External Advisory Committee

Kitty Gelberg, PhD, MPH, serves as Chair of the EAC. Dr. Gelberg, is a PhD trained epidemiologist, a former Associate Director of the Office of Drug User Health and a previous Director of the Bureau of Occupational Health and Injury Prevention at the  NYS Department of Health (NYS DOH). She is skilled in a broad array of injury issues, including opioid poisoning, suicide prevention, injury prevention, occupational health and safety, health promotion, program development, health education and program evaluation. Her PhD in Epidemiology and MPH are from Yale University. 

Brendan G. Carr, MD, MS, is Professor and System Chair of Emergency Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the Mount Sinai Health System. Dr. Carr, who also has a secondary appointment in the Department of Population Health Science and Policy, is a renowned emergency physician and health policy researcher whose work has focused on building regional systems of care for emergency care and developing innovative delivery system solutions to create a more distributed and accessible acute care delivery system. He has authored more than 150 peer-reviewed publications, received awards for teaching and research, and has advised and supported global not-for-profit foundations, the World Health Organization, and the National Academy of Medicine.

Arthur Cooper, MD, MS, is Professor (Emeritus) of Surgery at the College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Cooper was trained in general surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and in pediatric surgery and surgical critical care at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and served as the Director of Pediatric Surgical Services and the Trauma Center for the Columbia University Affiliated Harlem Hospital Center for many years. He is a member of numerous professional and academic societies, has edited six books and written more than one hundred fifty scientific articles, textbook chapters, and policy statements, serves on a variety of national and regional expert and advisory committees, and is a recognized authority in the fields of critical care, trauma, and emergency medical services for children— particularly pre-hospital emergency care and trauma systems development— as well as physical child abuse.

Rebecca Cunningham, MD, directs the University of Michigan CDC-funded Injury Prevention Research Center where she is a Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine and in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education. As Director of the Injury Center, she guides the short and long-term missions of the Center where she has led several large multidisciplinary research teams. She has expertise in longitudinal research evaluating interventions and in conducting research on substance use, violence, underage drinking, firearm safety, mental health and in emergency department-based research.

Angelo Ortiz, LCSW-R, is the Director of Youth Services, Inwood Community Services, and Coordinator of the UNIDOS Coalition. He has worked as a certified clinical social worker in the Northern Manhattan community for many years and has led the development of community-based intervention programs to prevent substance abuse, injury, and violence among adolescents.

Lloyd Sederer, MD, is Distinguished Psychiatric Advisor to the NYS Office of Mental Health (OMH) and an Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Epidemiology at Mailman School of Public Health. He has written seven books for professional audiences, five books for lay and student audiences and 500 articles.  He is a monthly contributor to Sirius-XM radio and a contributing writer on mental health and addiction for U.S. News and World Report. One of his recent books addresses controversies in mental health and addiction. He started the Columbia Psychiatry Media Center which includes a partnership with Medscape.

Catherine Stayton, DrPH, is Director of the Injury Epidemiology Unit in the Bureau of Epidemiology Services at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) and an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health. She co-chairs the NYC DOHMH Domestic Violence Steering Committee which develops and implements domestic violence prevention initiatives across NYC. She has expertise in injury and violence surveillance systems, intimate partner violence, female homicide, substance abuse, and adolescent risk behaviors.

Doug Wiebe, PhD, directs the Penn Injury Science Center, a CDC-funded Injury Control Research Center at the University of Pennsylvania. He is Professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the Perelman School of Medicine. He directs the SpaceTimeEPI group and has research interests and expertise in environmental risk factors for injury and the methodological challenges of activity pattern and exposure measurement. Dr. Wiebe studies firearms and homicide, suicide, unintentional shooting of household members, mild traumatic brain injury, clinical management of trauma and other injury and violence prevention issues.

Robert Winchell, MD, FACS, is Chief of Trauma, Burns, Critical and Acute Care and Director of the Trauma Center at New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center. During his career he has worked to develop and advance trauma care and trauma systems across multiple U.S. states and internationally. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgery and is board certified in General Surgery with additional qualifications in Surgical Critical Care. In addition to his domestic work to advance trauma systems, he served as a founding representative from the American College of Surgeons to the World Health Organization’s Global Alliance for care of the injured.