2019 International Conference On Disaster Medicine & Hurricane Resiliency

The devastation wrought by powerful hurricanes over the last two years attests to the need to prepare healthcare professionals for emerging crises associated with natural disasters. The International Conference on Disaster Medicine & Hurricane Resiliency brings together physicians, nurses, educators, and other professionals focused on patient care to explore disaster medicine in the context of hurricanes and other severe weather events. Through workshops, plenaries, and panel discussions, attendees will gain essential emergency planning and preparation skills to better understand the role of disaster medicine in effective healthcare management.

The International Conference on Disaster Medicine & Hurricane Resiliency is organized by American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine (AUC) in partnership with Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians (HMFP) of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. It is the first major initiative of their newly established Explore the Caribbean Island of St. Maarten Caribbean Center for Disaster Medicine which fosters collaboration among professionals responsible for healthcare delivery, disaster preparedness, emergency response, and medical education. 

Keynote Speakers

GREGORY R. CIOTTONE, MD, FACEP, FFSEM. Dr. Ciottone is the Director of the Division of Disaster Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the Founder and Director of the BIDMC Fellowship in Disaster Medicine, the first of its kind at a Harvard teaching hospital. He is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at Harvard Medical School and an Instructor of Healthcare Policy and Management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

GAVIN MACGREGOR-SKINNER, BVSC, MSC, MPH, MRCVS. Dr. MacGregor-Skinner is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences for Penn State World Campus' Homeland Security program, and Director of Global Disaster Response with the BIDMC Disaster Medicine Fellowship Program. He has extensive experience in public health leadership with the U.S. and international governments, United Nations agencies, the private sector and military, and has designed public health preparedness and disaster response programs in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America.

SATCHIT BALSARI, MD, MPH. Dr. Balsari is assistant professor in emergency medicine at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He is also a Fellow at Harvard FXB, where his research has contributed to advocacy on behalf of vulnerable populations affected by disasters and humanitarian crises. Dr. Balsari was a lead author on a study recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine on mortality in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria.

MARY RUSSELL, ED.D, MSN. Dr. Russell has been involved in emergency preparedness planning at the local, county, state, and international levels, including serving as an emergency nurse and emergency management consultant at Boca Raton Regional Hospital in Boca Raton, Florida and coordinating multiple disaster response events. She has chaired the Healthcare Emergency Response Coalition of Palm Beach County, Florida and authored multiple emergency management books.

SELWYN MAHON, MD. Dr. Mahon, an emergency physician born in Trinidad, is the Medical Director of the Caribbean Center for Disaster Medicine, former US Virgin Islands territorial EMS Medical Director, and a member of the faculty of the Fellowship in Disaster Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

TENER GOODWIN VEENEMA, PHD, MPH, MS, RN, FAAN. Dr. Veenema is Professor of Nursing and Public Health at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. As an internationally recognized expert in disaster nursing and public health emergency preparedness, she has served as senior scientist to the DHHS Office of Human Services Emergency Preparedness and Response (OHSEPR), Department of Homeland Security, Veterans Affairs Emergency Management Evaluation Center (VEMEC), and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

FELIX HOLIDAY, MD. Dr. Holiday, a surgeon, is Medical Director of the Sint Maarten Medical Center. Over the years, Dr. Holiday has held several leadership functions including President of the Medical Staff, President of the Medical Specialists Association, Medical Supervisor of the Emergency Room and most recently as Medical Coordinator of the St. Maarten Medical Center.

Conference Speakers

• Arlene Jeffry, Clinical Psychologist in St. Martin - St. Barth
• Brad Newbury, National Medical Education and Training Center and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Fellowship in Disaster Medicine
• Caleb Dresser, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
• Cylred Richardson, Sint Maarten Ministry of Public Health, Social Development, and Labor
• David Adelstein, American University of the Caribbean
• David Wallace, Center for Disaster Healthcare Preparedness at the University of South Alabama
• Dean Smith, GlobalMed
• Deanna Larson, Avera eCare
• Douglas Romney, Harvard Medical School and St. Luke's Hospital
• Earl Best, Sint Maarten Ministry of Public Health, Social Development, and Labor
• Erica Wheeler, Pan American Health Organization and World Health Organization
• Eugene Holiday, Governor, Sint Maarten
• Fenna Arnell, Sint Maarten Ministry of Public Health, Social Development, and Labor
• Gigi Sorenson, GlobalMed
• Gregory Plochocki, American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine
• Heidi Chumley, American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine
• Himilce Velez-Almodovar, J and M Global Solutions
• James Aiken, LSU Health Science Center
• Jennifer Couvillon, Chamberlain University College of Nursing
• Kristin Stevens, Americares
• Larent Gout, Toulouse Medical School
• Leona Marlin-Romeo, Prime Minister, Sint Maarten
• Louis Jeffry, Louis Constant Hospital
• Margje Troost, Sint Maarten Ministry of Public Health, Social Development, and Labor
• Mark Keim, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Fellowship in Disaster Medicine and Emory University Rollins School of Public Health
• Mark Quirk, American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine
• Ritu Sarin, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Fellowship in Disaster Medicine and Harvard Medical School
• Robert Obernier, Team Rubicon Global
• Teri Boese, American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine
• Ulric Trotz, Caribbean Community Climate Change Center
• Vincent Bounes, Toulouse Medical School
• Wesley Bissett, Texas A&M Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
• Yocasta Brugal, San Juan Bautista School of Medicine