Gary Raff, MD
Board Member
2023–present

“As a member of Heart to Heart’s Board, I can contribute to the mission of the organization in a more substantial way, to increase the impact we have on developing cardiac centers in areas of need around the world.”

Pediatric cardiac surgeon Gary Raff was originally recruited by Heart to Heart’s founder & medical director, Nilas Young, MD around 2000, to help develop our second self-sustaining children’s heart program in Russia. Under Dr. Raff’s leadership, our partner site in Samara, located on the Volga River, became the go-to cardiac center in Russia’s second most populous district, home to more than 33 million people.

Dr. Raff led all six annual Heart to Heart training missions to Samara, methodically implementing our stepwise educational model to advance the practice of each cardiac subspecialty—and successfully develop the region’s first pediatric cardiac program. The results were impressive: the number of children operated on more than tripled, with the proportion of infant and newborn open heart cases increasing significantly. The joint Heart to Heart-Samara team also helped establish the region’s first ever stand-alone pediatric cardiac intensive care unit (PCICU)—a resounding win for the entire community. Dr. Raff subsequently volunteered at two additional Heart to Heart partner sites in Russia.

Dr. Raff joined our Costa Rica campaign leadership team in 2024. To date, he has led four training missions to the National Children’s Hospital, the only children’s heart center in the country. Dr. Raff continues to leverage every opportunity to emphasize—and model—the importance of teamwork and clear communication.

His decades of experience as a surgeon, a mentor, and a leader have confirmed for him that pediatric cardiac medicine is a “team sport.” On training missions, Dr. Raff solicits each team members’ input—at the end of every day—role modeling the power of teamwork for teams-in-training. We are so grateful to have his talent and his boundless positive energy on our missions and on our board of directors.