Meet the Southern California Heart Specialists Doctors
At Southern California Heart Specialists all of our physicians are board certified in cardiovascular disease with many going on to obtain specialty board certification as well. We are proud that many of our physicians have been honored with recognition not only in Southern California, but as “America’s Top Cardiologists”.
Gregory M. Giesler
M.D., F.A.C.C. - Interventional Cardiology and Peripheral Vascular Disease
Dr. Gregory Giesler was born and raised in San Marino and after attending UC Santa Barbara undergraduate school and the Chicago Medical School returned to complete his residency training at the UCLA Medical Center. He was active in clinical research in heart transplantation and end stage congestive heart failure.
He then completed his fellowship in cardiology and interventional cardiovascular disease at the University of Texas Medical Center in Houston, TX. He continued his interest in heart transplantation and mechanical devices at the Texas Heart Institute authoring multiple publications and book chapters. He also was active in the treatment of acute myocardial infarction (Heart Attack) and piloted multiple trials including the coordinated treatment of heart attack patients that has now become the standard of care in the United States today.
Dr. Giesler has published extensively on the treatment of both congestive heart failure and acute myocardial infarction as well as presented at both national and international meetings.
Greg now has returned home to Southern California to help establish both Huntington and Arcadia Hospitals as centers of excellence in the treatment of heart attack patients. He is also involved in expanding the peripheral arterial disease program and the treatment of congenital heart defects.
Greg is active in the teaching program of residents at Huntington as well as a frequent speaker for Huntington Hospital.
Greg lives with his wife and two children and is active coaching soccer and supporting his daughter in competitive swimming.
Andreas Mauer
M.D., F.A.C.C. - Interventional Cardiology and Peripheral Vascular Disease
Dr. Andreas Mauer is originally from Germany but was raised in southern Nevada. He studied chemistry at Case Western Reserve University before attending the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. He completed his internship and residency at the New York Presbyterian Hospital Weill-Cornell School of Medicine, where he was recognized as Chief Resident. He subsequently spent three years on the faculty of the Rockefeller University in Manhattan, where he studied the genetics of bleeding disorders. He then completed fellowships in cardiology, interventional cardiology, and structural cardiology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. There, he was recognized with awards for clinical and scientific merit and continued to study the genetics of cardiovascular disease.
He has authored numerous articles in hematology, cardiology, and interventional cardiology, with a particular focus on the genetics of cardiovascular disease. He has authored book chapters on perioperative cardiovascular assessment and valvular heart disease. He
has presented at national and international meetings and was the recipient of a Young Investigator Award from the International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis.
Andreas has returned to the West Coast to be close to family and in support of his wife, who is on the faculty of the UCLA School of Medicine. He enjoys the great outdoors and soccer with his two children. He is excited to continue the work of SCHS at Huntington and Methodist hospitals and to serve the greater Pasadena community.
Stephen J. Soldo
M.D., F.A.C.C. - General Cardiology
Dr. Soldo attended college at UCLA, and then moved to the other side of town and completed all of his medical education over the course of a decade at USC where he was a Dean’s Scholar. He joined Southern California Heart Specialists in 1999. Dr Soldo holds three separate Society Certifications in Cardiovascular medicine.
Dr Soldo is a general cardiologist, working principally out of our Arcadia office. His practice focuses on the chronic long term management of heart disease, including coronary heart disease, congestive heart failure, high blood pressure, valvular heart problems, cardiac pacemakers and cholesterol disorders.
Dr Soldo works with the Cardiology program at Methodist Hospital, where he sits on several committees. He is also the co director of the Heart Failure and Cardiac Rehabilitation programs.
Dr Soldo lives with his family in Arcadia, where he and his wife Patty are very active in school and community affairs.
Babak Tashakkor
M.D., F.A.C.C. - Electrophysiology
Dr. Tashakkor was raised in Southern California and is honored to return to the community and further serve its members. Dr. Tashakkor began his post-secondary education in the Pacific Northwest at the University of Washington where he completed his degree in Electrical Engineering. From there, he proceeded to study in the Midwest at the University of Texas where he obtained his medical degree. Upon graduation, he went on to complete internal medicine training at the University of California Irvine, and cardiology fellowship at Scripps Clinic and the University of California San Diego. Lastly, he attended Georgetown University in Washington, DC where he completed specialization in Cardiac Electrophysiology.
Dr. Tashakkor now serves as director of the new cardiac electrophysiology laboratory at Methodist Hospital in Arcadia where he has employed the latest technologies to help treat our patients. As a result, we have successfully treated hundreds of patients with cardiac arrhythmias over the past several years. Furthermore, he has been allotted the role of volunteer instructor at the University of California San Diego, and he has taken part in multiple cutting edge research projects in the field of cardiovascular diseases and electrophysiology here in Pasadena.
Throughout his journey, Dr. Tashakkor was surrounded with the finest education that each of these regions of the country had to offer. He now looks forward to employing this knowledge and expertise to further aid the citizens of Pasadena and its neighboring communities.
Kristal B.Y. Young
M.D., F.A.C.C.
Dr. Kristal Young was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii and appreciates the opportunity to serve her new community in Southern California. She pursued her undergraduate studies at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts with a major in History of Science and minor in Health Policy. She returned home to complete her medical school degree at the University of Hawaii and then returned to the East Coast to complete her residency and fellowship training at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. She was involved in clinical database registries and presented at the National Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Intervention.
Dr. Young is board certified in internal medicine and cardiovascular medicine as well as holds certification in echocardiography and nuclear medicine. She specializes in non-invasive cardiology and imaging modalities and has an interest in cardiovascular disease in women and minorities as well as in preventative health.
Dr. Young is the newest addition the Southern California Heart Specialists and is dedicated to the excellence of cardiovascular care at Huntington and Arcadia Methodist Hospitals. She is involved in the residency teaching program and aims to evolve its clinical research. She has now relocated to the West Coast (best coast) and excited to serve the diverse, incomparable community in Southern California.
Douglas D. Yun
M.D., F.A.C.C. - Interventional Cardiology and Peripheral Vascular Disease
Dr. Yun was born in Inchon, Korea in 1963 and immigrated with his parents and two younger sisters to the United States in 1974. After completing his high school years at Hawaiian Mission Academy, he attended the Pacific Union College where he graduated in 1985 with academic distinction. From 1985 to 1989, he attended the Loma Linda University Medical School. After completing his residency in Internal Medicine at Loma Linda, he spent the next 3 years in Tucson, Arizona where he completed a fellowship in Cardiology. He then spent one year in Minneapolis, Minnesota for an Interventional Cardiology Fellowship training before joining the Southern California Heart Specialists in July 1997. Dr. Yun is board certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease and Interventional Cardiology.
Dr. Yun’s special training and expertise is in the area of Interventional Cardiology treating patients with coronary and peripheral vascular disease. To be more specific, the management of patients with acute coronary syndrome and acute myocardial infarction have always drawn his interest and enthusiasm. His decision to become a cardiologist essentially evolved from the early years of intravenous thrombolytic therapy and concomitant mega-trials which had completely revolutionized the treatment of patients with an acute myocardial infarction.
Dr. Yun married in 2004 and currently has 2 children. He is active in his local church in Glendale, where the goal is to reach out to those in need in the local community as well as in foreign countries through financial support of missionaries as well as making actual visits to those locations.
Independent Cardiologists
John L. Easthope Jr.
M.D., F.A.C.C. - General Cardiology
Dr. John Easthope is a long time medical leader of the Pasadena community. He attended medical school at UC Irvine prior to coming to Huntington Hospital for his medical residency. He then returned to UC Irvine for his cardiology fellowship.
Dr. Easthope is board certified in internal medicine and cardiology. He specializes in general cardiology with a focus on preventive health care and cardiac rehabilitation. In addition to being the director of non-invasive cardiology at Huntington Hospital, he also has served as the director of cardiac rehabilitation since 1978. He remains active on Huntington medical boards and has been recognized as one of America’s top cardiologists.
Dr. Easthope has been a leader in academic training of internal medicine residents directing the cardiology dispensary service for over 20 years. He continues to be an active participant of both Huntington Hospital Department of Cardiology and Internal Medicine boards.
He currently lives with his wife where he raised his grown children in San Marino.
W. Allen Edmiston
M.D., F.A.C.C. - General Cardiology
Dr. Edmiston was born and raised in Evanston, IL. He attended both undergraduate and Medical School at Northwestern University in Chicago IL. He completed his postgraduate training, Internal Medicine residency and cardiovascular fellowship at Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center. He then directed the cardiac catheterization laboratory and was director of Clinical cardiology at the medical center. He is an Associate clinical professor of Cardiology at USC.
Dr. Edmiston is board certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular diseases and Critical Care Medicine. He is on the staff of Huntington Memorial Hospital and Methodist Hospital of Arcadia.
Dr. Edmiston has been Chief of Cardiology at Huntington Memorial Hospital and Director of the Cardiology sections at both Huntington Memorial and Methodist hospital of Arcadia. He was also very active at St. Luke hospital where he had many positions including Chief of staff and Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Dr. Edmiston has published and lectured extensively throughout his career and has always been active in clinical research. He is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the American college of physicians.
Dr. Edmiston has been active in programs to enhance community health. He was President of the American Heart Association, Greater Los Angeles Affiliate and Recipient of their Distinguished Volunteer and Distinguished Achievement awards. He was also Chairman of the Patron Saint Foundation, which supports health care in the San Gabriel valley.
Dr. Edmiston raised four children in South Pasadena and Pasadena and currently lives in Pasadena. Outside of medicine his is passionate about opera and gives community lectures on opera, is on the board of directors of the Los Angeles Opera League and provides medical support for the Los Angeles Opera.
Physician Assistant
Anne Huang
P.A.-C
Growing up on the island of Guam, Annie developed a passion for science, leading her to pursue a degree in Microbiology and Chemistry at Cal Poly Pomona. This academic foundation laid the groundwork for her future career in healthcare. After completing her undergraduate studies, Annie embarked on a new chapter by enrolling in the Physicians Assistant program at Long Island University Brooklyn campus. After graduating with high honors, she decided to make New York City her home for the next decade and worked in multiple healthcare settings. She was the first Physicians Assistant hired at Bellevue Hospital’s outpatient Medicine clinic. Over the years, she also worked in inpatient medicine as well as administrative roles. The vibrant and diverse city provided numerous opportunities for growth both personally and professionally.
After a fulfilling career in New York City, she and her husband made the decision to move to Pasadena to raise their two sons. Annie join our practice in 2009 and remains an integral part of our care team.
