1. Irwin Redlener is an American pediatrician and public health activist who specializes in health care for underserved children and disaster planning, response, and recovery.
17 Facts About Irwin Redlener
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Irwin Redlener is the author of The Future of Us: What the Dreams of Children Mean for 21st Century America and the author of Americans at Risk: Why We Are Not Prepared for Megadisasters and What We Can Do Now.
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Irwin Redlener is co-founder of the Ukraine Children's Action Project, which was founded in May 2022 in response to the displacement of children and families consequent to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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In 1971, while a pediatric resident at University of Colorado Medical Center, Irwin Redlener left his program to serve as the medical director of an AmeriCorps VISTA health center in Lee County, Arkansas, the sixth poorest county in the US During this time, he met his future wife, Karen, a VISTA volunteer who organized the region's first social services and child development program.
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Irwin Redlener served as the director of the pediatric intensive care unit at Jackson Memorial Hospital, Miami, Florida.
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Irwin Redlener worked on disaster relief efforts in Honduras and Guatemala, and created a new Child Action Center in Miami to study and treat child abuse.
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Irwin Redlener served as chairman of the national executive committee of Physicians for Social Responsibility, a public health organization promoting the prevention of nuclear war.
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In 1985, Irwin Redlener joined the board of USA for Africa as the organization's medical director and director of grants, where he met Paul Simon.
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Karen Irwin Redlener remains with the Fund, currently serving on CHF's Board of Directors.
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Irwin Redlener designed and oversaw the development of the Children's Hospital at Montefiore and served as its president from 2001 to 2003.
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Irwin Redlener was a founding member of the Task Force on Terrorism of the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2001.
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In 2003, Irwin Redlener was recruited to the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University to establish the National Center for Disaster Preparedness.
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Since 2003, Irwin Redlener has served as the founding director of NCDP, working to improve public policy and resources, as well as citizens' individual preparedness.
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In May 2009, Irwin Redlener was appointed to the National Commission on Children and Disasters.
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In 2010, in part due to his research on the health effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling appointed Irwin Redlener to serve as the Commission's Special Consultant on Public Health.
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Later, in 2017, Irwin Redlener worked with singer Marc Anthony to create Somos Una Voz to support the recovery of Puerto Rico following the devastation brought by Hurricane Maria.
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From 2022 -2022, Irwin Redlener was head of Columbia University's Pandemic Resource and Response Initiative.