Dr. Toner is a Senior Associate with the Center for Biosecurity of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC). He is an internist and emergency physician. His primary areas of interest are healthcare preparedness for catastrophic events, pandemic influenza response, and medical response to bioterrorism. He is a Managing Editor of the Clinicians’ Biosecurity Network, an online network that sends clinical biosecurity reports to thousands of clinicians across the country and around the world. He is an Associate Editor of the journal Biosecurity and Bioterrorism: Biodefense Strategy, Practice, and Science, the leading peer-reviewed journal in this field. Dr. Toner has authored numerous articles on hospital and pandemic preparedness, and he has organized several meetings of national leaders on the topic of hospital preparedness for pandemic influenza and mass casualty disasters. He has spoken at numerous national and international conferences on a range of biosecurity topics and appeared on a number of high profile national television and news features on pandemic flu and bioterrorism preparedness. Currently, he is the principal investigator of a multi-year project to evaluate the achievements of the HHS Hospital Preparedness Program and related programs and to propose a vision and strategy for healthcare preparedness for the future. He is also leading a project for HHS to improve healthcare situational awareness. Dr. Toner is a member of the Institute of Medicine’s Forum on Medical and Public Health Preparedness for Catastrophic Events. Dr. Toner has been involved in hospital disaster planning since the mid-1980s. Prior to joining the Center, Dr. Toner was the Medical Director of Disaster Preparedness at St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson, Maryland, where he practiced emergency medicine for 23 years. During this time, he also headed a large emergency medicine group practice, founded and directed one of the first Chest Pain Centers in Maryland, and co-founded and managed a large primary care group practice and an independent urgent care center. In 2003, he spearheaded the creation of a coalition of disaster preparedness personnel from the 5 Baltimore County hospitals, Health Department, and Office of Emergency Management. Dr. Toner received his BA and MD from the University of Virginia. He trained in Internal Medicine at the Medical College of Virginia. |
