sister, Claire Fitzgerald; and four nieces.

A life celebration will be held at 1 p.m. Sunday at Morris Arboretum, 100 E. Northwestern Ave., Philadelphia.

Memorial donations may be made to Lwala Communty Alliance at www.lwalacommunityalliance.org or Ride for World Health at www.rideforworldhealth.org.