Cardiac Expertise
Our volunteer-driven organization is guided by the cardiac
expertise of our Board of Directors, many of whom are practicing heart specialists.
Collectively, the physicians on our governing board have more than 100 years'
experience caring for heart patients. In addition, Heart to Heart board members
also have extensive experience developing open-heart surgery programs in the U.S.
and in Russia.
J. Nilas Young, MD
Founder and Medical Director
Founder and Medical Director
I continue to represent Heart to Heart to my colleagues as an
opportunity to make an international impact medically. The umbrella under which we operate
has a complex humanitarian aspect. We help patients and their families, and we teach at the
same time. We are also ambassadors of our profession and of American medicine.
When Dr. Young was a second-year surgery resident, he had a conversation
with a pediatric surgeon who had been involved in international aid. This doctor had been on
several trips to South America, per forming operations for two weeks and then leaving. The
surgeon felt the teams did a lot of good, including the work with local physicians, but
ultimately he didn't feel he saw sustaining medical progress in the areas they visited.
Almost 20 years later, when Dr. Young was preparing for Heart to Heart's first medical
mission to Russia, that conversation came back to him. His excitement about the trip
(I can't believe I am finally getting to do this.) was coupled with a resolution that,
if given the opportunity, he wouldn't let that same thing happen, that Heart to Heart's
visits would not be "fix and run."
Dr. Young has led more than 25 of Heart to Heart's surgical-educational
missions. He has previously served as Board Chairman and President and serves as the organization's
consummate spokesperson. As Medical Director he personally reviews program progress and surgical
outcomes for each site.
Dr. Young is currently Professor & Chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic
Surgery at the University of California, Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. He is also the
Program Director of the UCDMC Cardiothoracic Residency Program. He serves on the Board of
Directors of the American Heart Association, Sacramento Chapter and is a Steering Committee
Member of the World Heart Foundation. Dr. Young has been the recipient of a number of research
grants, including a multi-year clinical study currently in progress, funded by the National
Institutes of Health. Dr. Young has authored many articles and abstracts, and collaborated on,
or contributed chapters to, many more. He is currently a peer reviewer for several thoracic
surgery publications. He makes scientific presentations at symposia throughout North America
and has also made yearly scientific presentations in Russia since Heart to Heart began.
Dr. Young's dedication and accomplishments have been honored by numerous
medical and civic organizations that have granted him recognition and awards both at home and
abroad.