A graduate of NYU School of Medicine and the New York Presbyterian Hospital Residency Program, Dr. Dina Lieser is the Executive Director of Docs For Tots national organization and the Director of Docs For Tots New York (DFT NY).  She also currently serves as the Director of the Community and Child Advocacy Rotation at New York Presbyterian Hospital Cornell Pediatric Residency Program.

Dina continues to practice medicine as an attending pediatrician for New York Hospital Queens and serves as the Project Director of Celebrating Diversity at New York Hospital Queens, ensuring that Residents are educated around cultural competency.  She is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Weil Cornell Medical Center and serves on numerous advisory boards and committees, including Chairman of the Youth Advocacy Committee for Queens Pediatric Society, member of the Policy Committee for New York Zero to Three, Winning Beginning Coalition, the Child Health Coalition for the Children’s Defense Fund, and the Graduate Medical Education Committee for New York Hospital Queens. 

Dr. Lieser has a longstanding commitment to child advocacy and a great passion for ensuring that the mission of Docs For Tots is realized and that the organization continues making great strides for our youngest children.  

Dr. Wil Blechman is a rheumatologist who developed a major interest in children’s issues as a result of his work with Kiwanis. A past president of Kiwanis International, Dr. Blechman was instrumental in developing the organization’s ongoing worldwide program, Young Children: Priority One, which focuses on children from before birth through age 5.

Since leaving his medical practice, Dr. Blechman has served as Florida’s State Health Officer and as a consultant to the Departments of Health and Children and Families. He is a consultant for the Bertha Abess Children’s Center in Miami, Charter President of the Florida Association for Infant Mental Health (2001-03 and again in 2006), Vice Chair of the Board of The Miami-Dade Children’s Trust and a Board Member of the Florida Children’s Forum.

Dr. Blechman has received numerous awards for his services and was specially recognized for the impact his efforts had on the increased immunization rate in Florida for children under two. He is listed in Marquis’ Who’s Who in America, 2006. In addition, Dr. Blechman is very interested in recent research on brain development in the preschool child and is part of a team of individuals in Florida who speaks to this issue. He is thrilled to join the Docs For Tots team and have an impact on children in their most critical years of life.

Julia Wacker is a public health social worker with a strong interest in early childhood development and access to care. A graduate of UNC’s dual master’s degree program in social work and public health, Ms. Wacker specializes in maternal and child health programs and services related to children with special healthcare needs.

Before becoming the program coordinator of Docs For Tots North Carolina, Ms. Wacker worked for the State of North Carolina in various roles. Previous positions included teaching in a public school classroom for children with autism, coordinating patient care in a children’s hospital, evaluating the state’s use of the mandated pre-kindergarten health screening, and serving as a researcher and clinical instructor at a university-affiliated child development center.