Chairman of the National Pediatric Disaster Coalition,
Co-Principal Investigator NYC Pediatric Disaster Coalition
Senior Advisor to the ASPR WRAP-EM Pediatric National Center of Excellence

He has served as the Medical Director of the Pediatric Disaster Mental Health Intervention, Americares Grant, Maimonides Infants and Children’s Hospital/American Academy of Pediatrics. This was established as a model training program for pediatric primary care providers in Pediatric Disaster Mental Health. It was successfully utilized in disaster zones including Super-Storm Sandy and Tornadoes in Oklahoma City.

Dr. Frogel is a recognized local, national and international expert in Pediatric Emergency and Disaster Preparedness. He frequently lectures on the topic worldwide.

Victor M. Fornari, M.D., M.S. is the Vice Chair, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and the Director of the Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, including the Zucker Hillside Hospital & the Cohen Children’s Medical Center. He is also Professor of Psychiatry & Pediatrics at the Donald & Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell.

In 2010, Dr Fornari participated in the development of CAP PC, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry for Primary Care, (Project TEACH) funded by the New York State Office of Mental Health to facilitate and collaborate with Primary Care Providers in the care of youth with mild to moderate mental health concerns. In 2017, CAP PC was the recipient of the American Psychiatric Association’s Psychiatric Services Achievement Bronze Award for Innovation.

Dr. Fornari is an Investigator of MOBILITY, a PCORI-funded Grant to study whether metformin added to healthy lifestyle may be more effective than healthy lifestyle alone for overweight and obese youth taking second generation antipsychotic medications. (2015-2023)

Dr. Fornari is an Investigator in a PCORI-funded Grant entitled Pre-START (Suicide Treatment Alternatives for Teens) to determine the most appropriate treatment for suicidal youth. (2019-2024)

Dr. Fornari is the Co-Editor of the book Evidence Based Treatments for Eating Disorders: Children, Adolescent & Adults (Nova Science Press: 2009 & 2014) and well as the Editor of a new book entitled: Psychiatric Nonadherence: A Solutions Based Approach (Springer, 2019)

Dr. Fornari was the President of American Association of Directors of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (2018-2020).

Dr. Tona McGuire is a Clinical Psychologist working primarily with children and families. She was formerly the Associate Head of the Consultation and Liaison Division at Seattle Children’s Hospital, and was Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington, School of Medicine. She sub-specializes in the area of Pediatric Psychology, and enjoys helping children and families who are dealing with the psychological impact of illness and chronic medical conditions. She has been involved in disaster preparation and response for 15 years both in her local community as well as internationally, and co-developed a Disaster Behavioral Health curriculum which has been used internationally as well as in the US. Currently she sits as the Behavioral Health representative on the Disaster Clinical Advisory Committee, which plans for the impact of disasters on the regional healthcare system, as well as the State Disaster Medical Advisory Committee. Dr. McGuire is one of the Leads for Washington State Department of Health’s Behavioral Health Strike Team.

Dr. Merritt Schreiber is Professor of Clinical Pediatrics in the Department of Pediatrics at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center Lundquist Institute and Senior Advisor, Terrorism and Disaster Program, National Center for Child Traumatic Stress at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He serves as the Lead for the Mental Health Workgroup for the Western Regional Alliance for Pediatric Emergency Management(WRAP-EM) and is the Chair of Disaster Response for the California Psychological Association.

Dr. Schreiber has developed varied tools and a pediatric disaster mental health CONOPS designed to provide population level response tactics to all-hazard events impacting children, youth and families. This includes the PsySTART Mental Health Incident Management System and a stepped “triage to care” of at-risk pediatric patients and emergency medical responders. He is also the developer of “Anticipate, Plan and Deter,” a disaster medical provider resilience system and “Listen.Protect.Connect” family to family Psychological First Aid. Dr. Schreiber received the Joint Meritorious Service Medal serving as USPHS Reserve Officer on detached service to NORAD-USNORTHERN Command, the American Psychological Association Presidential Citation for 9/11 response and CPA Distinguished Humanitarian Award. He previously served on the HHS Secretary’s Advisory Board on Emergency Public Information and Communications. He deployed for HHS to Miramar for the COVID1-19 response effort.