Heidi Torres, M.D.

Dr. David Laufgraben is a Board Certified general pediatrician who is dedicated to providing warm, compassionate care for kids of every age, and to earning the trust of families he works with. His mission is to offer the guidance and support needed to keep children healthy, and to help families weather the ups and downs of childhood along the way.Dr. Laufgraben grew up in Buffalo and went to college at Yale University. After graduating, he volunteered with Child Life Services at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, an experience that led to his focus on children’s health. He earned his medical degree at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons and completed pediatric training at Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital, where he was recognized with an excellence in primary care award and selected to be Chief Resident. After finishing residency, Dr.Laufgraben worked for New York City’s Office of School Health where he provided supervisory care for students at more than 30 schools. He is a committed advocate for children and is proud to be part of Weill Cornell’s pediatric team.

Harini Sarva, MD completed a combined undergraduate-medical school eight year program at CUNY Brooklyn College and SUNY Downstate Medical Center. She completed her undergraduate degree in economics with a magna cum laude from Brooklyn College, during which team she made the Dean’s List every semester and won an award in excellence in economics. After completing her MD, she was recruited to complete her neurology residency from SUNY Downstate, where she was also a Chief Resident during her final year of training. She won the SUNY Downstate Alumni Association Outstanding Resident in the Department of Neurology and the Department of Neurology Excellence in Teaching awards. She subsequently completed her fellowship in Movement Disorders under the mentorship of Dr. Susan Bressman and Dr. Rachel Saunders-Pullman at Mount Sinai Beth Israel. During her second year of fellowship she was awarded the Clinical Teaching Fellowship grant from the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation and a travel grant from the International Society of Parkinson’s disease and Movement Disorders to attend their annual conference in Stockholm. After completing all of her training she was an attending in neurology at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY, where she was co-director of medical student and resident rotations and developed a movement disorders elective for psychiatry residents. She also arranged a CME conference entitled “Movement Disorders Review.” Dr. Sarva subspecializes in Parkinson’s disease, Essential Tremor, Dystonia, Tics, Chorea, Myoclonus, Ataxia, and Gait Disorders. She is experienced in botulinum toxin injection therapy for craniofacial and limb dystonia, hemifacial spasm, and spasticity. In addition she is trained to evaluate patients for deep brain stimulation and is an experienced programmer. Dr. Sarva is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. She is an author of numerous publications and has presented her work at national and international conferences.

Dr. Katherine Yao is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Rehabilitation Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical Center where she treats a wide range of sports injuries and musculoskeletal disorders in adults, children, adolescents. She is trained in modern non-operative diagnostics and therapies including ultrasound guided injections, ultrasound guided tenotomies, platelet-rich-plasma (PRP) injections, Tenex, prolotherapy, and other state of the art regenerative medicine interventions.Dr. Yao graduated college from Yale University, earned her medical degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, completed her residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Columbia and Cornell Medical Centers (New York Presbyterian Hospital), and completed Sports Medicine subspecialty fellowship at Harvard University’s Boston Children’s Hospital.At Boston Children’s Hospital, Dr. Yao worked closely with dancers and musicians at the Boston Ballet, Boston Conservatory, Boston Arts Academy, and Berklee College of Music. She served as the team physician for Northeastern University’s Division I Women’s Hockey team and Middlesex High School’s football team.Dr. Yao competed as a gymnast at the junior Olympic level and earned several Academic All-American titles on Yale University’s NCAA Division I team. Her experience as an elite student athlete complements her medical training to help her compassionately guide young athletes in managing unique lifestyle demands and challenges. She is currently a National Team Physician for USA Gymnastics and is the head physician for Alvin Ailey Dance School.Dr. Yao’s research focuses on the effects of sports on young athletes. She has written several book chapters and peer-reviewed journal articles about sports injuries, regenerative medicine and sports competition rules. With her personal background in competitive sports and injury recovery, Dr. Yao truly understands the obstacles that athletes of all ages face and the challenges of recovery. She believes that patients should be treated holistically and works as a team with her patients to help them return to doing what they love.Dr. Yao has been honored as a Super Doctors New York Rising Star, which represents the top New York doctors in more than 30 specialties that have been fully licensed for 10 years or less.