Meet Our Team
Dr. David Elkin - President
David Elkin is an Emergency and Sports Medicine physician and serves as President of MagicAid. He started magic at a young age by baffling people with his cardistry skills and Three-Card Monte. A performer from a young age, he amazed teachers and classmates alike with card games on the school bus and during nutrition in middle school and early high school.
When he was 14, he auditioned for and was accepted to the Academy of Magical Arts Junior program, which has produced some of the greatest magicians of our time. David performed for many private parties, fundraisers, and at the world-famous Magic Castle in Hollywood for its many celebrities and guests. He was also a regular performer at events for the Somaly Mam Foundation, a charity dedicated to saving and rehabilitating women who were sold into slavery.
​
In high school, he founded MagicAid. He performed at the hospital every Friday night, ultimately for over 900 kids and adults, and was lucky enough to be featured on ABC7 Eyewitness News for his work. He was invited by The Magic Castle’s president, Neil Patrick Harris, to join his committee and lead teams in designing and implementing new features, gags, and illusions to improve The Magic Castle clubhouse. He was an active member on the committee from 2012 until 2014, when he began medical school at Stony Brook University.
​
As a medical student, David began teaching his classmates magic and recruiting them to join MagicAid so that they too could perform for pediatric patients. By his third year, he had already trained and recruited over 70 members, as well as established MagicAid as a non-profit organization, ready to spread the magic nationwide.
Harrison Pravder serves as Vice President of MagicAid. He is currently an anesthesiology resident at Yale-New Haven Hospital. Previously, he was a medical student at Stony Brook School of Medicine. During his first year of medical school, Harrison joined the MagicAid student group, helped develop its curriculum and structure, and has not turned back since. He became a magic enthusiast and the group's President. He loves engaging with new patients and their families, sharing new mystical magic moments, and helping to create more smiles. Harrison remains active as a magic therapist to this day.
As a founding director of our non-profit, Harrison is dedicated to MagicAid’s mission. He is involved with all activities of the organization and has a special interest in our medical student and research programs. An elected member of the Sigma Xi Research Society, Harrison is MagicAid's Research Director. He helps develop our studies with investigators, ensure quality of the projects, and has presented MagicAid research internationally. His academic interests are in cardiac and pediatric anesthesiology, magic therapy applications, and medical education.
When not studying or in the hospital, Harrison enjoys running, cooking, chocolate, and water sports. He currently resides in New Haven, CT, USA. He especially enjoys playing with his dog Milo and the cold, snowy winters (which Milo does not like as much).
Dr. Harrison Pravder - Vice President
Justin Willman is a magician & comedian known more recently as the creator and star of the hit Netflix series Magic for Humans. He is a regular on The Tonight Show, Ellen, Conan, and @Midnight. He's performed live at the White House for the first family, his online videos have racked up over 50 million views, and his debut comedy/magic special Sleight of Mouth just premiered on Comedy Central to rave reviews.
​
Justin is also a consultant & writer for film/television productions like America's Got Talent, The Goldbergs, and Disney's upcoming feature film Magic Camp.
​
The L.A. Times calls him, "A new breed of comic who's making magic cool again for grown-ups. " Playboy dubbed him, "The freshest and funniest magician working today." Time Out says his live show, "Has to be seen to be disbelieved."
​
Justin was born in St. Louis, lives in Los Angeles, and does not own a rabbit.
Justin Willman
Born and raised on Long Island, Sean Randazzo has spent the past ten years serving his community as a firefighter, including two years as captain. Realizing he had a passion for the fast-paced and unpredictable environment of the emergency services, he went on to care for the residents and guests of New York City, where he worked as a paramedic for FDNY. Not wanting to be confined to an ambulance his entire career, Sean received his medical doctorate at Stony Brook School of Medicine in 2020.
Upon starting medical school in 2016, Sean discovered MagicAid and caught the magic bug. He loves performing, working with children, and bringing the wonders of magic to patients and students alike. He is committed to sharing the MagicAid experience with healthcare providers and students, and is constantly working to expand MagicAid’s reach.
Sean currently serves as Instructor, Curriculum Advisor and Board Director for MagicAid.
Dr. Sean Randazzo
Naomi is a third-year medical student at Stony Brook University School of Medicine. She learned her very first magic trick within her first month of medical school and has been sharing her enthusiasm for MagicAid with patients ever since. Naomi loves finding new ways to make magic unique for every patient and family, and helping patients express themselves through magic. As president of the Stony Brook medical student chapter from 2018 to 2019, Naomi extended her excitement and energy for MagicAid to training new magic therapists and expanding the chapter's to reach to patients at outpatient centers.
Naomi is committed to the mission of MagicAid. As social media director she promotes outreach to medical schools and hospitals around the country and inspires excitement in current and future members of the MagicAid family.
Outside the hospital Naomi enjoys baking, hiking, and teaching dance classes. She has 3 siblings, 2 passports, 1 cactus, and 0 pets.