Chair of Department of Emergency Medicine, Tel Aviv Medical Center (145,000 adult visits/year, 220.000 total). He is Chair of the Tel Aviv University Division of Emergency Medicine and its founder. Involved in creating the specialty of Emergency Medicine in Israel in 1999 as President of the Israeli Association for Emergency Medicine. Heavily engaged in disaster preparedness and emergency medicine development in Israel. Pinchas (“Pinny”) Halpern, M.D., is Associate Clinical Professor in Anesthesia, Critical Care and Emergency Medicine, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel and Chair – Department of Emergency Medicine, Tel Aviv Medical Center. He is Visiting Professor at the Universities of Eastern Piedmont, Italy and the Free University of Brussels, Belgium and Staff Member of the European Master of Disaster Medicine. 1992- current: Chief diving medical officer for the Israeli Bureau of sports diving. Past President of the Israeli Association for Emergency Medicine, Chair of the Medical Advisory Committee of Magen David Adom National EMS and member of its Board of Directors.  Member of multiple national committees on emergency and disaster preparedness and leads the effort of critical care in disasters. Member of the Board of Directors or Medical Advisory Board of anumber of biotechnology companies and 20 years experience in medical device development and implementation. Prof. Halpern led training missions in Emergency and Disaster Medicine to Ethiopia, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Jordan, Poland, and USA among other places and participated in disaster relief efforts in the Turkey earthquake.