About Heart Health Institute, Mission Statement and Board of Directors
Mission Statement
Our mission is educating, empowering and engaging people to adopt and maintain healthy lifestyles to prevent and overcome heart disease.
The Heart Health Institute is a non-profit organization dedicated to heart health education and behavior change for those with, or at risk for, cardiovascular disease.
The Heart Health Institute began in 2003 as a vehicle to provide financial assistance for individuals enrolled in the TAM Program. It was created by graduates of the TAM Program to provide financial aid to potential TAM participants who were committed to lifestyle changes but lacked the funds. TAM is different from other heart disease programs. It educates, empowers and motivates individuals to adopt heart healthy lifestyle habits in support of their medical recovery from heart disease, or to prevent heart disease in the first place. HHI began as a means to make the program accessible to more individuals, and now is dedicated to expanding it’s reach in the Marin community.
The TAM program was developed and implemented, in 1993 by Cardiovascular Associates of Marin & San Francisco. In 2010 the Heart Health Institute bought the TAM Program and expanded it’s vision of preventing and reversing the process of cardiovascular disease. Under the Institute’s direction, the world famous TAM program has the potential to expand and serve a greater community.
2011 Health Heart Institute Board of Directors
Mark Wexman, M.D., FACC: Medical Director survived the sprawling metropolis that is New York City and graduated Summa Cum Laude from the State University of New York and Binghamton. He then attended New York University School of Medicine where he received the Alumni award for Scholastic Excellence and the Glover C. Arnold Award on Surgery. Continuing at NYU, Mark was an internal medicine resident at Bellevue and University Hospitals before moving West for his cardiology training at the University of California, San Francisco. He was a postgraduate fellow at the San Francisco Heart Institute and is on the clinical faculty at UCSF. He was recognized by the Class of 1994 for his commitment to teaching. He is currently, Managing Partner of Cardiovascular Associates of Marin and San Francisco where he has an active clinical practice. He is the past president of the Marin Chapter of the American Heart Association and is deeply invested in preventive medicine and healthy lifestyle. Chairman of the Board of the Marin Independent Physicians Association and PRIMA Medical Foundation. His most inspirational teachers are his wife, Karen, and their sons.
George Sarantakis spent 39 years in the apparel industry, including 10 years on the Board of Directors of the California Men’s and Boys Apparel Club and the Golden Gate Apparel Association, and served as president of both organizations. For the last 18 years before his retirement, George was with Pendleton Woolen Mills, responsible for women’s wear sales for California and Nevada. Born and raised in St. Louis, he received a B.S. in Public Administration from the University of Missouri. George is a TAM graduate who lives his life following the teachings of program. In his healthy retirement, George travels and plays golf.
JoAnne McDowell has been in the Interior Design field for 40+ years. She attended the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, graduating in Interior Design. During her career in Hospitality Design she worked in major resorts and spas, including, Harrahs, La Quinta and the Claremont. She has also done many residential projects in Las Vegas and the Bay Area. Joanne was on the steering committee that started the Hospitality Industry Association (HIA), founded the Scavenger Hotline and Philanthropy by Design. For these efforts she won the ASID Design for Humanity award and was a Points of Light for President Bush. She was one of 18 designers selected for Designers on Parade for the SF Design Center and was honored by the IIDA Hats Off event. In the mid 90’s she was president of the ASID Northern California Chapter. Currently she is an associate fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science and joins the Meridian Institute’s dialogues twice yearly. Although, she no longer runs a design firm, she teaches at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and enjoys a close relationship with 4 grandchildren. She is a graduate of the TAM Program.
Mike Stone, President and CEO of Mollie Stone’s Markets, is an experienced director who sits on boards of the Sausalito Art Festival Foundation, the Food Marketing Institute, National Grocers Association, and the California Independent Grocers Association. Mike co-founded Mollie Stone’s Markets in 1985; there are now eight markets in the Bay Area. Mike is a graduate of TAM and has incorporated its healthy living tenets into Mollie Stone’s choices. Married with two children, Mike has a bacclaurate in accounting from Cal State Northridge and a masters in finance, Golden Gate University. He enjoys biking, horseback riding, tennis, skiing, boating, fishing, and traveling.
Bruce L. Horn, Ph.D., a TAM Graduate in 2009, has worked in computer science for over 35 years. Bruce is a software architect and designer with significant experience and contributions to industry breakthroughs: he worked with pioneering object-oriented programming languages and application frameworks at Xerox PARC; he helped develop the first personal computer based on a graphical user interface, the Macintosh; and he designed the first mutual fund trading system based on the rankings of thousands of traders worldwide on the Web. He currently works at Microsoft developing natural-language search technologies. He received his B.S. in Mathematical Sciences from Stanford University, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Computer Science from Carnegie-Mellon University. Bruce has a passion for health, fitness, and nutrition, and enjoys cycling, hiking, and exploring the Eastern Sierra.
Honorary members:
Gerson Jacobs, M.D.
Vincent G. Pons, M.D