WHO WE ARE

Holly Morrell

Founder

Holly Morrell pioneered the grassroots cardiac screening effort/industry beginning in 1999. To date, Heartfelt has provided cardiac screenings to over 50,000 people.

Holly is knowledgeable, experienced, and professional, but considers her work to be very personal, as well. She dedicates her work to the 6 family members lost to Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM), the #1 cause of Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) in young people in the U.S. Nine Morrell family members, out of 11, had the disease; 6 died and 2 live with devices implanted in their chests to protect them from sudden death. In 2010, another family member became the second Morrell Family member to receive a heart transplant to save her life.  Holly herself was diagnosed with the condition in 2002, survived emergency open-heart surgery by only 90 seconds in 2012 and had her seventh heart-related surgery in April 2019.

Holly established Heartfelt to better serve the general public and preserve the integrity of her mission: to save more lives through early detection, education, and increased public awareness.

Daniel Cortez, MD

supervising cardiologist and research management

Holly Morrell pioneered the grassroots cardiac screening effort/industry beginning in 1999. To date, Heartfelt has provided cardiac screenings to over 50,000 people.

Holly is knowledgeable, experienced, and professional, but considers her work to be very personal, as well. She dedicates her work to the 6 family members lost to Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM), the #1 cause of Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) in young people in the U.S. Nine Morrell family members, out of 11, had the disease; 6 died and 2 live with devices implanted in their chests to protect them from sudden death. In 2010, another family member became the second Morrell Family member to receive a heart transplant to save her life.  Holly herself was diagnosed with the condition in 2002, after running a cardiac screening program for three years.

Holly established Heartfelt to better serve the general public and preserve the integrity of her mission: to save more lives through early detection, education, and increased public awareness.

Dawn Atwal, MD

supervising cardiologist and research management

Dr. Dawn Atwal is a cardiologist in Laguna Beach, California and is affiliated with multiple hospitals in the area, including MemorialCare Saddleback Memorial Medical Center and Mission Hospitals, in Mission Viejo and Laguna Beach.

Dr. Atwal received her medical degree from David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA in 1990.  She completed her internal medicine internship, residency, and cardiology fellowship training at Harbor UCLA Medical Center. She has been in practice for over 20 years.