Debra Esernio-Jenssen, M.D. is currently a Professor in Clinical Pediatrics at the University of Florida and has served as the Medical Director of the Child Protection Team since 2010. In 2009 she was certified by the American Board of Pediatrics in Child Abuse Pediatrics. From 1998 to April 2010, she was the Director of the Child Protection Center at Schneider Children's Hospital and the Chair of the Child Protection Consultation Team at Long Island Jewish Hospital in New Hyde Park, New York. She graduated from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in 1982 and completed her pediatric residency at North Shore University in Manhasset, NY where she was selected to be Chief Resident in Pediatrics in 1985. In 2007, she was invited to join the Ray Helfer Society. She is a member of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children and serves on the Board for the Florida Professional Society on the Abuse of Children. Debra Esernio-Jenssen has a special interest in prevention. Since her arrival in Gainesville, FL she has produced a domestic violence and an abusive head trauma public service announcement. These announcements have been shown on the "Gator Board" which is seen before every University of Florida home football game and have been distributed throughout the 12 county catchment area her team serves. She is recognized nationally and internationally for her work in child abuse and child abuse prevention.