Dr. Joseph V. Sakran, MD, MPH, MPA, FACS: Gun Violence Survivor and Advocate, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Director of Emergency General Surgery, and Associate Chief of the Division of Acute Care Surgery at the Johns Hopkins Hospital

Dr. Sakran is an assistant professor of surgery, director of emergency general surgery, and associate chief of the Division of Acute Care Surgery at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. After a comprehensive general surgery training at Inova Fairfax Hospital, Joe completed his fellowship in traumatology, surgical critical care, and emergency general surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. His public health background has provided him with the skillset needed to take on the challenges of improving care among vulnerable populations both domestically and abroad.

As a former victim of gun violence, Joe spends a significant portion of his time as a clinician, researcher, and advocate with a primary goal of reducing firearm death and disability in America. To this end, he recently launched the movement called ThisIsOurLane, a platform to help unite healthcare workers and deliver one strong voice in ending gun violence.

Dr. Sakran completed a one-year educational sabbatical at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, where he developed a unique skill set within public policy, economics, and leadership development. During the last presidential campaign, he founded Doctors for Hillary, bringing to the forefront through a grassroots effort healthcare issues important to Americans all across this country. He was recognized by Secretary Clinton for his work and advocacy specifically on gun violence.

In 2017, Joe was selected by Becker’s Hospital Review as one of Healthcare’s Leaders under 40. Joe has been a powerful advocate on behalf of gun violence prevention, and has testified in front of Congress numerous times and is a sought after national and international speaker. He holds numerous national roles in surgical organizations, most recently serving as chair of the Resident and Associate Society for the American College of Surgeons (ACS), and chair of the Injury Control and Violence Prevention Committee for the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma (EAST).

Joe currently serves on the Young Fellows Association Governing Council and is the vice-chair. Beyond medicine, Joe recently served as a board director for the Brady Campaign and also selected to the Presidential Leadership Scholars program in 2019. Currently, he is on sabbatical after being selected by the National Academy of Medicine to serve as the Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow on Capitol Hill.

Dr. Bob Sarani, Professor of Surgery and Emergency Medicine and Director of the Center for Trauma and Critical Care at George Washington University (GWU) and Chair of Brady's D.C. Regional Leadership Council

Babak Sarani, MD, FACS, FCCM, is the director of trauma and acute care surgery and co-medical director of critical care at George Washington University Hospital, and professor of surgery and emergency medicine at GWU School of Medicine.

A fellow of the American College of Surgeons and Society of Critical Care Medicine, Dr. Sarani is also a member of the board of directors of the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma (EAST), the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, and the Society of Critical Care Surgeons. Previously, Dr. Sarani served as an assistant professor of surgery at the hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA, and Reading Hospital, in Reading, PA, from 2005-2011. During his time, he implemented and served as the medical director of the Surgical Rapid Response Team at the University of Pennsylvania and was the interim trauma medical director at Reading Hospital.

Dr. Nina Agrawal, Board-Certified Child Abuse Pediatrician, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Columbia Medical Center, and Founder of the Gun Safety Committee for the American Academy of Pediatrics in New York

Dr. Nina Agrawal is a child abuse pediatrician and assistant professor of pediatrics at Columbia University Medical Center. She has a long-standing dedication to caring and advocating for vulnerable children. She recently published an opinion editorial in the New York Times on the concern of a child abuse epidemic within the coronavirus pandemic. She was the national director of the Doctors for America Gun Violence Prevention Campaign, began in response to the Sandy Hook shooting, and organized a medical and public health advocacy campaign to federally fund gun violence prevention research. She has published research on the ASK campaign to reduce unintentional injuries in children.

She enjoys youth empowerment and has been working to amplify the urban youth voice on the problems and solutions to gun violence. She is publishing a chapter on the adverse effects of exposure to gun violence in urban youth, in the first gun violence textbook for pediatric providers. As the founder of the Gun Safety Committee for the American Academy of Pediatrics in New York, she was instrumental in building partnerships between community organizations and pediatricians towards a shared goal of advancing gun safety legislation in New York State. She also leads the American Medical Women's Association gun violence prevention initiative. She holds a medical degree from Rutgers University in New Jersey. She completed a residency in pediatrics at Cornell University and a fellowship in Academic Pediatrics at New York University. Dr. Agrawal lives in Manhattan and enjoys the outdoors.

Dr. Andrew Kiragu, MD, FAAP, Co-Principal Investigator at the Injury Free Coalition for Kids of Minneapolis

Dr. Kiragu is a pediatric intensivist at Children’s of Minnesota and Gillette Children’s
Hospital and is an associate of the Children’s Respiratory and Critical Care
Specialist’s group. He is also the medical director of the Pediatric Intensive Care
Unit at Hennepin Healthcare and is an associate professor of Pediatrics at the
University of Minnesota.

Dr. Kiragu is passionate about injury prevention and is the principal investigator for the Injury-Free Coalition for Kids Minneapolis at Hennepin Healthcare site. He also serves on the board of IFCK as well as on the boards of Safe Kids Minnesota and the Midwest Injury Prevention Alliance. Dr. Kiragu is an active advocate for children at the state level and is the immediate past president of the board of directors of the Minnesota Chapter of the American
Academy of Pediatrics.