The “tripledemic” of winter 2022 resulted in more than 100,000 deaths in the US over four months. Vaccination against COVID-19, Influenza and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) can protect against severe illness and complications such as hospitalization and death. How do we increase uptake in these critical vaccines this winter? Join community leaders, clinicians, and public health partners in a conversation about increasing vaccine confidence and ensuring equitable access to high-quality vaccination services in venues across New York City.
Moderator
Wafaa El-Sadr, MD, MPH, MPA
University Professor of Epidemiology and Medicine, Director of ICAP at Columbia University and Columbia World Projects
Lead, New York City Pandemic Response Institute (PRI)
Bio
Dr. Wafaa El-Sadr is Lead for the NYC Pandemic Response Institute, the founder and director of ICAP, and an international expert in infectious diseases and public health with extensive experience in epidemiology and research on the prevention and management of HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, and emerging infections, among others. She is also the director of Columbia World Projects and director of the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health Global Health Initiative (GHI), which mobilizes the university community to address critical challenges in global health. In 2022, Dr. El-Sadr was appointed as Executive Vice President for Columbia Global, a Columbia initiative that promotes and facilitates impactful engagement of the University’s faculty, students, and alumni with the world, to enhance understanding, address global challenges, and advance knowledge and its exchange. Under her strategic leadership in this role, Columbia Global will more closely align some of the University’s key global initiatives, including the Global Centers, CWP, and the Institute for Ideas and Imagination based in Paris, France, and moving forward, will offer the opportunity to include other global initiatives under its umbrella to support and expand the University’s global activities and presence.
Speakers
Bindy Crouch, MD, MPH
Assistant Commissioner, Bureau of Immunization
Division of Disease Control
NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
Bio
Dr. Bindy Crouch currently serves as the Assistant Commissioner of the Bureau of Immunization at the NYC Health Department. Dr. Crouch joined the Health Department in 2007, working in primary healthcare emergency preparedness until 2011. After taking time away to practice clinical medicine, Dr. Crouch returned to the Health Department in 2018 to serve as the Director of the Adult Immunization Unit, later renamed the Immunization Infrastructure and Clinical Support Unit, within the Bureau of Immunization and assumed the Assistant Commissioner position in 2023. Dr. Crouch works to promote evidence-based strategies to increase immunization across the lifespan and, during her time with the Agency, has played an instrumental role in several public health emergency responses, including the H1N1, COVID-19, mpox and asylum seeker vaccination campaigns.
Syra Madad, DHSc, MSc, MCP, CHEP
Senior Director, System-wide Special Pathogens Program
Emergency Management
NYC Health + Hospitals
Bio
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.
Shaaranya Pillai
Deputy Director
India Home
Bio
Shaaranya has been with India Home, Queens-based nonprofit organization, since 2018. Through her grantwriting and development work she has helped the organization grow more than threefold. She has led major community outreach projects at IH, including the organization’s COVID-19 response, that have reached thousands of community members with education and resources. A strong advocate for South Asian senior rights, she has testified to key government officials to ensure funding for the community. Her planning, communications, and creative skills have helped to increase India Home’s visibility and rapport as NYC’s leading South Asian senior focused service. Prior to India Home, Shaaranya worked in academia at her alma mater of New York University and at nonprofit organizations in Sri Lanka and NYC, cultivating her interest in cultural competence and sensitivity. Shaaranya is also a professional singer, extensively trained in the Carnatic music style.
Website: India Home