The Covid-19 Response in New York City

Dr. Syra Madad, DHSc, MSc, MCP, CHEP, is an internationally renowned public health leader, biosecurity advisor, and epidemiologist in special pathogens. She serves as the Senior Director, System-wide Special Pathogens Program at New York City Health + Hospitals, and Co-Principal Investigator of NYC Health + Hospitals Institute of Diseases and Disaster Management. Dr. Madad is Core Faculty in the National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Center, and affiliate faculty at the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases Policy and Research at Boston University. In addition, she is a fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Healthcare Simulation Fellow at The Institute for Medical Simulation and Advanced Learning. She has over 100 publications including opinion pieces in major news outlets and is featured in 1 Emmy-nominated and 3 additional public health documentaries. Dr. Madad’s work focuses on all 5 phases of emergency management: prevention, preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery from infectious disease threats with an emphasis on healthcare and public health biopreparedness.

Dr. Laura Iavicoli, MD, MBA, FACEP, CHEP, is a Board-Certified Emergency Medicine Physician, Chief Medical Officer for New York City Health + Hospitals/ Elmhurst. As the Senior Assistant Vice President for Emergency Management for New York City Health and Hospital System, she helped lead the health system through the COVID-19 Pandemic response. Dr. Iavicoli interfaced at the local, regional, national, and international level to assist with crafting and implementing Covid-19 response protocols during the Covid-19 pandemic response. She has served on numerous national, regional, and local committees devoted to emergency management. She presents and trains both nationally and regionally on topics pertaining to disaster preparedness. She served as a Disaster relief team member for >10 years for NYC and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and is well published in the field. Dr. Iavicoli has worked clinically and as Emergency Management clinical leadership at Elmhurst Hospital, a teaching affiliate of Mount Sinai Medical Center for 20 years, and trains and teaches Emergency Medicine Residents and Medical Students in Emergency Medicine. She is a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians specializing in Emergency Management and is a Professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Dr. Eric Wei, MD, MBA serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Quality Officer for NYC Health + Hospitals, the largest municipal safety-net health system in the United States, serving over 1.3 million New Yorkers every year. He is a Professor of Emergency Medicine through the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai and Adjunct Professor for the NYU School of Global Public Health. He is the fellowship director for the NYC Health + Hospitals Clinical Leadership Fellowship. He is a practicing Emergency Medicine physician rotating through all 11 Emergency Departments in the system. Dr. Wei oversees the Office of Quality & Safety, which includes Emergency Management for the system. Dr. Wei previously served as Interim Chief Executive Officer of NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst in 2020 and NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem in 2021.