San Diego Division Contacts

We are the San Diego division of the American Heart Association and we can't wait to work with your! If you need more information on local events, volunteer opportunities, sponsorships and more please reach out to us.

San Diego Main Office: 858-410-3850

Leadership Team

Jessica Newmyer - Executive Director, Jessica.Newmyer@heart.org

Eric Thompson - Senior Director, Communications and Marketing, Eric.thompson@heart.org

Chelsea Walczak Vircks, MPH - Senior Director, Community Impact, Chelsea.Walczak.Vircks@heart.org

Event Directors

Andrew Johnson – Business Development Director, Andrew.Johnson@heart.org

Starr Keichler - Business Development Director, Starr.Keichler@heart.org

Kristine Kappel - Business Development Director, Kristine.Kappel@heart.org

San Diego Division 2021-2022 Board of Directors

Chair: Yameeka J. Williams, FACHE
Assistant Medical Center Administrator
Kaiser Permanente

President: Robert Stein, MD, FACC, FAHA
Cardiologist
Graybill Medical Group

Chair Elect: Juli Moran, MBA
Managing Director, San Diego Office
Deloitte 

President Elect: Ramón Hernandez, DrPH, MPH
Section Chief, Community Health
UC San Diego, School of Medicine

Leadership Development Chair: David Zumaya, MS
Founder
My San Diego

Members at Large

Amy A. Adome, MD, MPH
Senior Vice President, Clinical Effectiveness
Sharp Healthcare

Natalie Hawryluk, PhD
Senior Director, Drug Discovery & Early Development
Edgewise Therapeutics

Andrew Ho, MD, FACC
Cardiologist 
Temecula Center for Cardiac Care

Steven Hooker, PhD
Dean, College of Health & Human Services
San Diego State University 

Christopher J. Larson, PhD
Chief Executive Officer
SNO bio, Inc

Gene Ma, MD, FACEP
Chief Medical Officer
Tri-City Medical Center

Lisa Murphy, MBA, CPA
Chief Administrative Officer – Cardiovascular Institute
UC San Diego Health

Linda Naviaux Niggli
Retired Senior Executive
Luxury Fashion Industry

Ernesto Villanueva, EdD
Assistant Superintendent, Human Resources
La Mesa-Spring Valley School District

Ethel Weekly-Avant, RN
Immediate Past President
San Diego Black Nurses Association

Matthew Zubiller
Chief Growth Officer
Smile Brands