Meet the Team

Hadi M. Jabbar, MD, FAAP

Director

Dr. Hadi M. Jabbar is an honors graduate of The Dow Medical College, University of Karachi, Pakistan. He completed his Residency and Fellowship in Pediatric Pulmonology at The State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York.
 
He was appointed Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at SUNY in 1985. He has since been a Consulting Pulmonologist at Kings County Hospital, Coney Island Hospital, Mercy Hospital, Booth Memorial Hospital and Flushing Hospital.
 
He is, since 1992, the Director of the Pediatric Asthma Center at New York Hospital Queens and Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Weill Medical College of Cornell University.
 
In 1993, Dr. Jabbar initiated the Comprehensive Protocol driven program of the Pediatric Asthma Center at the New York Hospital of Queens, which now stands as the largest program for treating childhood asthma in the Tri-state area. Its uniqueness stems from its elaborate education program, home environmental analysis, behavior modification and school programs among others, but most importantly serving the largest ethnically diverse borough in the Unites States. Based in the NYHQ campus in Flushing, it has satellite centers in both Western and Eastern Queens.
 
His Involvement with the American Lung Association began in 1997 as a Board Member of the ALA of Queens, and he presently sits on the Board of the American Lung Association of the North East
 
In 1997, Dr. Jabbar introduced the “Mobile Pediatric Asthma Unit," the first such unit in the continental United States dedicated solely for the treatment and education of asthmatic children and their families. This was done via a $250,000 grant from the Schering Foundation. Before the “Asthma Epidemic” was recognized in the City of New York in 1998, Dr. Jabbar had already reached out to hundreds of schools in Queens. The Mobile Unit is presently involved in massive outreach programs in public schools, churches, and community health organizations.
 
He also sits on the Steering committee of the New York City Asthma Partnership a subsidy of the New York City Department of Health.
 
In 2002, at the request of the Borough President of Queens Helen Marshall, Dr. Jabbar set up a Comprehensive Asthma Program in the largest homeless shelter in the United States, which housed some 400 Families. The Program’s outcome was a 78% reduction in all EMS calls for Asthma and a 60% reduction in school absenteeism.
 
He was appointed to the expert panel of the New York State Consensus Asthma Guidelines panel in 2007.
 
He Chairs the Regional Asthma Coalition of Queens, formed in March 2012, funded by the New York State Department of Health for $900,000
 
His most recent initiative is in collaboration with TransCanada, an oil and gas conglomerate to set up a mobile asthma program in Queensbridge Housing in Long Island City, Queens, the largest public housing in the US. He has received a $326,000 grant for this program.  

Gonzalo Sabogal, MD, FAAP

Attending and Associate Director of Pediatric Inpatient Unit

Dr. Sabogal is a full time attending in the Department of Pediatrics at NYHQ, and is Associate Director of the Inpatient Pediatric Unit.

Dr. Sabogal has been in The Pediatric Asthma Center since 1998.He assists the director in running the Protocol driven disease management based center program.

Dr. Sabogal obtained his medical school diploma at the Universidad Libre in Clombia S.A. He completed his pediatric Residency Flushing Hospital Medical Center his Board certification in Pediatrics in October 1998.

Wifredo Lao, MD, FAAP

Attending

Dr. Wilfredo Lao obtained his Medical School diploma at the University of Sto. Tomas in Manila, Philippines. He completed his pediatric residency at Flushing Hospital Medical Center. He is Board certified in Pediatrics since 1997.

Dr. Lao has been with The Pediatric Asthma Center since 1999. He is involved in treating and education of our asthma center patients. He also helps in organizing community health fairs and workshops for asthmatics.