Frank Cetta, MD
President
2013–present
“Volunteering with Heart to Heart has been a win-win-win experience for me. I help diagnose critically ill children in underserved areas, so they can receive the care they need. I help teach and train new teams of pediatric cardiac specialists—and admire their determination. Together, we are helping develop self-sustaining cardiac centers so local families will have access to world-class life-saving treatment for generations to come”
Dr. Frank Cetta has been a Heart to Heart medical volunteer for 20 years and counting. His versatility as a pediatric cardiologist and an adult congenital specialist is matched by his talent for teamwork and his passion for teaching. Dr. Cetta has assumed a pivotal role in helping Heart to Heart guide multiple cardiac programs to reach self-sustainability. In addition to examining thousands of young patients at our partner sites and teaching hundreds of cardiac specialists how to improve their skills, Dr. Cetta has also been a dedicated recruiter for Heart to Heart, intuitively enlisting several top-notch colleagues to become part of our inner circle of medical volunteers.
In 2004, Dr. Cetta helped set up our first adult congenital program in St. Petersburg. The Heart to Heart team included several colleagues from his home institution, the world-renowned Mayo Clinic. Frank soon deepened his commitment, stepping up to lead all seven annual surgical-educational missions (2006–2012) to Tomsk, Siberia. Under Dr. Cetta’s leadership, our colleagues in Tomsk not only increased their program capacity significantly, but also established their center as a teaching site for specialists from all over Russia and beyond. As well, Dr. Cetta arranged for several cardiac specialists from Tomsk to spend time as guest observers at the Mayo Clinic, hosting them in his home.
In 2013, Dr. Cetta assumed the role of lead pediatric cardiologist for our then-new collaboration in Kaliningrad, in Russia’s Northwestern Federal District. That year, he also became a member of Heart to Heart’s board.
After a total of sixteen mission trips to Russia, Dr. Cetta joined Heart to Heart in “going global.” He was part of the team on two mission trips to Peru and made his sixth mission trip to Costa Rica in the summer of 2024. He has also arranged scholar exchange opportunities for several Costa Rican colleagues to guest observe at the Mayo Clinic.
Dr. Cetta is an invaluable member of our team and of our board—and an expert repository of Heart to Heart institutional knowledge. His humility and generosity are matched by his grace under pressure. Our gratitude for his dedication is boundless.