›PreAct Summit 2026 · New York

Agenda & session summaries

The full summit program — times, rooms and speakers — with each session\u2019s summary added here once it ends.

Day 1 — Monday, November 16

  • 08:30 – 09:15General · Networking Main Lobby & Dining Hall

    Registration & Breakfast

    Welcome, check-in, and community gathering

  • 09:15 – 09:45Plenary Main Auditorium

    Opening Remarks: Twenty-Five Years from 9/11 to October 7

    Turning lessons from crisis into preparedness for the next one

    • Craig Katz, MDIcahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
    • Inbal Reuveni, MDPreAct, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center
    • Oren Tene, MDPreAct, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center
    • Ann Van Hine9/11 Widow
  • 09:45 – 10:45Plenary · Short Talks Main Auditorium

    From Policy to the Front Line

    Building preparedness before disaster strikes

    Chair: Nitzan Ben Dov — Maoz IL

    • Gilad Bodenheimer, MDHead of Mental Health Services, Israeli Ministry of Health
    • Stephen Cozza, MDCenter for the Study of Traumatic Stress, Uniformed Services University
    • Monika Eros-Sarnyai, MD, MANew York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
    • Reggie Ferreira, PhDDisaster Resilience Leadership Academy, Tulane University
  • 10:45 – 11:00Coffee Break
  • 11:00 – 12:15Breakout · Track 1

    When One Trauma Model Doesn't Fit Everyone

    Adapting care to the person, community and context

    Chair: Siddharth Ashvin Shah, MD, MPH — Greenleaf Integrative

    • Irena Spector, MDTel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center
    • Ibrahim AlatawnaResilience Center for Bedouin Society in the Negev
    • Racheli SternRehabilitation Department, Israeli Ministry of Defense
    • Gabriela Spector-MerselSapir College
  • 11:00 – 12:15Breakout · Track 2

    The Community Is the Intervention

    Building the capacity to respond before professional help arrives

    Chair: Mark Weingarten, MD — Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

    • Lisa OrloffWorld Cares Center
    • Anat Brunstein Klomek, PhDReichman University
    • Sharon Blum-Melamed, MSWTel Aviv-Yafo Social Services Administration
    • Tara E. Liberman, PsyDJewish Community Mental Health Initiative
    • Hila Oren, PhDThe Tel Aviv Foundation
    • Reut RozenblatYoav Educational Psychological Service
  • 11:00 – 12:15Breakout · Track 3

    What Does "Home" Mean After Mass Trauma?

    Captivity, displacement and rebuilding a sense of home

    Chair: Halley Kaye-Kauderer, MD — NYC Health + Hospitals

    • Mutsa Majero, PhD, LPC, NCCRMTAC
    • Yael Hochman, MDSapir College
    • David R. Serfaty, MDTel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center
    • April Naturale, PhDDisaster Mental Health Consultant
    • Keith SchemperSAMHSA Disaster Technical Assistance Center
    • Rina Goldstein, LMSW, MALong Island University Brooklyn
  • 11:00 – 12:15Breakout · Track 4

    Ready When It Happens

    What we do when the trauma is happening now

    Chair: Paul Rosenfield, MD — Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

    • Luz Chapa, MEdRMTAC
    • Esther Rodriguez, MSRMTAC
    • Moshe Farchi, MDTel-Hai University of Kiryat Shmona in the Galilee
    • Yasmin Arnon MansharovNorthern Israel Rehabilitation
    • Jack Herrmann, MSEdAmerican Red Cross
    • Daniel Levy, OTTel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center
    • Cassondra L. Feldman, PsyDNova Southeastern University
    • Maggie Castro, MAMiami-Dade Fire Rescue
  • 12:15 – 13:15Lunch
  • 13:15 – 14:00Plenary · Short Talks

    What Will Treat Mass Trauma Next?

    Science, technology and the human spirit come together

    Chair: Jan Schuetz-Mueller, MD — Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

    • Talma Hendler, MD, PhDTel Aviv University, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center
    • Eran Magen, PhDCircles of Support, Inc.
    • Iris ShteinMentaily
    • Dan Valsky SchatzHead of GenAI, INEXTDATA, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center
  • 14:00 – 14:45Plenary · Expert Panel

    AI: Our Healer or Our Killer?

    Is the technology meant to help us already a threat?

    Chair: Grant Riewe — PreAct Innovation Committee Chair

    • Alexander Charney, MDIcahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
    • Sam DorisonReflexAI
    • Rebecca JonesGlobal Mental Health Task Force
    • Davi MoraesStamford Project Management
    • Warren SadlerTherify
  • 14:45 – 15:00Coffee Break
  • 15:00 – 16:15Plenary

    The Morning Everything Changed

    The people who responded to 9/11 reunite 25 years later

    Chair: Led by Craig Katz, MD · Interviewed by Inbal Reuveni, MD

    • Grant Brenner, MD, DFAPAIcahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
    • Linda Chokroverty, MDAlbert Einstein College of Medicine / Montefiore Health System
    • Sander Koyfman, MD, MBAcreate/M Media Group
    • April Naturale, PhDDisaster Mental Health Consultant
    • Anthony Ng, MDNorthern Light Acadia Hospital
  • 16:15 – 17:00Special Guest Session

    Can We Still Laugh?

    Does humor help us face the pain or escape it?

    • Modi RosenfeldComedian and actor, in conversation with Oren Tene, MD
  • 17:00 – 18:00Happy Hour & Art

    Broadway, 2001: When the Show Must Go On

    How artists rose to the challenge and helped New York sing again. Mamma Mia! opened on Broadway in October 2001 — we go back to those weeks and sing with the stars again.

Day 2 — Tuesday, November 17

  • 08:00 – 09:00Registration & Breakfast
  • 09:00 – 10:00Plenary

    PreAct: What We Built. Where We're Going.

    Turning lessons from crisis into preparedness for the next one

    • Amy Carol DominguezPreAct, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
    • Craig Katz, MDPreAct, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
    • Inbal Reuveni, MDPreAct, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center
    • Ruti RudnerPreAct, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center
    • Oren Tene, MDPreAct, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center
  • 10:00 – 11:00Plenary

    Who Will Be There When Disaster Strikes?

    HOMIYAH: Turning lessons from crisis into preparedness for the next one

    Chair: W. Christian Burgess, LMSW — VOA Western Washington

    • Shlomo Mendlovic, MD, PhDShalvata Mental Health Center, HOMIYAH Co-Founder
    • Yuval Neria, PhDColumbia University, HOMIYAH Co-Founder
    • Hila Almagor AttiasManaging Director, HOMIYAH
    • Dana Katsoty, PhDColumbia University
    • Nitsa Nacasch-Axelrod, MDSheba Medical Center
    • Yaen Shreibman, MDShalvata Mental Health Center
    • Rony Kapel Lev-Ari, PhDColumbia University
    • Milton Wainberg, MDColumbia University & New York State Psychiatric Institute
  • 11:00 – 11:15Coffee Break
  • 11:15 – 12:30Breakout · Track 1

    When the System Is Tested

    Keeping teams and services functioning when everything changes

    Chair: Keith Schemper — SAMHSA Disaster Technical Assistance Center

    • Sivan Hever, MD, BSW, BATel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center
    • Ruthie Bashan, LCSWThe Jewish Board
    • Yehuda Ninyo, MATel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center
    • Jana Porat, PhDSheba Medical Center
  • 11:15 – 12:30Breakout · Track 2

    The People We Depend On

    Protecting those who respond to mass trauma

    Chair: April Naturale, PhD — Disaster Mental Health Consultant

    • Roni Berger, PhDAdelphi University School of Social Work
    • Einav Segev, PhDSchool of Social Work, Sapir College
    • Leah Shelef, PhD, MSWSchool of Social Work, Sapir College
    • Renée Rawcliffe, LMSWAdelphi University School of Social Work
    • Avital Weller, PhDBar-Ilan University
    • Anat Ben-Gal Dahan, PhDSderot Resilience Center
  • 11:15 – 12:30Breakout · Track 3

    Women, Children, Couples, and Young People Under Fire

    Understanding different needs and building responses that fit

    Chair: Eyal Fruchter, MD — OMGene.AI

    • Samira Alfayumi-Zeadna, PhDTel Aviv University
    • Orit Nuttman-Shwartz, PhD, MSWSchool of Social Work, Sapir College
    • Hava Gadassi, MDGoshen
    • Nadine Jackson, MATel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center
  • 11:15 – 12:30Breakout · Track 4

    Beyond What We Know

    New tools and new ways of understanding and treating trauma

    Chair: Burak Uzbay, MD, PhD — Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

    • Yulia Lerner, PhDTel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center
    • Avi Gamoran, PhDThe Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Israel Center for Addiction and Mental Health
    • Rony Kapel Lev-Ari, PhDColumbia University
    • Amiad Baltzan, MDTel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center
  • 12:30 – 13:30Lunch
  • 13:30 – 14:30Plenary I · Looking Forward

    When Is Recovery Really Recovery?

    What does it take to move from surviving to living again?

    Chair: Jack Herrmann, MSEd — American Red Cross

    • David Abramson, PhD, MPHSchool of Global Public Health, New York University
    • Kfir Feffer, MD'Hofim' Clinic, Niv-Nirel Center and Lev-Hasharon Mental Health Center
    • Kenneth FeinbergFormer Special Master, September 11th Victim Compensation Fund
    • Sallie Lynch, MAAftermath Solutions, LLC
    • Amy O'Neill Gregorian, LPCAftermath Solutions, LLC
  • 14:30 – 15:30Plenary II · Looking Forward

    They Were the Children of 9/11. Now They Meet the Children of October 7

    25 years later, what can one generation shaped by disaster tell another?

    Chair: Matthew Biel, MD, MSc — Georgetown University Medical Center

  • 15:30 – 16:00Plenary III

    Closing Remarks

    What we take with us and where PreAct goes next

    • Amy Carol Dominguez
    • Craig Katz, MD
    • Inbal Reuveni, MD
    • Ruti Rudner
    • Oren Tene, MD
  • 16:00 – 18:00Closing Experience

    Back to Ground Zero

    Returning to where it began — 25 years later. 16:00–17:00 independent transport to Ground Zero; 17:00–18:00 guided tour of the 9/11 Memorial (registration required).

Both days

  • Throughout the summitSpecial Feature

    The Open Studio: When Words Are Not Enough

    Art, expression and connection after mass trauma — a dedicated experiential space

    • Debra Kalmanowitz, PhDSapir College
    • Yael WillnerSapir College

Want the summaries in your inbox?

Didn't register in advance, or prefer a different address? Leave your email and we'll send you a short daily recap.