Advisory Board Members

Born in Hollywood, Tom spent his career in entertainment, producing more than thirty films, including Air Force One, Bring It On, Children of Men, Dawn of the Dead, Spy Game, Thirteen Days, The Family Man, The Hurricane and A Life in the Theatre.

Tom attended the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television and the UCLA School of Law. He serves on the board of directors of the Santa Monica Mountains Fund and the Fund for People in Parks. Tom is a founding member of the board of advisors of the Ahmanson/UCLA Adult Congenital Heart Disease Center and has been a patient of the center almost from its inception. Tom is a member of the Directors Guild of America and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Heidi was born with transposition of the greater arteries and was, notably, the 100th baby to ever undergo the arterial switch procedure. When Heidi transitioned from pediatric to adult care, she became a patient of UCLA Health. She is proud to support the doctors and nurses who have been instrumental in her long-term health.

Heidi has a master’s degree in business from the University of Southern California and lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two young sons. She is currently a strategic community consultant for a variety of tech companies. In 2014, Heidi founded Project Happy Hearts, a nonprofit that provides EKG screenings for the detection of congenital heart disease. Outside of her professional and philanthropic activities, Heidi
enjoys spending time with her family, traveling the world and being outdoors.

Brian is currently the executive vice president (EVP) at Mission Valley Bank, where he additionally holds the title of EVP small business administration (SBA) division manager. Brian is also the president of Total SBA. Prior to this, Brian served as EVP SBA division manager at First Bank and president/CEO of SBA Complete, Inc. Brian has a strong background in SBA lending, with experience at various financial institutions, such as Excel National Bank, Fortune Bank, Temecula Valley Bank and Imperial Bank. Brian holds a bachelor’s degree in business finance from San Diego State University.

Gary is a tax attorney practicing in Century City. He has extensive experience in private wealth planning, both from an income tax and estate tax perspective, often facilitating his clients’ charitable giving. Gary has implemented and administered numerous private foundations, charitable remainder trusts, charitable lead trusts and other charitable gifts. He also handles income tax planning for corporations and pass-through entities.

Gary has been a patient of the center since 1995, when he first needed surgery on his aortic valve. Over the years, he realized that the ethos of the center — to care for and counsel its patients — goes well beyond what most expect of medicine today. Gary is especially impressed by the combination of expertise and the striking level of compassion at the center. He welcomed the opportunity to support the center and joined the board in 2023.

In addition to his other philanthropic commitments, Gary is on the board of Red Hen Press, a Los Angeles-based independent publisher of literary works.

Delphine Lee is a founding member of the board of advisors of the Ahmanson/UCLA Adult Congenital Heart Disease Center. She has served as a member of the UCLA Health System Board since 2015. Her daughter, Kelly Lee Tarantello, was a pediatric cardiac patient at UCLA beginning in 1988; Kelly transitioned to the adolescent program, then moved to the adult congenital program. Kelly was a Fontan procedure patient and received a heart/liver transplant in 2016. Upon Kelly’s passing, Delphine endowed the Kelly Lee Tarantello Chair in Liver Transplantation at UCLA in honor of her daughter.

In addition to her commitment to UCLA, Delphine has been a volunteer at Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) on Tuesdays since 2007. She was a member of the CHOC Foundation Board of Directors from 2009 to 2025. She provided vital financial support in the joint alliance of the UCLA/CHOC congenital heart program. Delphine holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a master’s degree in business, with a specialty in finance, from the University of Southern California. She and her husband Ron reside in Corona del Mar, California.

Pam worked as a nurse practitioner for the Ahmanson/UCLA Adult Congenital Heart Disease Center from 1991 until her retirement in 2020. The most rewarding part of her long career has been the relationships she treasures with ACHD patients and their families, many spanning decades. She takes great pride in the evolution of the field of ACHD, recognizing that UCLA has always played a fundamental role in furthering the science, technology and humanity that define the specialty.

A dedicated advocate of the center, Pam has been there for every board meeting since the board’s inception, primarily as part of the clinical team and then as a member after she retired. Pam has channeled her love and knowledge of ACHD into devoted advocacy and philanthropy to help secure the future of the center.

Doug is a partner at Holland & Knight. He represents institutional investors in large-scale real estate projects. Doug was born with a congenital heart defect and had open heart surgery when he was 9 years old. Doug is involved with the center because he values its faculty and staff’s commitment to the highest level of patient care. Doug and his family also volunteer with Camp Harmony, an overnight camp program for children experiencing poverty in Los Angeles County.

Jeff became involved with the center when his son, Mathew, was diagnosed with an anomalous left coronary artery at 31 years old. He was inspired by the care provided at the center and was pleased to join the board of advisors. His experience in heart disease stems from his 25-year career as an adult cardiac surgeon in San Diego. He also served as the chief medical officer for Dignity Health in Northern California and for the United American Indian Involvement in Los Angeles, retiring in October 2023.

Jeff has held several board positions for other organizations, including the American Heart Association in San Diego and Sacramento and the Western Sierra Medical Clinic in Grass Valley, California.

Jackie was born with Tetralogy of Fallot and had her first open heart surgery at UCLA at age 5. When she was 20 years old, a family friend told her about the center, and she has received phenomenal care ever since. Jackie is also a member of the Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara. In addition, Jackie organizes a group of volunteers to make large amounts of chicken and vegetable soup. If someone is ill or just in need of a boost, her group provides this warm source of comfort.